What is the difference between enculturation acculturation and assimilation?

Acculturation is retaining your own culture within a minority community in a country but adapt to some aspects of the majority culture.

Explanation:

Acculturation and assimilation are two very important concepts in sociology and anthropology that describe cross cultural effects on both minorities as well as majorities in societies that are multi ethnic and multi cultural in nature. Assimilation is a broader concept as described by sociologist Jean Piaget and refers to the manner in which people take new information.

Assimilation is a process whereby people of a culture learn to adapt to the ways of the majority culture.

If you belong to a minority community in a country and retain your own culture but cannot remain isolated and are affected by the majority culture in such a way that you adapt to some aspects of the majority culture, the process is referred to as acculturation.

Acculturation is the process whereby an individual from one cultural group learns and adopts elements of another cultural group, integrating them into his or her original culture. Although it can refer to any process of cultural integration, it is typically used to describe the ways in which an immigrant or nonmajority individual or group adopts cultural elements from the majority or mainstream culture, as the incentive is typically greater for acculturation to occur in this direction (see for a historical review of acculturation concepts).

Assimilation is one outcome of acculturation. It involves the complete adoption of the ways of life of the new cultural group, resulting in the assimilated group losing nearly all of its original or native culture.

Segmented assimilation describes a more complicated process of assimilation whereby an immigrant group does not assimilate entirely with mainstream culture but adopts aspects of other diverse cultural groups that are themselves outside mainstream culture (e.g., involvement in the drug culture; see Chapter 6 of this TIP and ).

Biculturalism occurs when an individual acquires the knowledge, skills, and identity of both his or her culture of origin and the mainstream/majority culture and is equally (or nearly equally) capable of social and cultural interaction in both societies.

Enculturation can denote a process whereby an individual adopts the culture that surrounds him or her (similar to acculturation), but the term has more recently been used to describe the process by which individuals come to value their native cultures and begin to learn about and adopt their native cultural lifeways.

• Categorized under Culture,Geography,Psychology | Difference Between Acculturation and Enculturation

The transmission of customs and beliefs of a particular group in the society occurs either through birth or contact with certain society with different customs and beliefs. This can either occur through acculturation or enculturation. Although they may be easily confused, they are different in several ways.

What is Acculturation?

This is the process of modifying cultural beliefs and customs of a group of people or an individual by borrowing traits from a different culture. It happens where;

• An infant gets exposed to more than one culture
• Prolonged contact with people of different cultural backgrounds

For instance, people who travel to another country for studies acquire some cultural practices.

What is Enculturation?

This is the process through which individual acquire values and norms of a culture through unconscious repetition, and is mostly see from birth. This happens through regular interaction with other people and is not forced nor deliberate. For instance, this can be seen in dressing habits whereby certain dressing habits are seen as a norm in some cultures and are not allowed in others.

Similarities between Acculturation and Enculturation

• Both are used in reference to cultural practices in the societies

Differences between Acculturation and Enculturation

Definition

Acculturation is the process of modifying cultural beliefs and customs of a group of people or an individual by borrowing traits from a different culture. On the other hand, enculturation is the process through which individual acquire values and norms of a culture through unconscious repetition, and mostly occurs from birth.

Cultures Involved

Acculturation involves two or more cultures. On the other hand, enculturation involves one culture.

Essence

While acculturation is not an essential survival requirement, enculturation is an essential survival requirement.

Results

While acculturation results in the modification of cultural practices, enculturation does not lead to modification of cultural practices.

Dominant culture

While the dominant culture influences other cultures in acculturation, any other cultural difference does not make a difference in enculturation.

Acculturation vs. Enculturation: Comparison Table

Summary of Acculturation vs. Enculturation

While acculturation is the process of modifying cultural beliefs and customs of a group of people or an individual by borrowing traits from a different culture and occurs in instances where an infant gets exposed to more than one culture or a result of prolonged contact with people of different cultural backgrounds, enculturation is the process through which individual acquire values and norms of a culture through unconscious repetition, and is mostly see from birth.