A Psychology of Immigration

Abstract

The discipline of psychology has much to contribute to our understanding of immigrants and the process of immigration. A framework is proposed that lays out two complementary domains of psychological research, both rooted in contextual factors, and both leading to policy and program development. The first (acculturation) stems from research in anthropology and is now a central part of crosscultural psychology; the second (intergroup relations) stems from sociology and is now a core feature of social psychology. Both domains are concerned with two fundamental issues that face immigrants and the society of settlement: maintenance of group characteristics and contact between groups. The intersection of these issues creates an intercultural space, within which members of both groups develop their cultural boundaries and social relationships. A case is made for the benefits of integration as a strategy for immigrants and for multiculturalism as a policy for the larger society. The articles in this issue are then discussed in relation to these conceptual frameworks and empirical findings.The study of immigrants and immigration is rooted in many disciplines: Anthropology, demography, economics, political science, and sociology have all predominated, whereas psychology has lagged somewhat behind. There is a clear role for psychology to play in this field, however, just as there is for the broader domain of ethnic and intercultural studies more generally. In claiming such a role, I have previously argued (Berry, 1990a) that there are two broad areas of potential contribution by psychology: acculturation and intergroup relations. The former has come into psychology from anthropology and has become a major focus of cross-cultural psychology (Berry, 1990b;Liebkind, 2000;Ward, 1996). The latter had its origins in sociology and has taken a central position in social psychology

Ageing well in a foreign land as a process of successful social identity change

“…In particular, Berry’s (Berry, 1997, 2001) model of acculturation is based on a distinction between two dimensions: (1) a preference for maintaining one’s cultural heritage, and (2) a preference for having contact and participating in the host community. It has been shown that integration acculturation strategies—whereby individuals maintain their cultural integrity but at the same time seek to take part in the host community—are associated with better adjustment.…”

“…Berry’s model (Berry, 1997, 2001) suggests that two less adaptive strategies of acculturation involve separation (which occurs when migrants wish to maintain their heritage culture but lack interest in interacting with other cultures) or marginalization (an acculturation strategy where there is little interest in cultural maintenance and a lack of willingness to interact with other cultures). Our results showed that, in line with a separation acculturation orientation, those who showed the highest levels of social isolation appeared not to have gained many new social identities after arrival in Australia (either as a result of perceived discrimination and exclusion, or due to language barriers).…”

¿Malos Para Aceptar la Diversidad? Predictores Socio-Demográficos y Psicológicos de las Actitudes Hacia el Multiculturalismo en Chile

“…Pero, en los últimos años han aparecido estudios que abordan esta esfera prescriptiva o normativa de la aculturación, esto es, las preferencias que la mayoría tiene hacia las orientaciones de aculturación elegidas por los inmigrantes (Rohmann, Florack & Piontkowski, 2006). Los miembros de la mayoría deben enfrentar dos cuestiones importantes: (a) aceptar o no que los grupos étnicos mantengan su identidad cultural y (b) aceptar o no que los grupos étnicos adopten la identidad cultural de la sociedad de destino (Berry, 2001). Según Montreuil y Bourhis (2001), la combinación de estas respuestas genera cinco actitudes diferentes que se vinculan con formas de relacionarse con los extranjeros y con el apoyo a políticas migratorias: (a) integración (la mayoría acepta que los inmigrantes mantengan su cultura de origen y adopten características de la cultura foránea); (b) asimilación (la mayoría prefiere que los inmigrantes abandonen su identidad cultural y adopten, en su lugar, la cultura foránea); (c) segregación (la mayoría prefiere que los inmigrantes mantengan su cultura originaria, pero que no adopten o transformen la cultura foránea); (d) exclusión (la mayoría no desea que los inmigrantes mantengan su propia cultura, pero tampoco quiere que adopten la cultura foránea) y (e) individualización (la mayoría prefiere tratar a los inmigrantes como individuos, en vez de percibirlos como pertenecientes a categorías culturales).…”

The Adjustment of Asian American Families to the U.S. Context: The Ecology of Strengths and Stress

“…Acculturation is the process whereby the values, attitudes, behaviors, and relationships of persons from one culture are modified as a result of contact with a different culture (Berry, 2001;Moyerman & Foreman, 1992). Specifically, the changes may mean that new immigrants take on different jobs, develop a new relationship with spouse and children, and acquire new parenting skills (Chung & Bemak, 2006).…”