Licenciatura

ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Intercultural Relations 29 (2005) 697–712 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijintrel

Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures
John W. BerryÃ
Psychology Department, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6 Accepted 10 July 2005

Abstract The theme of this conference focusses attention on conflict and negotiation. In this paper, Itake one example of these issues, and examine the cultural and psychological aspects of these phenomena that take place during the process of acculturation. During acculturation, groups of people and their individual members engage in intercultural contact, producing a potential for conflict, and the need for negotiation in order to achieve outcomes that are adaptive for both parties. Research onaculturation, including acculturation strategies, changes in behaviours, and acculturative stress are reviewed. There are large group and individual differences in how people (in both groups in contact) go about their acculturation (described in terms of the integration, assimilation, separation and marginalisation strategies), in how much stress they experience, and how well they adaptpsychologically and socioculturally. Generally, those pursuing the integration strategy experience less stress, and achieve better adaptations than those pursuing marginalisation; the outcomes for those pursuing assimilation and separation experience intermediate levels of stress and adaptation. Implications for public policy and personal orientations towards acculturation are proposed. With respect to theconference theme, since integration requires substantial negotiation, but results in the least conflict, the concepts and findings reviewed here can provide some guidance for the betterment of intercultural relations. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Acculturation; Intergroup relations; Immigrants

ÃTel.: +1 613 542 8095; fax: +1 613 533 2499.

E-mail address:berryj@king.igs.net. 0147-1767/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013

ARTICLE IN PRESS
698 J.W. Berry / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 29 (2005) 697–712

1. Introduction The theme of this conference is one of major importance in two senses. ‘‘Conflict, negotiation and mediation across cultures’’ can be understood at both thegroup and individual levels. At the group level, it engages the fundamental issue of how collectivities, be they empires, nation states, communities or institutions, work out how to relate to each other, ideally through a process of negotiation in order to avoid conflict. At the individual level, the focus is on how persons who are members of different groups work out how to live together, againthrough negotiation so that conflict is avoided. Probably the main concern of most people attending this conference is linked to current geopolitical events. We all ask: how can peoples of different cultural backgrounds encounter each other, seek avenues of mutual understanding, negotiate and compromise on their initial positions, and achieve some degree of harmonious engagement? This broad questionhas been addressed for centuries by many disciplines, and from many differing theoretical perspective. In my own work around the time of the shootings at Kent State University (Berry, 1968) I have sought to develop some insights into how two opposing political cultures in Australia understood each other’s position on the US American/Australian war in Vietnam, as a basis for furthering dialogue andthe avoidance of civil conflict. One party (the Australian Government) was of the view that anti-war militants were ‘‘just a few nuts’’. In contrast, those opposed to the war saw themselves as motivated by a concern for human life and human rights, rooted in an ethical position of mutual respect. Our research was intended to assess the motives and attitudes of the marchers in order to convey the...