Erten, E. Y., van den Berg, P., & Weissing, F. J. (2018). Acculturation orientations affect the evolution of a multicultural society. Nature Communications , 9 (1), 58.
The authors use an action research design to determine the relationship between acculturation and adaptation in US immigrants. The acculturation framework is employed, and acculturation orientations are classified into two, namely the immigrant’s willingness to interact with individuals from the host culture and cultural conservatism. The research tests the hypothesis, “cultural change is a process that is analogous to genetic evolution.” The authors contend that acculturation and adaptation have a close relationship since the former is a form of adaptive revolution, based on the fact that it satisfies three essential requirements of evolution by natural selection which are variation, differential persistence, and inheritance. Variation refers to distinctive cultural values, beliefs, and norms among different individuals, and differential persistence refers to the fact that some cultural traits spread more rapidly than others. Inheritance, on the other hand, entails the transition of cultural traits from one individual to the next via various forms of social learning. Based on the findings, cultural conservatism inhibits the spread of immigrant culture. The failure of immigrants to interact with others from the host culture inhibits them from adapting to host societies. It is imperative for more research to be conducted on the impact of acculturation orientations on cultural transition.
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Genkova, A. G., Trickett, E. J., Birman, D., & Vinokurov, A. (2014). Acculturation and adjustment of elderly émigrés from the former Soviet Union: A life domains perspective. Psychosocial Intervention, 23(2), 83-93.
Psychological adaptation is the primary means through which US immigrants achieve American acculturation. The authors use an action research design to test the generated hypothesis, which is “Host and heritage acculturation leads to positive outcomes such as mental well-being, social adjustment, and social integration among older Russian-seeking adults in America.” The study exclusively involves immigrant families from the former Soviet Union, who entered America as refugees. The researchers use the snowball method to recruit participants. Moreover, qualitative research methods, for instance, qualitative interviews, are used for collecting data.
The findings show that older Russian-speaking US immigrants find it extremely difficult to adapt to US culture. Hence, they alienate themselves and stick to their cultural heritage. The results also indicate that acculturation to host cultures is contingent on various life domains. Furthermore, increased American acculturation fosters the ease of adaptability, mentally, family wise, mental, and social areas. The authors give significant insight into the ineffectiveness of efforts aimed at promoting assimilation and biculturalism as strategies to encourage acculturation. Older Russian adults are more reluctant to change compared to children and working-age adults. The study provides significant insight into the influence of age on acculturation and adaptation. The findings can be used as the grounds for more research across all age domains.
Kuo, B. C. (2014). Coping, acculturation, and psychological adaptation among migrants: a theoretical and empirical review and synthesis of the literature. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine: An Open Access Journal, 2(1), 16-33.
The study tests the hypothesis, “Acculturation and adaptation are two inseparable and inevitable processes which help individuals to deal with stressful stimuli as well as the challenges experienced in their attempts to fit into new societies,” using an action research design. It is through adaptation that individuals acquire various culture-specific skills which help them to transition successfully into new cultural environments. The authors conduct a systematic review of previous literature to gain valuable insight on the topic. According to the research findings, immigrants are forced to display specific coping responses to handle the stress that arises due to the pressure for the cultural transition. Pre-migration and post-migration stressors are some of the critical stress stimuli that necessitate coping responses.
Peoples ability to cope with stress makes them more adaptable to cultural changes. The study indicates that the current corpus of research in the topic of adaptation and acculturation is quite piecemealed in the available empirical studies. Hence, the development of proper programmatic research on this area is contingent on the use of theory-based methods in empirical studies. However, the authors provide significant information on the relationship between acculturation and adaptation, which should be considered during the application and authentication of the theoretical approaches that will be used in future research.
Mahmood, H. (2014). An analysis of acculturative stress, sociocultural adaptation, and satisfaction among international students at a non-metropolitan university.
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Mahmood conducts action research to determine the correlation between acculturation and adaptation. The study is quantitative in nature and tests the hypothesis, “what are the impacts of increased levels of acculturative stress on the sociocultural adaptation of US immigrants.” The researcher uses surveys for data collection and specifically to determine how the levels of sociocultural adaptation and acculturative stress, affect college satisfaction among immigrant students at the Metropolitan University. They suggest that there is a close relationship between acculturation and adaptation. The latter is greatly influenced by the acculturation orientation of immigrants, the opinions held by the host society on various ethnic groups, as well as the existing interpersonal relationships between different groups. The results show that there is a negative association between the participants level of sociocultural adaptation and acculturative stress. In detail, when the levels of the former increase, students are more satisfied with college life while greater levels of acculturative stress decrease their satisfaction with college. Aside from this, effective interaction between students and their peers, teachers, and the community at large heightens their levels of satisfaction. However, the results of the study are non-generalizable since the factors that bring about satisfaction differ in young and older adults. I think the research provides valuable information which can be used as the basis for more research on the topic. However, there is a need for a more heterogeneous and larger sample size.
Sun, S., Hoyt, W. T., Brockberg, D., Lam, J., & Tiwari, D. (2016). Acculturation and enculturation as predictors of psychological help-seeking attitudes (HSAs) among racial and ethnic minorities: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of counseling psychology , 63 (6), 617.
The authors postulate that the lack of acculturation among US immigrants is the main cause of the existing health disparities in the nation., especially where mental healthcare is concerned. They also argue that it is crucial for mental care to be culturally encapsulated to various ethnic groups for the best healthcare outcomes. The authors conduct action research which not only investigates the relationship between acculturation and adaptation but their impacts on health as well. They test the hypothesis, “Peoples ability to adapt to the mainstream group as well as their adherence to a culture of heritage not only affect their attitudes towards healthcare but also determines whether or not they will seek it.”
Irrefutably, those who fail to adapt to host cultures suffer from acculturative stress, isolation, and identity confusion, which increases people’s likelihood to develop psychological problems. For individuals to achieve acculturation, they must undergo cross-cultural and psychological adaptation. A snowballing sampling method is employed in selecting the study participants. Furthermore, qualitative research methods, such as demographic questionnaires for data collection, are used. Important data on the gender, ages, nationality, educational backgrounds, and the factors that drive immigration.
The study concludes that there is a positive relationship between psychological adjustment and socio-cultural adaptation. Conclusively, the results of the study cannot be generalized since the recruitment approach used led to similar cohorts, with the same backgrounds. Hence, no significant differences were seen between the different categories of immigrants residing in the USA. Nonetheless, the information provided can be used to broaden the research on the impacts of immigrant involvement in faith communities on cross-cultural adaptation.
