Rethinking the Concept of Acculturation: Implications for Theory and Research

This article presents an expanded model of acculturation among international migrants and their immediate descendants. Acculturation is proposed as a multidimensional process consisting of the confluence among heritage-cultural and receiving-cultural practices, values, and identifications. The impli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 2010-05, Vol.65 (4), p.237-251
Main Authors: Schwartz, Seth J, Unger, Jennifer B, Zamboanga, Byron L, Szapocznik, José
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acculturation
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adult
Biculturalism
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Cultural aspects
Cultural Background
Cultural Context
Cultural studies
Cultural values
Emigrants and Immigrants - psychology
Ethnicity
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Health status
Human
Humans
Identification
Immigrants
Immigration
Male
Mental Health
Migrants
Miscellaneous
Noncitizens
Physical Health
Prejudice
Psychological aspects
Psychological Theory
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Public Policy
Refugees - psychology
Role
Self Concept
Social Identification
Social integration
Social psychology
Social Values
Sociocultural Factors
Stereotyping
Values
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Summary:This article presents an expanded model of acculturation among international migrants and their immediate descendants. Acculturation is proposed as a multidimensional process consisting of the confluence among heritage-cultural and receiving-cultural practices, values, and identifications. The implications of this reconceptualization for the acculturation construct, as well as for its relationship to psychosocial and health outcomes, are discussed. In particular, an expanded operationalization of acculturation is needed to address the "immigrant paradox," whereby international migrants with more exposure to the receiving cultural context report poorer mental and physical health outcomes. We discuss the role of ethnicity, cultural similarity, and discrimination in the acculturation process, offer an operational definition for context of reception, and call for studies on the role that context of reception plays in the acculturation process. The new perspective on acculturation presented in this article is intended to yield a fuller understanding of complex acculturation processes and their relationships to contextual and individual functioning.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/a0019330