Psychological acculturation: Perspectives, principles, processes, and prospects

<p>Traditionally, acculturation has been conceived and defined to include phenomena that result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups. However, it is individuals who actually migrate and adjust. Almost 250 million individuals today are said to live outside their country of origin. That number tallies to approximately one in 30 individuals living on earth. This chapter touches on some prominent principles, processes, and prospects of this perspective on individual-level psychological acculturation. We first review relevant general theory about migration and acculturation and then differentiate individual-level from group-level acculturation. Individual-level acculturation is not a uniform process as implied by a group-level approach. Next, we distinguish and discuss variability of different sorts that constitutes the heart of individual psychological acculturation. Psychological acculturation raises methodological, disciplinary, and policy considerations, and we overview those as well. Finally, we point to some profitable future directions of theory development and empirical inquiry in the area of psychological acculturation. Migration signifies physical relocation between geographic locales; acculturation signifies psychological adjustment. This chapter focuses on the individual-level aspects of this adjustment.</p>