Acculturation In American Culture

Acculturation could be understood as the process of cultural and psychological change that results following interaction between cultures. This effect of this interaction happens on the group and individual level. According to Berry (2005), “At the group level, it involves changes in social structures and institutions and in cultural practices. At the individual level, it involves changes in a person’s behavioral repertoire” (p. 698-699). The cultural and psychological result of acculturation is a long-term process, and requires some level of adaptation between the cultured groups. Also, this effect possibly results in a direct change of a particular culture through the dominance over another culture. For example, culture learning each other’s

Not only has their been acculturation between groups but it has been strategically used for economic development. Acculturation is best maximized when both cultural are gaining experiences and/or knowledge from the exchanging culture that can enrich their own culture. An example of this type of interaction derives from an individual rag- to - riches story that occurred between the White American and Hip-Hop cultures. Sean “Jay Z” Carter, well know Hip Hop artist grew up in Mercy project housing in New York; he was signed to a recording deal in the 1990s where he used his multimedia platform to share things about his culture to this masses. In his career he continues to share his culture with the masses in exchange of learning about the dominant culture’s way of entrepreneurship and the music industry. This mutually beneficial exchange has enlighten the masses on some of the cultural experiences of a African American male from the inner city, has earned the record company a lot of money, and has equipped this music artist with social capital he can enrich his marginalized culture with. According to Berry

Religious traditionalism is obedience to religious tradition, especially in its systems, beliefs, and practices. Also, the United States is an individualistic culture embodying individualistic ethos such as values and strong faith in individual merit. Economic growth occurred in the U.S. during the Protestant Reformation, and has been booming ever since. According to Uhlmann and Sanchez-Burks (2014), “10 times as many Americans are extremely religious as one would expect based on the economic prosperity of the United States.” (p. 995). This extreme allegiance to religious traditionalism has created the platform that the U.S. capitalizes on to have economic