The Social Cognition of Immigrants' Acculturation: Effects of the Need for Closure and the Reference Group at Entry

Three studies found support for the notion that immigrants' acculturation to the host culture is interactively determined by their need for cognitive closure ( A. W. Kruglanski & D. M. Webster, 1996 ) and the reference group they forge on their arrival. If such reference group is fashioned by close social relations with coethnics, the higher the immigrants' need for closure, the weaker their tendency to assimilate to the new culture and the stronger their tendency to adhere to the culture of origin. By contrast, if the reference entry group is fashioned by close relations with members of the host country, the higher their need for closure, the stronger their tendency to adapt to the new culture and the weaker their tendency to maintain the culture of origin. These findings obtained consistently across 3 immigrant samples in Italy, 1 Croatian and 2 Polish, and across multiple different measures of acculturation.