Acculturation

Acculturation, adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture, results from the contact between two or more different cultural groups and their members. The encounters with the representatives of other cultures can lead to cultural, psychological, and even physical changes that can be observed at both individual and social levels. As far as the physical influence is concerned, novel dietary preferences or attitudes to physical activities such as sport determine what the acculturated individual looks like.

Cultural changes encompass the use of new languages and cultural norms in one’s life, whereas the psychological alterations concern, among others, behavioral changes in the way individuals act. Acculturation is often discussed by taking into account the adaptation of language, customs, or values embedded in a dominant group by a ...