Acculturative Stress & Berry's Model (SL IB Psychology)

What is acculturative stress?

• 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)
• Acculturative stress occurs when non-natives settling into a new country find that the dominant culture (i.e. the culture into which they have moved) is one which causes them difficulties and which may be misaligned with their own cultural values, norms, beliefs, customs and behaviours
  • For example, in other countries where the pace of life is slower, people moving from the UK would find a restricted amount of 24/7 access to shops and dining, have to get used to different meal times (Mediterranean cultures have siestas during the day so tend to have later dinner times, sometimes not sitting for a meal until 8-9pm onwards), or recognise that some religious holidays may be observed more often and with more significance
• Other examples of acculturative stress might occur if non-natives cannot speak the language of the dominant culture; when they are trying to find suitable employment and/or education; searching for ingredients to cook dishes from their original culture

What is Berry’s Model?

• Berry (2008) suggested a theory of acculturation based on four strategies that individuals use when acculturating to the dominant culture
• He claimed that acculturation is a bi-directional process, with both the original culture and the dominant culture being affected by it
• Berry’s four acculturation strategies are as follows:

STRATEGY	EXPLANATION
ASSIMILATION	When individuals do not wish to maintain their own, original culture and instead seek daily interactions with people from the dominant culture
INTEGRATION	When individuals wish to interact with the dominant culture, while maintaining their own identity as well
SEPARATION	When individuals wish to maintain their own culture and do not wish to integrate, therefore they avoid contact with the dominant culture
MARGINALISATION	When individuals have no interest in integration or assimilation into the dominant culture, even though they have lost their own

• According to Berry, the most successful and productive strategy is ‘integration’,  as it allows the individual to explore and enjoy the dominant culture whilst still maintaining a sense of their cultural identity
• According to Berry, the least successful strategy (and one likely to lead to acculturative stress) is ‘marginalisation’, as it involves a total negation of culture which the individual may not always be able to control
  • For instance, in a situation where an individual has moved to another country or culture without choice, this might result in marginalisation
  • One example of this might be a child who has relocated because of their parent’s choosing to move to another country or a part of the country with a distinctly different culture
  • As a result, the child may grow up not wanting to integrate with the new culture and may also lose their own cultural identity from having to move away from their original culture

Evaluation of Berry’s Model

Strengths

• Berry devised the model after conducting self-report research with immigrants which gives it a good level of internal validity
• The model has good application and could be used to help non-native residents, particularly those in need, settle into and adapt to a new, unfamiliar culture

Weaknesses

• The model is rather vague and generalised with its use of broad categories: individual differences may mean that it does not apply to everyone
• The research does not account for people who have a mixed cultural heritage e.g. parents from two different cultures who have moved into a dominant culture