Moving forward in acculturation research by integrating insights from cultural psychology

Abstract

‘Psychological acculturation’ refers to the intra-individual change process resulting from sustained contact with a new culture, and has traditionally been researched by cross-cultural psychologists. As acculturation research has faced numerous critiques in recent years, this manuscript considers how insights from cultural psychology could help advance this field. Specifically, the three main features of the dominant acculturation conceptual framework (“what changes during acculturation”, “how people acculturate”, and “how well people adapt to acculturation”) are reviewed and questioned in light of research findings and recent theoretical perspectives from cultural psychology. The approach to acculturation research articulated here views cultural engagement as plural, dynamic, tacit, and centered around the acquisition and flexible use of cultural schemas. By being attuned to their cultural environment, people typically and implicitly respond in culturally appropriate ways. This experience of “cultural fluency” is disrupted when people move to a new cultural environment. Acculturation consists of the creation and flexible use of new cultural schemas (development of multicultural mind) and of changes in people’s self-positioning with respect to their different cultural traditions (development of multicultural self). In doing so, they re-establish “cultural fluency” in their new cultural environment, which also influences long-term adaptation by promoting cultural fit between people and their cultural environment.