Mutuality in acculturation: Toward an integration

This paper focuses on processes and consequences of intergroup interactions in plural societies, focusing primarily on majorityminority mutuality in acculturation orientations. We examine commonalities and differences among conceptualizations and models addressing issues of mutuality. Our review includes the mutual acculturation model (Berry, 1997), the Interactive Acculturation Model (IAM - Bourhis et al., 1997), the Concordance Model of Acculturation (CMA - Piontkowski et al., 2002); the Relative Acculturation Extended Model (RAEM - Navas et al., 2005), and the work on acculturation discrepancies conducted by Horenczyk (1996, 2000). We also describe a trend toward convergence of acculturation research and the socio-psychological study of intergroup relations addressing issues of mutuality in attitudes, perceptions, and expectations. Our review has the potential to enrich the conceptual and methodological toolbox needed for understanding and investigating acculturation in complex modern societies, where majorities and minorities, immigrants and nationals, are engaged in continuous mutual contact and interaction, affecting each other's acculturative choices and acculturative expectations.