ABSTRACT
The paper reviews models and measurements of acculturation and describes the development and use of the Acculturation Index (AI) in a series of studies on sojourner adaptation. The AI is based on an orthogonal model of cultural identity and relies upon two subscales that independently assess perceived similarity to co-national and host national groups. When employed in conjunction with bipartite splits, the AI subscales can also be used to assign sojourners to one of Berry’s four acculturation categories: integration, separation, assimilation and marginalization. AI data are presented from five samples: 1) 104 multinational aid workers in Nepal, 2) 100 Singaporeans in the United States, 3) 139 Americans in Singapore, 4) 113 Britons in Singapore and 5) 150 Chinese in Singapore. Across these samples, data indicate that the AI’s two subscales are reliable, independent and relate in different ways to psychological and sociocultural adaptation in sojourners.
