Theory of Acculturation

Millions of people cross cultural boundaries each year. Immigrants and refugees seek a new life away from familiar surroundings, along with various groups of temporary sojourners—from employees of multinational corporations, missionaries, diplomats, and military personnel to professors, researchers, high school and college students, musicians and artists, and doctors and nurses. Although unique in individual circumstances, all strangers in a new cultural environment embark on the common project called acculturation, commonly defined as the process of change in individuals whose primary learning has taken place in one culture and who learn, acquire, and internalize traits from another culture. Even relatively short-term sojourners must be concerned with building at least a minimum level of competence to carry out their daily-life activities in ways similar to the native ...