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Sojourners

Temporary migrants (6 months-5 years) such as students, expat workers, or tourists. Motivated by specific goals like education or career.

Expatriate Workers

Professionals sent abroad for work, usually for economic rather than cultural reasons.

Push vs. Pull Factors

Push: war, persecution, poverty. Pull: better jobs, safety, education, improved quality of life.

Refugee (UN 1951 Convention)

A person forced to leave their country due to persecution based on race, religion, nationality, etc. A legal status. Acculturation (Redfield et al., 1936) Cultural change resulting from direct contact between groups, leading to changes in one or both cultures.

Psychological vs. Sociocultural Adaptation

Psychological: emotional well-being. Sociocultural: ability to adapt behaviorally to new norms.

Proactive Acculturation

Learning language, norms, making contact with locals, acquiring cultural knowledge

Defensive Acculturation

Sticking to native customs, discomfort with host culture, ethnocentrism.

Culturalization vs. Socialization

Culturalization: formal learning of norms.

Socialization: incidental or informal learning through contact.

EARN vs. LEARN Model EARN:

economic migrants focused on material gain and practical needs. LEARN: students and cultural sojourners focused on cultural learning, identity exploration, and adaptation.

Ward's ABC Model A:

Affect (well-being), B: Behavior (adaptation), C: Cognition (cultural learning).

Predictors of Psychological Adjustment

Social support, value fit, cultural similarity, realistic expectations, positive host attitudes.

Berry's Acculturation Strategies

Integration (best), assimilation, separation, marginalization. Vary by private vs. public domain.

Functional Specialization (Arends-Toth)

People apply different acculturation strategies in private vs. public life.

Bicultural Identity Theory (Benet-Martinez)

Individuals can develop blended or alternating identities based on context.

Enculturation vs. Acculturation

Enculturation: internalizing one's own culture.

Acculturation: acquiring a new cultural system.

Three Layers of Culture (Boski) Symbolic (events/artifacts), language (rules and use), and values (social norms).

Acculturative Stress

Psychological and physical strain from adapting to a new culture. Arises due to language barriers, job status changes, discrimination, legal limitations, cultural distance, and societal expectations.

Groups and Stress Students:

language and academics. Workers: fatigue, isolation. Expats: workplace adjustment

Culture Shock (Oberg, 1960)

Emotional reaction to unfamiliar culture, often with anxiety and disorientation.

Ward's Longitudinal Model

Psychological well-being improves over time; sociocultural adaptation remains steady.

Lysgaard's U-Curve

Stages: honeymoon -> crisis -> recovery. Considered overly simplistic.

Gullahorn's W-Curve

Extends the U-curve to include reentry shock after returning home.

Expat Adjustment (Hechanova et al., 2003)

Workplace adjustment linked to stress, satisfaction, and performance. More mental health support needed.

Bicultural Identity Integration (BII)

Refers to how bicultural individuals perceive their cultural identities: as compatible and integrated (high BII) or conflicting and separate (low BII).

High BII

Cultural identities are seen as compatible and blended. Individuals can move fluidly between cultures and maintain a hyphenated self-view (e.g., Mexican-American).

Low BII

Cultural identities are perceived as conflicting. Individuals compartmentalize identities or feel pressured to choose one culture over the other

Biculturalism is not uniform

External signs like bilingualism or having lived in both cultures do not necessarily mean someone has high BII. BII is an internal psychological experience.

Components of BII

1. Cognitive complexity, 2. Affective valuation, 3. Behavioral blending.

Cognitive Complexity

High BII individuals recognize complex, overlapping meanings and roles. Low BII individuals separate their identities.

Affective Valuation

Positive emotions toward both cultures support higher BII. Negative emotions like guilt or shame lower BII.

Behavioral Blending

High BII allows fluid behavior adaptation across cultures. Low BII individuals struggle with switching behaviors.

Openness to Experience

Linked to higher BII due to curiosity and willingness to explore complex cultural meanings.

Neuroticism

Associated with lower BII due to higher anxiety and emotional instability

Need for Cognitive

Closure Preference for structure and predictability is linked to lower BII.

Cultural Conflict in Family

More conflict between generations or cultures in the family leads to lower BII.

Cultural

Socialization Being raised to appreciate both cultures fosters higher BII.

Cultural Frame

Switching High BII individuals can switch cognitive frames between cultural contexts more easily.

