Towards a dynamic approach to acculturation

One of the most influential models of acculturation is Berry's (1980) two-dimensional model. In this paper we argue that Berry's model does insufficient justice to current demographic and technical developments. Modern societies and particularly big cities are characterized by large immigrant populations as well as super-diversity. Moreover, technical developments allow immigrants to maintain almost unlimited contacts with their original culture. We plea for a more dynamic approach to acculturation that focuses on immigrants as well as non-immigrants and departs from behaviors, cognitions and emotions involved in interactional dynamics at a molecular level, as well as from intercultural competencies. A five-dimensional model of multicultural effectiveness is presented (van der Zee & van Oudenhoven, 2000, 2017), describing cultural empathy, open-mindedness, social initiative, emotional stability and flexibility as competencies that facilitate interactional dynamics that are characterized by an integration of different cultural perspectives.