Acculturation & Mental Health (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note

Acculturation

• Acculturation is the process by which people adapt to a new and different culture to the one in which they have been born and raised (i.e., the opposite to enculturation)

• Acculturation occurs when an individual chooses or is forced (i.e. because of war, famine or economic need) to move to and live in another country/culture (the dominant culture)

• Acculturation involves an individual acclimatising to the dominant culture into which they have moved

  • E.g., a student born and raised in inner London moves to Wales for university and has to learn the customs and way of life in Wales

  • a person who has moved from the UK to Brazil in South America will have to acclimatise to the customs, norms, systems and procedures of the new cultural environment in Brazil

• Acculturation can be a positive experience for a migrant, but it can also lead to acculturative stress

• Research has found that the most successful and productive acculturative strategy is integration

• Acculturation is a bi-directional process

  • The dominant culture affects the migrant and they in turn affect the dominant culture by introducing new language, foods, religion, art, music, etc.

Acculturation & mental health

• The process of acculturation can be difficult and problematic because:

  • inconsistencies and conflicts between members of the dominant culture and migrants may arise

  • acculturating migrants may not wish to immerse themselves in the dominant culture (which is known as separation)

  • acculturating migrants may discard their original culture completely in order to fit in with the dominant culture (known as assimilation)

• Any conflict between acculturating groups can result in acculturative stress

  • Stress can occur when assimilation is required by the dominant culture, but this idea is not shared by members of migrant culture

  • A clash of cultural norms can also produce acculturative stress

• Acculturative stress may have hugely negative consequences

  • It may lead to depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal ideation, all of which are serious threats to a person's mental health

Research which supports acculturation & mental health

Inman et al. (2007)

Aim:

• To investigate ethnic identity and acculturative stress in first-generation Indian Hindu parents living in the USA

Participants:

• 16 first-generation Indian Hindu parents (8 female; 8 male) who had moved to the USA in the late 1960s/early 1970s

• The parents had all been over 20 years old when they had emigrated and were all fluent in English

• Both purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to obtain the sample

Procedure:

• Prior to the interview, participants were asked to classify themselves as either ‘very Indian/somewhat Indian/bicultural/somewhat American/very American’

• They were asked to elaborate on this description of themselves in the interview

• Semi-structured interviews were then conducted

Results:

• After analysing the transcripts, the researchers drew up themes and categories which had emerged from the data: 

  • Ethnic identity:

    • The most common self-categorisations (gathered from the pre-interview questionnaire) were ‘very Indian’ alongside ‘bicultural’

    • This supports Berry’s idea that integration is the most successful acculturative strategy

  • Factors contributing to ethnic identity retention

    • Participation in cultural celebrations and activities

    • Maintaining traditional values and upbringing

    • Strong family ties

    • Need for social support for both mothers and fathers

  • Children’s bicultural experiences

    • Both parents noted bicultural influences on children

    • Challenges in maintaining cultural continuity

    • Biculturalism generally viewed as a strength

  • Main challenges

    • Obstacles from Western culture (e.g., inflexible work schedules, lack of

    • Indian cultural centres/schools)

    • Lack of specific cultural knowledge

    • Struggles applying their own experiences to raising children

    • Fear of intermarriage leading to generational distance

Conclusion:

• First-generation immigrant parents are able to acculturate successfully but this is not without its problems

• A lack of opportunity to celebrate and practice one's own culture may lead to acculturative stress

Evaluation of acculturation & mental health

Strengths

• Research into acculturation is extremely valuable, given the plight of many people who are compelled to leave their home country due to political/financial/family factors

  • This gives research in this field good external validity

• The results of the interviews in the above study were cross‐checked (with the question asked prior to the interview) and confirmed between researchers and by an external auditor

  • This gives the research good internal validity 

Limitations

• It is possible that the parents could have discussed what they were going to say in the interviews prior to them being conducted, which would impact the validity of their responses

• A sample of 16 parents is very small and means that the results are not easily generalised

Link to concepts

Measurement

• Semi-structured interviews – as used in the above study – allow participants some freedom in responses and some control over discussion direction

  • This can lead to valuable ideas and information emerging which the researcher might not have considered prior to the research

• Qualitative research tends to be given lower status than experimental methods

  • This is short-sighted, as qualitative data can reveal aspects of the human condition that quantitative methods cannot

Responsibility

• Research involving migrants as participants is socially sensitive, which researchers should bear in mind when conducting the research but particularly when publishing their findings

  • Misinterpreted comments/findings could be exploited negatively by the media

  • Asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are often vilified in the press so the researcher has a duty of care towards their participants and should avoid reinforcing negative stereotypes or fuelling hostile immigration debates