Measuring BII

Through self-report scales measuring harmony vs. conflict, blended vs. compartmentalized identity, and behavioral fluidity.

Implications of High BII

Greater well-being, identity clarity, lower stress, and better adaptability in multicultural settings.

BII Summary

BII is about subjective cultural integration. It varies by personality, upbringing, and social environment

Psychology of Economic Immigration

A framework distinct from refugee or sojourner models, focusing on the unique motives and adaptation of economic migrants.

Limitations of Mainstream Acculturation Models

Existing models often based on students or refugees, not on economically motivated migrants.

Motivation of EARN Migrants

Primary goal is economic improvement. Cultural adaptation is instrumental, not identity-driven.

Cultural Learning vs. Culture Acquisition

Cultural learning = skills and behaviors. Culture acquisition = deep internalization of values and identity. Economic migrants usually engage in learning, not acquisition.

Partial Acculturation

Superficial adaptation in limited contexts (e.g., work) without broader cultural integration.

Ethnic Enclaves

Tightly-knit communities that support in-group socialization and reduce contact with the host society.

Selective Cultural Adaptation

Adopting host culture practices only when they serve instrumental purposes like employment

Host Expectations vs. Migrant Goals

Hosts often expect integration; migrants often focus on economic goals and ethnic recognition.

Psychological Benefits for Economic Migrants

Improved self-worth, pride in family support, and status within the ethnic community.

Psychological Costs for Economic Migrants

Isolation, identity tension, emotional detachment from host society.

Cultural Distance

Greater differences between home and host cultures lead to lower adjustment and greater reliance on enclaves.

Critique of Berry's Model

Boski argues that acculturation strategies are often constrained by external structures, not always chosen freely.

Structural Constraints on Acculturation

Factors such as discrimination, language barriers, and economic inequality shape migrant adaptation more than personal preference

Policy Implication

Support should prioritize legal aid, housing, labor rights, and mental health, rather than only cultural integration.

Identity and Success

Economic migrants derive identity and meaning from financial success and social mobility within their ethnic network.

Acculturation as Contextual

Adaptation strategies are not uniform; they vary based on context, function, and perceived benefit.

Boski's Core Argument

Economic immigrants operate with different assumptions, constraints, and motivations than traditional acculturation models recognize.

Remittances

Money sent by migrants to families in their home country. Central to the motivation of economic migration

Assimilation Pressure

Host societies may expect assimilation, but economic migrants may resist this due to in-group cohesion and differing goals.

Social Identity in Migration

Economic migrants maintain strong ethnic identity while minimally engaging with host identity.

Material Success vs. Cultural Integration

For many economic migrants, success is measured economically, not through cultural adaptation.

Contextualized Acculturation

Acculturation is shaped by political, economic, societal, and historical contexts of both host and heritage cultures.

Macrosystem

Societal-level factors like immigration policy, political climate, and ideology (e.g., multiculturalism vs. assimilation).

Exosystem

Institutional structures such as schools, hospitals, and workplaces that impact acculturation.

Microsystem

Immediate surroundings like family, peer groups, and neighborhoods

Chronosystem

Temporal aspects of acculturation; how it evolves over time or across generations.

Group vs. Individual Acculturation

Group: collective cultural change.

Individual: psychological change in values, identity, and behavior.

Power Dynamics in Acculturation

Majority-minority power imbalances influence acculturation outcomes and opportunities.

Acculturation (Berry's Model)

A dual process involving cultural maintenance and host culture participation.

Integration Strategy

Maintaining original culture while actively participating in host culture. Linked to best mental health outcomes.

Assimilation Strategy

Abandoning origin culture in favor of host culture.

Separation Strategy

Maintaining original culture and avoiding interaction with host culture

Marginalization Strategy

Losing contact with both origin and host cultures. Often leads to negative outcomes.

Psychological Adaptation

Self-esteem, mental health, and life satisfaction as outcomes of acculturation.

Sociocultural Adaptation

Functional skills such as language use, employment, and social interaction in the host culture.

Acculturation

Conditions Include personal traits (e.g., openness), group support, and host society's attitudes.

Domain Specificity

Acculturation varies across life areas (e.g., language, work, family).

Hybridity and Biculturalism

Modern research explores fluid, blended identities beyond fixed strategies.

Contextual Fluidity

People may switch acculturation strategies depending on context or life stage.

Applications of Acculturation

Theory Used in immigration policy, education, therapy, and workplace diversity programs