Emotional acculturation: a first review

Abstract

When people move from one cultural context to another, their patterns of emotional experience and expression may change; that is, they may acculturate emotionally. In the current article, I review empirical studies on immigrant minorities that provide first evidence for (i) the phenomenon of emotional acculturation; (ii) the co-existence of heritage and new culture emotional patterns and minorities' switching between the two; and (iii) the potential benefits of minorities' emotional fit with culture. In addition, I outline future directions in this emergent field and highlight how the study of emotional acculturation may inform emotion psychology as it calls for a truly socio-dynamic perspective on what emotions are and how they can/should be studied.