Acculturative Stress

Acculturation or adaptation to a new culture involves changes in multiple areas of functioning (e.g., values, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, etc.), and for individuals, families, and groups engaged in the acculturation process, these adjustments are often experienced as stressful. The stress that emerges from difficulties in acculturation is referred to as acculturative stress. Distinct from general experiences of stress, acculturative stress is understood to stem from differences in culture and language between the acculturating individual and the host culture or country. Furthermore, acculturative stress is also believed to be more closely related to symptoms of anxiety than depression and associated more with the presence of negative emotions rather than the absence of positive emotions.

Although the experience of acculturative stress is relevant for any individual living in multiple cultural worlds, which is the case for many U.S.-born ethnic and racial minority individuals, current conceptualizations of acculturative stress have emerged largely from empirical studies with immigrant groups. Within this body of literature, some of the variables that are hypothesized to be related to acculturative stress include majority language ability, assimilation pressure, acculturation style, demographic factors, distance between culture of origin and host culture, pre-immigration and migration experiences and intrafamilial acculturation levels/conflicts.