Acculturation

ACCULTURATION

by Antonio C. Antonio

March 9, 2015

Every society has its own distinct culture.  Constant exposure to other cultures will cause different cultures to influence each other or even fuse to form another culture or sub-culture.  This long-term exposure could lead to either acculturation or assimilation.  Acculturation is more likely to happen when societies share common and mutual traits or identify themselves with the same collective goals and aspirations.

Acculturation is a process in which members of one cultural group adopt the beliefs and behaviour of another group.  Acculturation is, as a more common description, the borrowing of specific cultural traits between two distinct societies.  It explains the process of cultural and psychological changes that results following the meeting of two or more cultures.  Such cultural and psychological changes often results in changes to culture, customs, and social institutions.  Common apparent changes come in the form of food, clothing, and language.

The concept of acculturation finds relevant application in the fields of psychology, anthropology and sociology.  Environmental science, being multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary by nature, traverses these fields.  It is also said that environment and man are inseparable and interdependent elements in an ecosystem.  Socio-cultural concepts are therefore important to consider in environment and natural resources management studies; specifically, but not limited to, the concept of acculturation.

Just my little thoughts…

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