PSY 3126 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Canada 2016 Census, Acculturation, Extraversion And Introversion
28 Apr 2018
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November 29, 2017
Living in Multicultural Worlds
Immigration in Canada
In the 2016 Canadian Census, 21.9% of the population reported being an immigrant or permanent resident
-Projected to rise to 30% by 2036
-Immigration tends to be greater towards Western nations
-Immigration is projected to increase due to decreasing birth rates - helps grow the population
•Ex. Japan has low birth rates, fertility rates, and low immigration rates, cause their population to be in decline
•Population growth tends to be viewed positively and is associated with economic growth
Immigration targets for 2017: 300 000 comprising…
-Economic immigrants: either bringing a lot of money to invest in Canada (high SES) or are educated and have
credentials (brought in to fill niches in the economy)
•Majority of immigrants
-Family class: family reunification
-Other: humanitarian/compassionate grounds
-Refugees: fleeing persecution and/or torture
Acculturation Research
Acculturation: process by which people migrate to and learn a culture that’s different from their heritage culture
Research on this topic is especially difficult - few commonalities occur for all acculturating individuals, which makes it
challenging to identify common patterns
-People migrate for different reasons (ex. As refugees, to seek wealth, to study, etc.)
-People migrate to different contexts (ex. Homogenous neighbourhoods, cultures that actively discriminate against
them, etc.)
-People’s heritage cultures vary in similarity to the culture of the new environment
-Individuals have different personalities, goals, motivations
What Happens When We Move
Terminology:
-Migrants: those who move from a heritage culture to a host culture
•Include sojourners (intend to only stay temporarily) and immigrants (indent to move permanently)
Migrating is often associated with stress
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November 29, 2017
Common phases of migration (acculturation curve):
-Honeymoon phase: positive feelings towards host culture
•Very excited, prospect of new opportunities
•NB: not always present - people might go straight to culture shock
-Culture shock: negative feelings towards host culture
•Culture shock: the feeling of being anxious, helpless, irritable, and in general, homesick that on experiences on
moving to a new culture
•Novelty and thrill wears off
•People realize there are differences and challenges
•Start experiencing difficulties, discrimination etc.
•May start feeling homesick
-Adjustment phase: increase in positive feelings towards host culture, but does not reach the same high as during
the honeymoon phase
•Start learning the routine and adjusting
•NB: not always present - people constantly live in the culture shock state where they have negative feelings
towards the host culture
-Makes an L-shaped curve
-More common when moving to homogenous populations, where you will always stand out
-Ex. Japan is 98% Japanese. Outsiders will always stick out
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-NB: same stages can be observed when moving back to a home country
•Honeymoon: excited to be back, see family, etc.
•Culture shock: realize you don’t fit in as well as you used to, don’t feel quite at home anymore
•Adjustment: gradually acclimate to the familiar life you once knew
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Who adjusts better?
Several factors that predict adjustment to new host culture:
-Cultural distance
-Cultural fit
-Acculturation strategies
Cultural Distance
Cultural distance: how much two cultures differ in their overall ways of life
-Greater distance = greater difficulty acculturating
Language: the closer one’s mother tongue is to English, the easier it is for them to learn English
-Important for accessing services, gaining social support, etc.
-There are many similarities between culture and language, so language is a good proxy for how familiar a person is
with a culture
-One of the best predictors of acculturative success
Similarity: the more similar one’s heritage culture is to the host culture, the less acculturative stress they experience
-Makes it easier to learn that activities of daily living
-Ex. More successful adjustment was seen among Malaysian exchange students who studied in Singapore than
those who studied in New Zealand
-Ex. Study looking at acculturation of various Indigenous tribes with Canadian culture found that those with more
social stratification and permanent residencies (more similar to Canadian culture) experienced less acculturative
stress than those with less social stratification and nomadic lifestyles
Cultural Fit
Cultural fit: the degree to which one’s personality is more similar to the dominant cultural values in the host culture
-Greater fit = less difficulty acculturating
-Evidence suggests that people who are high in extraversion fare well in largely extraverted cultures, but have
problems fitting in in less extraverted cultures
-People with more independent self-concepts suffer less distress in acculturating to the U.S. than those with more
interdependent self-concepts
Acculturation Strategies
Acculturation strategies: positive or negative attitudes towards one’s host or heritage cultures yield four different
acculturation strategies
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Document Summary
In the 2016 canadian census, 21. 9% of the population reported being an immigrant or permanent resident. Projected to rise to 30% by 2036. Immigration tends to be greater towards western nations. Immigration is projected to increase due to decreasing birth rates - helps grow the population: ex. Japan has low birth rates, fertility rates, and low immigration rates, cause their population to be in decline: population growth tends to be viewed positively and is associated with economic growth. Economic immigrants: either bringing a lot of money to invest in canada (high ses) or are educated and have credentials (brought in to ll niches in the economy: majority of immigrants. Acculturation: process by which people migrate to and learn a culture that"s different from their heritage culture. Research on this topic is especially dif cult - few commonalities occur for all acculturating individuals, which makes it challenging to identify common patterns. As refugees, to seek wealth, to study, etc. )
