The Processes of Adaptation, Assimilation and Integration in the Country of Migration: A Psychosocial Perspective on Place Identity Changes

Abstract

In the process of migration, the migrant goes through certain stages and a series of transformations that leave their mark on their individuality over time. These unavoidable processes, adaptation, assimilation, and eventually integration, as well as numerous other factors, lead to changes in identity. The concept addressed in the paper, which supports the understanding of the process of change, is that of acculturation. Acculturation is the process by which an individual acquires and adapts to a new cultural environment as a result of being placed in a new culture. The theoretical approach led to an objective understanding of the process of identity change in a given context. Symbolic interactionism theory aims to reveal the internal mechanisms of identity formation by overcoming the opposition between the individual and the collective, and ethno-linguistic identity theory posits that when faced with alternative courses of action, individuals will choose the one that will enhance their self-presentation. The aim of this article is to examine identity-level changes in migrants who have undergone the processes of adaptation, assimilation, and integration in the country of migration from a psychosocial perspective. In order to achieve this aim, an interview with 30 Romanians who emigrated abroad was conducted. Based on a conceptual and methodological framework, the present article carried out a thematic analysis in which the most significant changes in mentality, thinking, self-esteem, principles of life, culture, attitude and behavior, identity place/space, etc. were highlighted through concrete quotes from the interviews with the migrants, all of which were explained through the identity-migration theory.