Acculturation and Wellbeing. the Case of the Descendants of Immigrants in Catalonia (Spain)

The Acculturation theory proposes that, depending on the maintenance of the cultural elements of the descendants of migrants and the adoption of those of the destination society, four profiles are drawn which strongly influence their incorporation into society in conditions of: integration (a high degree of cultural maintenance and high adoption of the destination culture), assimilation (low maintenance and high adoption), separation (high maintenance and low adoption) and exclusion (low level of both maintenance and adoption) (Berry, 2005; Bourhis, 2001).

Focused on Catalonia, a bilingual territory in Spain, and on the case of the descendants of migrants who are in the final stage of compulsory secondary education (14-16 years of age), the objective of this communication is to analyze the influence on the construction of these profiles of two processes related to symbolic violence: experienced discrimination and perceived prejudice.

Methodologically, a questionnaire has been applied to a total of 572 Catalan schoolchildren.

The main results confirm that higher experiences of discrimination and perceived prejudice play a determining role in the construction of the profiles of acculturation. Additionally, the different groups according to their origin are discriminated against and prejudiced to a different degree.

The conclusions point to the importance of promoting policies and initiatives to avoid current and future conflicts.