Berry proposed four different acculturation strategies used by individuals, which are integration,

assimilation, separation, and marginalization. Assimilation is where when an individual

abandons their original culture and adopts the cultural behaviours and values of their new
culture. If we fail to assimilate, it may lead to marginalization, which is rejection of their new
culture and their home culture due to exclusion or discrimination. They do not belong to either
group. Our behavior will change depending on what acculturation strategy we adopt when
adjusting to life in a new culture. Therefore, assimilation often leads to acculturative stress
which can harm mental health. This can be seen in the study of Lueck & Wilson.

The stud aims to investigate the variables that may predict acculturative stress in a nationally
representative sample of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans through semi-structured
interviews and random sampling. There were 2095 Asian Americans and 1271 participants were
immigrants who were 18 years and older when they came to the US. The rest of the sample was
born in the US. The interview was conducted either online or face-to-face and it measure the
level of acculturative stress.

The result shows that 70% of the sample was experiencing acculturative stress but Bilingual
speakers were less stressed as they can form networks in the US more easily and make friends.
Bilingualism then shows low acculturative stress. However, people who only speak English have
higher acculturative stress as they are unable to speak with family more personally. Negative
treatment caused higher acculturation stress. Bilingualism has similar values and beliefs as
family resulting in lower stress.

This study then shows that Asian immigrants who had assimilated experienced higher levels of
stress.  They had adopted the language of the majority culture and “lost” their ability to
communicate in their mother tongue. Asians who can use both languages equally with their
friends can build up networks of support within and outside their community resulting in lower
levels of stress. This study indicates that assimilation may be a less healthy approach to
acculturation than integration.