ABSTRACT
There is no doubt that human migration has become one of the most visible and relevant social issues in recent decades. According to recent international statistics, approximately 3.2% of the world’s population, over 232 million people, are defined as immigrants, that is, living in a country other than where they were born (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2013). Such massive migration flows inevitably bring members of different groups into contact with one another, and such encounters will often require groups-both the migrant groups and those in the receiving society-to overcome several challenges. Immigrants will often need to learn about a new culture, probably develop a new social identity and, in some cases, face discrimination in social environments that are not always welcoming. Majority members are often confronted by groups with different cultural backgrounds and practices, which they may perceive as threatening to their social identities. Within social psychology, this process is called acculturation, the manifold ways in which members of different cultures mutually influence and accommodate to each other (Brown & Zagefka, 2011; Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936).
