ACCULTURATIVE STRESS
Cross-cultural psychologists have used the term acculturative stress to describe the strain
experienced by individuals who move from one culture to another. John Berry (1994) has
developed a framework for understanding the factors that contribute to acculturative stress. This
activity involves the application of Berry’s model to your own acculturation experience in order
to better understand the phenomenon of acculturative stress.
Directions: Think about an experience you have had acculturating or adjusting, to another
culture. You may have traveled outside of your country or to an unfamiliar region of your own
country. Perhaps you have spent time with an ethnic group or social class different from your
own. For people entering an unfamiliar workplace, adjusting to that workplace may even inolve
acculturation. In the space provided below, describe your acculturation experience. Then review
the description of Berry’s model and answer the questions that follow in order to analyze your
own experience using Berry’s approach.
Description of your acculturation experience:
ACCULTURATION
EXPERIENCE
STRESSORS
ACCULTURATIVE
STRESS
Much
Many
High
Little
Few
Low
FACTORS MODERATING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCULTURATION AND STRESS
Mode of acculturation: Integration, Assimilation, Separation, Marginalization
Phase of acculturation: Contact, Conflict, Crisis, Adaptation
Nature of larger society: Multicultural vs. Assimilationist; Prejudice & Discrimination
Characteristics of acculturating group: Age, Status, Social Support
Characteristics of acculturating individual: Appraisal, Coping, Attitudes, Contact
According to Berry’s framework above, previous experience adjusting to cultural change impacts
the degree to which one experiences stressors, which in turn influences acculturative stress. For
example, if you had a great deal of acculturation experience you may be more likely than
someone with little experience to view learning new customs as an exciting opportunity rather
than a source of stress. Please note that in Berry’s framework several additional factors influence
the relationships among acculturation experience, stressors, and acculturative stress. These
moderating factors (listed above) include the mode of acculturation, the phase of acculturation,
the nature of the larger society, characteristics of the acculturating group, and characteristics of
the acculturating individual.
1. Acculturation experience: To what extent were you familiar with the process of adjusting
to another culture prior to the experience you described above?
2. Stressors: To what extend did you experience stress during acculturation? How do you
react to feeling stressed?
Moderating Factors:
1. Mode of acculturation: Berry (1994) describes four modes of acculturation. Which mode,
or acculturation strategy, you choose depends on the degree to which you strive to
maintain your own cultural distinctiveness (Question 1) and the degree to which you
strive to relate to other social groups (Question 2). Research on acculturation seems to
indicate that individuals who strive for integration experience the least acculturative
stress, followed by those who opt for assimilation and separation strategies. Individuals
who choose marginalization strategies, relinquishing ties to their own cultural group
while failing to establish contact with other social groups, experience the most
acculturative stress. Berry and Sam (1997) suggest further that the acculturation strategy
one chooses may vary over time and may be constrained by policies or practices of the
culture to which you are adjusting.
Q2: Is it considered to be of value to
maintain relationships with other
groups?
YES
NO
Q1: Is it considered to be of value to
maintain cultural identity and
characteristics?
YES
NO
Integration
Assimilation
Separation
Marginalization
Which of the four modes above best characterizes your acculturation strategy? Please explain.
2. Phase of acculturation: Acculturative stress may vary depending on the individual’s
stage of adjustment. According to the popular U-curve model, stress is lower during the
earliest stages of contact, most severe once the “honeymoon” stage has ended, and then
decreases again after the adaptation process is well underway. Recent research by Ward
and colleagues (1998) has challenged this idea, suggesting that adjustment difficulties are
greatest upon entry and decrease over time. During what stage of adjustment process did
you experience the most acculturative stress?
3. Nature of larger society: Was the culture to which you were adjusting welcoming of
diversity or was there pressure to conform to cultural norms? Please explain.
4. Characteristics of acculturating group: To what extent was your own group valued by the
culture to which you were acculturating?
5. Characteristics of acculturating individual: What skills, attitudes or personality traits
might have increased or decreased your level of acculturative stress?
6. Summarize your conclusions about the factors influencing your level of acculturative
stress.