Back to and Beyond Berry’s Basics: The conceptualization, operationalization and classification of acculturation

Objectives

This study focuses on the different ways that acculturation styles can be measured among first-generation migrants in New Zealand. It also looks at the relationships between the various measurements and acculturation and adaptation outcomes. This research is useful for people interested in migrant adaptation and culturally diverse societies.

Outcomes

Findings show that how integrated and adapted immigrants are depends on the questions used to measure the concepts and which concepts are measured.

Despite the form of measurement, immigrants consistently prefer to be integrated and are well adapted to New Zealand.

More immigrants are considered integrated when asked about their contact with Kiwi culture than when asked about their personal adoption of Kiwi culture. Contact with the New Zealand culture was seen as more important than actually adopting it.

More immigrants see integration as their ideal form of acculturation rather than their actual form.

Immigrants stated that their behaviours aligned more with their ethnic culture than with Kiwi culture. Although they prefer their ethnic behaviours, they would like to be more similar to New Zealanders than they actually are.

You can access the article, "Back to and Beyond Berry’s Basics: The conceptualization, operationalization and classification of acculturation" here.