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IB DP Psychology — Sociocultural Approach | SL & HL | Paper 2 (Human Relationships — Technology)
🎯 Learning Intentions By the end of this note, you will be able to:
- Define acculturation, acculturative stress, and digital acculturation using IB-aligned terminology.
- Explain Berry's four acculturation strategies and how technology mediates the process of cultural adaptation.
- Describe how digital media and online platforms can both support and hinder the acculturation process for migrants and minority groups.
- Evaluate research evidence on technology and acculturation using supporting and opposing studies in ACAS format.
- Apply acculturation concepts to a real-world case study from the sociocultural perspective.
- Discuss the extent to which technology facilitates or obstructs successful acculturation outcomes.
- Analyse research on technology and acculturation using relevant concept areas: Bias, Causality, Change, Perspective, and Responsibility.
Introduction & Context
Imagine arriving in a new country where you do not speak the language fluently, where social customs feel unfamiliar, and where the food, music, and daily rhythms of life are unlike anything you have known. Now imagine that in your pocket you carry a device that connects you instantly to your family back home, to news from your country of origin, to social media communities of people who share your language and culture. Does that device make the transition easier — or does it make it harder to truly settle in?
This question sits at the heart of the relationship between technology and acculturation. As global migration has increased and digital connectivity has become near-universal, psychologists have become increasingly interested in how technology shapes the experience of moving between cultures. The smartphone, the social media platform, and the online diaspora community have all become powerful forces in the lives of migrants, refugees, and anyone navigating the challenge of adapting to a new cultural environment.
The relationship is not simple. Technology can serve as a bridge — helping newcomers access information, learn a new language, and connect with host-country peers. But it can also serve as a buffer — allowing people to remain so deeply embedded in their culture of origin that engagement with the new culture is reduced. Understanding this tension requires us first to understand what acculturation actually is, and what it means to adapt successfully to a new cultural context.
🔄 Analogy — The Two-Sided Bridge Think of technology as a bridge that can be crossed in two directions. A migrant standing in a new country can use that bridge to walk toward their new culture — accessing language apps, local news, and host-country social networks. But the same bridge allows them to walk back toward their home culture at any moment — calling family, watching home-country television, and participating in online communities that recreate the familiar. Whether technology helps or hinders acculturation depends largely on which direction the person chooses to walk — and how much time they spend on each side.
Core Concepts
When people move from one cultural environment to another — whether through migration, refugee displacement, or even extended travel — they face a profound psychological challenge. They must somehow navigate between the culture they carry within them and the culture that surrounds them in their new environment. This process of navigating between two cultures is not just a social phenomenon; it has measurable psychological consequences for identity, wellbeing,