Five meanings of integration in acculturation research

Integration is the crucial concept in psychology of acculturation. Yet, it has been loosely defined in the literature and there is no theory of intercultural psychological integration. Upon careful examination of research findings, at least five different meanings of integration emerge. Most known among them is Berry's approach, which considers and measures integration in terms of attitudinal preferences for biculturalism. Four other belong to cultural psychology and refer to: culture perception and evaluation; functional/partial specialization; identity and frame switching; and ethno-relativist constructive marginality. Empirical evidence shows that these are separate, and sometimes negatively correlated constructs. This paper is the first step attempt towards a theoretical model of integration in which all the five meanings are positioned as in depth directed layers of the bicultural psyche.