Acculturation and Enculturation: The Intersection of Representational Ethics, Measurement, and Conceptualization

In this chapter, we address representational ethics in research on acculturation and enculturation. Informed by diverse fields of study (e.g., community psychology, sociology, anthropology, feminist studies, and developmental science), we first define and review scholarship on representational ethics, including the role of insider and outsider perspectives in research on acculturation and enculturation processes. We then describe the process by which we decided to write about representational ethics before sharing our personal narratives with navigating acculturation and enculturation research. Next, we apply our narratives and scholarship on representational ethics to research on acculturation and enculturation, discussing limitations of current scholarship and ways that paying attention to representational ethics may overcome some of these limitations. We conclude with recommendations for best research practices in research on acculturation and enculturation, specifically focused on practices that can bridge insider and outsider perspectives to minimize blind-spots researchers can bring into their work.