Models of acculturation
IB Psychology· Sociocultural approach· 11 min read
1. Core concept
Acculturation is the psychological and cultural change that happens when people have extended contact with a culture other than their own — for example immigrants, refugees or long-stay students. Berry's model maps it with two questions: do you want to keep your heritage culture, and do you want to engage with the new one? The answers give four strategies — integration (both), assimilation (new only), separation (heritage only) and marginalisation (neither) — and the strategy adopted is linked to how much 'acculturative stress' a person experiences.
2. Key studies
IB Psychology answers must be supported by named studies. Learn these to cite as evidence:
Ferguson, Ferguson, and Ferguson (2015)
Urban Zambian adolescents showed 'remote acculturation' — taking on UK, US and South African influences through media rather than migration — splitting into distinct 'Westernised Multicultural' and 'Traditional' groups. — Applies an acculturation model, with integration-like and separation-like patterns emerging, and extends it to cultural contact without physically moving.
3. Evaluation (AO3)
Strength — organises a complex experience — The two-question framework turns messy migration experiences into four clear, comparable strategies that help predict differences in well-being.
Limitation — tidy categories, blurry reality — People often sit between strategies or shift over time and context, so the four fixed boxes can oversimplify what is really a fluid, ongoing process.
4. Scope
5. Common Pitfalls
Wrong move:
Acculturation is the same as enculturation, and 'assimilation' is just another word for acculturation.
Why:
A frequently penalised misconception in IB Psychology exams.
Correct move:
Acculturation is change after contact with a SECOND culture; enculturation is learning your FIRST culture. Assimilation is only ONE acculturation strategy (adopting the new culture and dropping the heritage one) — not the whole process.
Going deeper
- Enculturationenculturation is the contrasting process (learning your first culture) and is often confused with acculturation (SOC_6).