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SAQ sample: Acculturation

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  • SAQ sample: Acculturation

The following sample is for the question: Explain acculturation with reference to one study.

The sample below is an exemplary response.

An annotated copy of the sample response can be found at the bottom of the page.

What is this question asking?

  • The term “acculturation” must be defined in some detail.
  • A study should be chosen which clearly addresses some aspect of acculturation.
  • There should be an explicit link between the study and the concept of acculturation – in other words, it should be stated what the study teaches us about acculturation.

Sample response

Acculturation is the cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between two or more cultural groups. When moving to another culture, individuals make choices, both consciously and unconsciously, to what extent they will maintain their own culture versus adopting the culture of their new home country. Berry argued that there are different acculturation strategies.  One is assimilation – when a person adopts the cultural behaviours and values of the new culture. If they do this while maintaining their original culture as well, this is called integration. If a person fails to integrate into their new culture and maintains their own culture, this is a form of isolation in society.  If the person fails to integrate into the new culture and also loses contact with their home culture, they can experience what Berry called marginalization.

Psychologists recognize that the process of acculturation can be stressful for people.  This is referred to as acculturative stress - the psychological, physiological, and social difficulties of acculturation, often resulting in anxiety or depression. The result is a decrease in one’s mental health. This is often experienced by immigrants when they move to a new country and they try to balance the culture in which they were enculturated and the new culture into which they are trying to acculturate.

Miranda and Matheny (2000) carried out a study to see which factors most affect acculturative stress in Latino immigrants in the USA.  They used a sample of 200 immigrants and had them complete a questionnaire to test their level of acculturative stress and several factors that might influence it.  The study found that immigrants with effective coping strategies, good proficiency in English and a strong family structure were less likely to experience acculturative stress.  The study shows that there are many protective factors that influence the extent to which a person acculturates effectively.  This would then have a positive effect on their mental health.

321 words

What are common problems with this response?

  • The term “acculturation” is not defined or the definition is overly simplistic. Simplistic definitions often use the term to define itself.
  • The response focuses on enculturation, rather than on acculturation.
  • The study is not described in terms of the aim, procedure and results.
  • The study is not explicitly linked to the concept of acculturation.

Annotated student copy