Final answer:
Enculturation is the process of learning one's own culture from within, while acculturation involves adopting elements of another, external culture. Enculturation is often systematic and deliberate, whereas acculturation can result from cultural contact like trade, migration, or intermarriage. These processes affect how groups perceive cultural characteristics differently.
Step-by-step explanation:
Acculturation vs. Enculturation
When discussing manifestations of culture, it is important to explain the difference between acculturation and enculturation. Enculturation refers to the process by which individuals learn and adopt the norms, values, and behaviors of their own culture. It's a natural part of growing up within a society. Examples include learning language, customs, and social roles. This process can be deliberate, such as formal education in schools, or nondeliberate, such as picking up social norms from observing others.
Acculturation, on the other hand, occurs when an individual or group from one culture comes into contact with another culture and begins to adopt the cultural elements of the host or dominant culture. This can happen through different means, such as trade, migration, or forced displacement. Factors like intermarriage and law can affect acculturation and the extent of assimilation into the dominant culture.
The difference lies in the origin of the cultural influence: enculturation being internal from one's native culture, and acculturation being external from a different culture. Understanding these concepts helps us perceive how various groups view their own and other cultures differently, which is essential in studies of cultural anthropology and social sciences.