Immigrants, Acculturation of

Aida B. Balsano

Individuals' healthy behavior and development result from mutually beneficial exchanges between them and their contexts, as well as from a goodness of fit between the two (e.g., see Lerner, 2002, for discussion). Migrants' ability (or inability) to adjust to a new cultural setting is often discussed in terms of their acculturation to the new context. Acculturation has been described as a change in cultural patterns held by an individual due to conflicts and negotiations that occur while the individual is adjusting to a new cultural setting (Berry, 1997; Teske & Nelson, 1992). How well an individual has acculturated to the culture of his of her new host depends on the extent to which that individual has retained cultural patterns of the context within which he or she developed prior to migration and the extent to which the individual is ready to accept patterns of the new culture. Based on where ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.