Acculturative stress
Stress that comes from adapting to a new culture, such as after migration, study abroad or relocating for work.
Acculturative stress is the psychological strain that can come from adapting to a new culture. The psychologist John Berry and colleagues used the term in 1987 for stress that has its source in acculturation itself: a new language, new norms and roles, and sometimes discrimination. It can show up as worry, low mood, tiredness, confusion about identity or a sense of being on the edge of things.
It is a response to circumstances, not a diagnosis.
What it means
Acculturation is the process of change that happens when people from one culture live in sustained contact with another. Most of that change is ordinary. You learn how the trams work, which jokes land and how direct people expect you to be.
Acculturative stress describes the part of that process that weighs on you. It is not the same as being unhappy abroad. Many people who love their new city still feel it, because the effort of adapting does not stop just because the move was a good decision.
Where the idea comes from
John Berry, a Canadian cross-cultural psychologist, developed much of the research. In the 1987 paper with Uichol Kim, Thomas Minde and Doris Mok, he argued that stress during acculturation is common but not inevitable. Its level depends on factors such as the reasons for moving, social support, attitudes in the new society and how different the two cultures are.
In a later paper (1997), Berry described four broad ways people relate to a new culture. Integration means keeping your heritage while also taking part in the new society. Assimilation means letting go of the heritage culture. Separation means holding on to it and keeping apart from the new one. Marginalisation means losing connection with both. He suggested integration is often linked with less stress, though people do not always get to choose freely, for instance when the host society is unwelcoming.
What it can look like in everyday life
Imagine you have lived in Zurich for two years. Your German is decent, you know which recycling goes where, and you are good at your job. Yet every phone call to a public office leaves you shaky, and you still rehearse sentences before ordering at the bakery. At home, your parents ask why you sound tired. You can't easily explain that small daily efforts add up.
Or imagine a family who moved from Colombo to the Netherlands. The children pick up Dutch quickly and start to answer back in a way that would never have been accepted at home. Their mother feels proud of how well they are settling and, at the same time, as if she is losing them. Changing roles between generations are a common source of this kind of stress.
A third example: you were confident and respected in your profession at home, and abroad you are starting again at a junior level because your qualifications are not recognised. The loss of status can sting in ways that are hard to admit.
In person-centred counselling
Berry's work makes clear that none of the four ways of adapting is simply right for everyone. What matters is what each person is free to choose and what it costs them. A person-centred counsellor will not decide for you how much to adapt or what to keep.
Counselling can offer a place where you do not have to translate yourself constantly. You can talk about the loneliness, the small humiliations, the pride and the guilt of leaving, without having to make it sound like a success story. The online therapy for expats page explains how I work with people living abroad.
Related ideas
Acculturative stress is related to culture shock, but culture shock usually describes the early disorientation of arrival, while acculturative stress can continue long after. It also overlaps with minority stress, which focuses on the extra strain of belonging to a stigmatised or marginalised group. Migrants who face racism may experience both.
When to get more help
If low mood, anxiety or poor sleep have lasted for weeks and are affecting daily life, it is sensible to speak to a doctor where you live as well. The expat wellbeing check-in is a gentle place to start noticing how things are.
Questions people ask
What is an example of acculturative stress?
Imagine a woman who has lived in Zurich for two years. Her German is decent and her job is going well, yet every call to a public office leaves her shaky, and she still rehearses sentences before ordering at the bakery. Nothing dramatic has happened. The strain comes from the constant small effort of living in a culture that is not yet second nature.
Is acculturative stress the same as culture shock?
They overlap but are not the same. Culture shock usually describes the disorientation of the first months in a new country, when familiar social cues disappear. Acculturative stress is a broader term for the strain of adapting over time, which can last for years and can include discrimination, changing family roles and questions about identity. Someone can be past the shock and still carry the stress.
Can counselling help with acculturative stress?
Counselling can offer a place to talk about the effort of living between cultures without having to explain or translate yourself constantly. A person-centred counsellor will not tell you how much to adapt or what to keep. The aim is to understand what the move means to you, what it costs and what matters to you now. No counsellor can promise a particular outcome.