A dynamical model of multicultural integration

In this dissertation, the conception, development, computer simulation and empirical testing of a dynamical model of multicultural integration are presented. The purpose of this model is to shed light on the dynamical social processes by which the beliefs and behaviors of individual people over time come to shape complex patterns of social relations in culturally plural societies. The model is primarily based on Berry’s model of acculturation, but goes beyond it in important ways, by including individual differences and allowing the representation of processes of individual change. First the assumptions of the model are examined by means of computer simulation and empirical testing. Then, the properties of the model are analyzed in detail with the help of three series of simulation studies of increasing complexity. Finally, large scale survey data are compared to some simulation results, and are used to place the dynamical model, and acculturation research in general, in a broader context.