The Relationship Between Cultural Distance and Acculturation Outcomes: a Meta-analytic Approach

Culture takes the central place in the acculturation process and can be assessed either externally or internally. To assess the perception of these external factors of cultures, researchers use cultural distance and investigate its relationship with acculturation outcomes. The cultural distance is “perceived similarities and differences between the culture of origin and culture of contact” (Masgoret & Ward, 2006). Scientists performed many studies of the relationship; however, there was no assessment of the overall relationship between cultural distance and various acculturation outcomes such as psychological adjustment, sociocultural competencies, and intergroup attitudes. Our meta-analysis of 216 effect sizes across 42 studies fills in the gap and investigates (1) the overall association between cultural distance and acculturation outcomes, (2) whether different types of acculturation outcomes (psychological adjustment, sociocultural competencies, intergroup attitudes) moderate the relationship between cultural distance and acculturation outcomes, and (3) whether the length of residence moderates the relationship between cultural distance and acculturation outcomes. We found an overall negative association (r = -0.10, 95% CI = [-0.15, -0.04]) between cultural distance and acculturation outcomes. We did not find the moderating effect of acculturation outcome type on the relationship; the test for the length of residence as a moderator did not show any effect either. Even though the overall negative relationship between cultural distance and acculturation outcomes was confirmed, the big variance remains unexplained. Based on these results, we outline recommendations for future studies. Keywords: meta-analysis, cultural distance, psychological adjustment, sociocultural competencies, intergroup attitudes, acculturation