Final answer:
True Acculturation involves adapting to a non-native culture during intercultural contact, which is true. It is different from assimilation where a minority group completely takes on the attributes of the dominant culture, often losing their original cultural identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
True, acculturation is indeed the process by which individuals adapt to a non-native culture when different cultures come into direct contact with each other. It involves adopting the beliefs and practices of the host culture to varying degrees.
This is distinct from assimilation, which goes further, describing the process where a minority individual or group completely takes on the characteristics of the dominant culture, often losing their original cultural identity in the process.
Intercultural contact can lead to a range of outcomes, including acculturation, assimilation, transculturation, cultural appropriation, and cultural accommodation. Each of these outcomes reflects different degrees and strategies of cultural adaptation.
For example, the interaction among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans in the sixteenth century resulted in transculturation, particularly in urban environments where different ethnicities interacted more frequently.
Assimilation often involves benchmarks such as changes in socioeconomic status, spatial concentration, language adoption, and intermarriage. However, barriers such as anti-miscegenation laws historically made assimilation more challenging for certain minority groups in the United States.