CULTURE, ETHNICITY, AND ACCULTURATION 1

Culture, Ethnicity, and Acculturation

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Culture, Ethnicity, and Acculturation

While some people may assume that the three terms and especially culture and

ethnicity are similar in meaning and use, these three terms are different but interconnected

within a society or a group. As described by Romeo et al. (2018) ethnicity can be understood

as a condition of belonging to a particular ethnic group. An ethnic group is a group of people

with some defined and shared racial, religious, cultural, linguistic, tribal and national

qualities. Ethnicity is a fact of belonging to a group. For instance, being a Chinese, Hispanic,

African American, or Asian American. On the other hand, culture is a social behavior that

people follow. Culture is a social way of behaving expressed by an individual or a group and

includes traditional practices passed through generations including habits, arts, beliefs,

knowledge, capabilities, customs, and laws. In particular, culture is the manifestation of

human intellectual achievement marked by their ideas, social behavior, and customs.

Therefore, culture can be influenced by ethnicity.

While ethnicity is a fact, culture is a behavior or belief and may be changed. As

defined by Berry (2019) acculturation is the process of individual or group changes in

behavior and culture due to interactions with other cultures. For instance, the

Americanization of African Americans during and after the slavery era. It is a process of

assimilation of one cultures mostly the minor one into another culture, typically the most

dominant culture. This process involves the uptake of certain cultural practices and behaviors

by a group due to influence of the dominant culture.

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References

Berry, J. W. (2019). Acculturation: A personal journey across cultures. Cambridge

University Press.

Romero, C. B. A., Laroche, M., Aurup, G. M., & Ferraz, S. B. (2018). Ethnicity and

acculturation of environmental attitudes and behaviors: A cross-cultural study with

Brazilians in Canada. Journal of Business Research, 82, 300-309.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.09.009