A research paradigm shift in acculturation research: From a psychopathological perspective to a resilience framework

Acculturation research in the past decades has been largely dominated by a psychopathological perspective, which narrowly focused on cross-cultural adaptation problems and their negative impact on mental health of various groups of migrant. Guided by the resilience framework, this paper identifies a significant paradigm shift in acculturation research from emphasizing negative impact of migration experience on mental health to highlighting positive adaptation outcomes in cross-cultural adjustment and their contributing factors. Two directions for future acculturation research are proposed to follow this research paradigm shift: (1) to identify the positive adaptation outcomes in the process of acculturation; and (2) to identify significant protective factors and to investigate the protective mechanisms of how these factors work to promote positive adaptation outcomes in the context of acculturation.