Key idea: People who live between two cultures can keep one, both or neither. Research asks which strategy goes with the best outcomes.
Berry's four strategies
1
Integration
Keep your heritage culture and join the new one.
2
Assimilation
Give up the heritage culture, join the new one.
3
Separation
Keep the heritage culture, stay apart from the new one.
4
Marginalisation
Lose touch with both cultures.
Integration · Assimilation · Separation · Marginalisation
Nguyen and Benet-Martínez (2013) combined 83 studies with over 23,000 people. The more bicultural people were, the better their psychological and social adjustment.
What HL adds: The culture extension: the same strategy can work differently depending on how welcoming the receiving culture is, so ask about both groups in any Paper 3 source.
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Key idea: Many studies agree that integration goes with better adjustment; the direction of cause is less clear.
Strengths
- 83 studies, over 23,000 people
- Same pattern in ICSEY
- Many different groups
Limitations
- Correlational
- Self-report
- Discrimination limits choice
Well-adjusted people may find it easier to join two cultures, so good adjustment could come first.
Watch out: Correlation, not cause. Say what else could explain the link.