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IN THE LABYRINTH OF INTEGRATION
Challenges and psychological aspects of the acculturation and integration
Life abroad can be exciting but a thorny path – it can open up new possibilities, expand perspectives, instigate personal development and the achievement of important goals, but it is inevitably followed with many expected and less expected challenges, conflicts and obstacles. Successful adaptation to the new environment depends highly on the comprehension of the complexity of situation the individual is in, which further enables setting realistic expectations from oneself and others and taking a proactive stance. In this text, I will sketch current psychological approach about the process of acculturation and adaptation that goes beyond popular, but oversimplified, concept of “culture shock”- with an aim to offer you a kind of "psychological map" as a help for better “navigation” through everyday life in a foreign country.
What is acculturation?
The dominant concept in early research and popular literature is the “culture shock” that describes anxiety, confusion and disorientation people experience in the process of initial adjustment to an unfamiliar environment Dealing with this anxiety in relation to time and different phases of adjustment to the new environment are known as the stage theories of “culture shock, which were stating that at the beginning of encounter with new culture just few problems are present, followed by more serious problems, and at the end a more positive long-term adaptation is achieved.
However, past experiences have shown that many migrants, even after a few decades of life in another country, have not adapted to the new culture, as well as, that there are successfully integrated immigrants who have not experienced the "shock". Besides, the "culture shock" theories have attributed the cultural changes, as well as the responsibility for the successful adaptation, to migrants only. In fact, experiences from the ever increasing global migrations and numerous studies have shown that successful adaptation depends crucially on immigration policy of the host country, and that the cultural changes are two-ways process - because the host country has been changing gradually due to the presence and growth in the number of immigrants. For these reasons, contemporary theories have employed the concept of acculturation to refer to the cultural changes resulting from these group encounters – on the group or society level. On the individual level, the focus is on how individuals who have developed in one cultural context manage to adapt to new contexts that result from migration, taking into account the entire spectrum of situational and individual factors influencing this process. Therefore, the concepts of psychological acculturation and adaptation are employed to refer to the psychological changes and eventual outcomes that occur as a result of individuals experiencing acculturation.
Acculturation and adaptation conceptual framework
Conceptual framework of acculturation and adaptation is presented in the Figure bellow. On the left side in the figure are situational (group) variables, while to the right are predominantly person variables that are all influencing the process of psychological acculturation, and as a result lead to adaptation.
Each migrant's story is an unique story. For its understanding, it is necessary to consider a mix of contextual and individual factors, both before and during the migration process. Situational factors, such as ethnographic characteristics (language, religion, values, norms, customs ...), political situation, economic conditions and demographic factors of the country of origin and the host country are the basis for evaluating the degree of cultural distance, as well as the reasons and motivation for migration.
Cultural distance lies in the differences between the two cultures in contact, where greater cultural differences lead to more difficulties. Cultural distance does not depend only from the cultural background of migrant, but also from his personal values, beliefs, political and/or religious affiliations, and is measured actually as a degree of a “fit” between an individual and environment. Greater dissimilarities demands greater cultural learning and adjusting from acculturating individual.
Migration motivation can range from involuntary such as in cases with refuges (“push” motivation) to voluntary as with international students and expats (“pull” motivation), while expectations can range from negative to excessive. As it is expected those with high "push" motivation have more psychological adaptation problems, but also those with high "pull" motivation can have almost similar number of problems. In the case of expats and international students, as their motivation is voluntary and goal oriented, one would expect that they should have relatively easy adaptation. However, highly proactive migrants can have very high or almost unrealistic expectations, which, when are not met, lead to greater stress. Additionally, as their stay is usually temporary with an intention to return home, they may underestimate the importance of establishing interpersonal relationships, learning the language or other moderating factors that are known to enhance positive adaptation.
Other individual characteristics, such as age, gender, education, language skills, work experience, economic and marital status, personality traits, and so on, can have various influence on the process of acculturation. However, for understanding their effects, it is important to view them in relation to the new environment. For example, high education and professional status present a resource per se, but in the cases of certain professions, due to the complexity or impossibility for the recognition of degrees and significantly higher criteria in language skills, migrants can experience a loss of professional and economic status - which obviously has a negative influence on adaptation.
The very possibility of immigration and its further course is highly influenced by immigration policies of the “host” country, its immigration history, as well as by the dominant attitudes towards immigration in general and to specific immigrant groups. High institutional barriers (visas requirements, work permits, nostrification possibilities...) and potential experience of hostility, discrimination and prejudices, as expected, significantly complicate the process of acculturation.
Once in the new country, successful “juggling” of all above mentioned influences depends further on the availability of social support and the various coping strategies and resources that individuals could use in dealing with the problems and obstacles they encounter. These are the factors that could be influenced the most and improved during the course of stay, especially if they are combined with the right acculturation strategy – which I will discuss next.
Integration, separation, assimilation and marginalization
Acculturation strategies in a foreign country have substantial and consistent relationship with positive adaptation. There are two fundamental dimension of acculturation: (a) maintenance of own home cultural identity and (b) maintenance of relations with other groups. Combined, they result in four acculturation strategies, defined as:
1. Integration, which occurs when the individual maintains own culture and is also eager to engage in daily interactions with the host society.
2. Separation, which occurs when the individual chooses to maintain own culture and avoid relationships with host culture.
3. Assimilation, which occurs when the individual ignores own culture and value relationships and maintenance with their host culture.
