Relative Acculturation Extended Model (RAEM): New contributions with regard to the study of acculturation

The worldwide volume and social relevance of migratory processes justify the need to study the psychological acculturation of the host and immigrant populations through a model adapted to the social context in which they develop. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to carry out a review of some of the existing acculturation models (e.g., Berry, Kim, Power, Young, & Bujaki. (1989). Applied Psychology, 38, 185–206; Bourhis, Moïse, Perreault, & Senécal. (1997). International Journal of Psychology, 32(6), 269–386; Piontkowski, Florack, Hoelker, & Obdrzálek. (2000). International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24, 1–26), ending up with a proposal for a Relative Acculturation Extended Model (RAEM). This theoretical framework gathers some elements from previous models and adds some new ones in order to offer new explanations for the acculturation strategies and attitudes preferred by both the native and immigrant populations. The most relevant contributions of the RAEM can be summarised as, on the one hand, the consideration of different acculturation domains (political, work, economic, family, social, religion and ways of thinking) and on the other, the differentiation between the acculturation strategies adopted in reality and the acculturation attitudes ideally preferred by the groups in contact. This model also takes into account the ethnocultural origin of immigrants and some variables predicting and modulating their acculturation strategies and attitudes.