Acculturation and Adaptation

This chapter describes some results of a study in which the relationship between acculturation and stress experienced by young refugees in a quite monocultural host society was investigated. Pre- and postmigration experiences and the concomitant acculturation attitudes and degree of acculturation are examined and related to acculturative stress. The relationship between the concrete acculturation experience of individuals and the resulting acculturative stress depends on a variety of moderating factors, including the nature of the host society. Within cross-cultural psychology there is an increasing interest in the psychological adaptations individuals make when they move between cultures. Changing identification patterns within and across ethnic boundaries modify the self-constructs and the value systems of individuals. However, self-negation entailing suppression of anger and ambivalence may have its own psychological price, with relief often found in somatization, a common form of psychopathology among Asians.