4. Marginalization, which occurs when the individual neither values the home nor the host culture.
Almost every study confirms that integration is the most successful strategy (which involves two positive orientations), marginalization the least (involving two negative orientations), and assimilation and separation intermediate, as they involve one negative and one positive orientation. However, although these strategies are described from the individual perspective, assuming the freedom of choice for preferred strategy, integration can only be successfully pursued by the members of non-dominant groups when the host society is open and inclusive towards cultural diversity and prepared to adapt national institutions to better meet the needs of all groups living in the society.
The current official Austrian immigration strategy is making great efforts to encourage integration, as evidenced by a number of organizations focused on working with migrants, projects of Integration Fund and, in recent years, increased demands and possibilities for learning German language. The efforts of the state are evident, but the nature of the process of the integration is such that it requires a lot of time, so that the results can be felt in everyday life and the mutual interaction of the population.
Psychological acculturation
Depending on the severity and level of difficulty, obstacles, and "cultural conflicts" that an individual feels in the network of, above mentioned, situational and individual factors, there are three different groups of potential psychological changes in the process of psychological acculturation: "behavior shifts," "acculturative stress" and "psychopathology".
Behavior shifts considers changes that are relatively easy to accomplish, through the process of learning new behavioral repertoire and social skills that are appropriate for the new cultural context. This can also include some unlearning of aspects of behavioral repertoire that are no longer appropriate, and it may be followed with some moderate “culture conflict” in cases where discordant behaviors create difficulties for the individual. When serious conflict exists and individuals cannot easily change their repertoire, they are experiencing “culture shock” or acculturative stress. This condition is characterized by a feeling of disorientation, increased anxiety and confusion that is often accompanied by moderate psychological problems (e.g. psychosomatic), making it difficult to learn new skills, but the old ways of solving problems are largely preserved. In the situations where the intensity, speed and extent of changes and requirements in the new environment, exceed the acculturating individual’s capacity to cope, psychopathological changes can develop – such as severe forms of depression, phobias and panic attacks, which prevents person from normal functioning. It is possible that the same person experiences all three groups of the changes in the various stages of the process of acculturation.
Adaptation
Finally, as a result and outcome of psychological acculturation is the more long-term adaptation that may be achieved - as adaptation refers to the relatively stable changes that occurs in individual in response to the environment. However, adaptation may not necessarily improve the “fit” between individual and environment (that would lead to adjustment), but may contain resistance, attempts to change environment or withdrawal and being unable to cope in the new culture. Besides the positive and negative valence of the concept of adaptation, it is also multifaceted - with distinctions between psychological, sociocultural and economic adaptation.
Importance of economic adaptation is needless to stress, since in the face of existential fears and survival struggles, one can hardly address other aspects of adaptation. Economic adaptation is highly variable depending on the individual financial resources, migration motivation, accessibility to jobs market and work permits, perception of relative deprivation, loss of professional and economic status that is frequently experienced in new society…Common thing, however, are generally higher costs of living (due to the relocation costs, starting anew, more frequent travel arrangements, support of family members whether in home or host countries…), which additionally challenge the process of acculturation.
Psychological adaptation refers to a set of internal psychological outcomes including good mental-health, self-esteem, identity consolidation, and the sense of well-being and personal satisfaction in the new context. Sociocultural adaptation refers to a set of external outcomes that are linking the individual to the new environment, including cultural knowledge, social skills, interpersonal and intergroup relations, and family and community relations. Although they are highly correlated, psychological and sociocultural adaptation are distinct in the way that they usually have different time courses, as psychological problems frequently increase soon after contact, followed by a variable decrease over time, while sociocultural adaptation has more linear improvement over time. Good psychological adaptation is predicted by personality variables, life change events and social support, while good sociocultural adaptation is predicted by cultural knowledge, intergroup attitudes, and degree of contact. Both aspects of adaptation are usually predicted by minimal cultural distance and the successful pursuit of the integration acculturation strategy.
The key to successful integration
The reason I have shared this theoretical framework is not to “scare” or overwhelm you, but to convey a message: “don’t be hard on yourself”. You are in a very complex situation, having to deal with so many different influences and challenges. A prerequisite for the successful integration is an understanding and awareness of the complexity of the situation you are in, which further allows you to set realistic expectations from yourself and others.
By setting realistic expectations, you can avoid the tendency to underestimate difficulties and blame yourself for experiencing some “failures” (which are almost inevitable), or, on the other hand, the tendency to overestimate difficulties and blame others. Both “blaming” approaches consume energy necessary for active coping with challenges and constructive problem solving. Your path can be very rewarding and your potentials can be realized to the fullest if you opt for a strategy of integration, take proactive approach, show willingness to continue learning – as well as readiness to ask for a support from those who were walking similar path and understand what you are going through.
The psychological aspect of integration, although "emotionally charged", really boils down to continuing learning and developing awareness. After all, the identity of the culture of origin is the result of learning the culture in which we were born, while acculturation implies learning other cultures. The difference is that the first culture learning happened without conscious effort and freedom of choice, while learning other cultures is opposite. If you embrace efforts for further learning and persevere, you will discover that you are in opportune situation to integrate or choose what is best for you from both “worlds”. And not only that! This path of transformative learning, sooner or later, leads to the insight that our knowledge is actually socially and culturally constructed, and that beneath cultural and national differences, which are sometimes presented as “unbridgeable gaps”, “us” and “them”, “enemies “and “allies”, are very similar people who were “accidentally” learning different things from their environment, depending on the time and place of birth. With these attitudes, you can proudly realize that you are walking on a path with many others in this current era of massive migration and globalization, who are becoming a driving force in the evolution of humanity towards the spread of pluralism, tolerance and global citizenship - and thus toward more peaceful, humane and just world.
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