What is Acculturation?
Acculturation is the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between two or more cultural groups. At the individual level, it involves changes in a person's behavior.
What are the Types of Acculturation?
Integration
Separation
Assimilation
Marginalization
Note:
It is not necessary to define all four types of Acculturation! Mention all four and then define the relevant ones. For Shah et al., Assimilation and Integration are relevant and should be defined.
What is Acculturative Stress (Culture Shock)?
Acculturative stress is the psychological impact of having to adapt to a new culture. As with other forms of stress, long-term facultative stress also may lead to reduced physical and mental health.
What was the Shah Et Al Study (2011)?
Aim?
The aim was to study the association between acculturation and obesity in male migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates.
Method?
The participants of the study were a random sample of 1,375 South Asian male migrant workers from the mandatory health visa screening centre in the UAE. The most common occupations of these workers were drivers, laborers, agricultural workers and construction workers. The organizers of the study also took a control group of men of the same age in their cultures of origin (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). They compared and noted down BMI’s of the migrant worker group and the comparison group, over some time.
Results?
The results of the study showed that migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates had a significantly higher BMI. The longer they stayed in the UAE, the higher their BMI became. The Prevalence of obesity was higher in migrants than in the comparison group. For example, it was double than the Pakistani participants.
How does Shah Et Al show Acculturation?
Through the results of this study, Acculturation is better understood. The migrants had assimilated into the new culture to a certain extent, as they developed new eating habits. However, other parts of their culture were not changed as much; therefore, they can be considered integrated (as opposed to assimilated) into the new culture. It is also possible that migrants went through acculturative stress, as when adapting to the new culture, physical health could be reduced.
Potential SAQS:
(These are taken from Travis Dixon’s IB Psych Paper 1 Question Bank: https://www.themantic-education.com/ibpsych/2019/04/23/exam-question-bank-paper-1-sociocultural-approach/)
Describe one effect of acculturation on human behavior.