The United States is home to nearly three million Asian Indians. The difference in Asian Indian and American cultures creates a need for Asian Indians to acculturate, upon migration to the U.S. It has been theorized that acculturation becomes harder when the two cultures of contact are dissimilar. Particularly, immigrant women and children have been found to be more vulnerable than men to acculturative stress, where acculturative stress is defined as the psychological impact of adaptation to a new culture. Hence, this study focuses on acculturation of Asian Indian women and specifically on factors influencing their acculturation. Research findings from this study on acculturation of Asian Indian women provide information, useful for public policy makers. They have been utilized to develop a program (used by settlement service providers) designed specifically to facilitate acculturation of Asian Indian women in the U.S. A two-dimensional model developed by J.W. Berry, a prominent researcher in the field of acculturation, is employed to classify the acculturation process of Asian Indian women who were part of this study. Based on Berry’s model, the acculturation process of an immigrant can be described by one of the following four strategies: 1) Assimilation, 2) Integration, 3) Separation, or 4) Marginalization. According to Berry, the Integration strategy is considered the most effective acculturation strategy in terms of long-term health and wellbeing of the individual. This study employed a cross-sectional design, using quantitative methods for data analysis. Data were collected by means of a web-based acculturation survey that was developed as part of the study. Data analysis indicated that a majority of the Asian Indian women adopted the Integration strategy. A conceptual model was developed and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the key acculturation factors that influenced Asian Indian women using the Integration strategy. These identified key factors helped to understand the cultural adaptation of Asian Indian women.

This study explores how changes in skin tone surveillance predicted by: (a) skin tone satisfaction, (b) preference for lighter skin tone, (c) internalization of cultural standards of attractiveness, and (d) use of skin-lightening products among Asian Indian women. Exploratory analyses with demographic variables such as age, education, and marital status were also examined. Cross-cultural issues in conducting research with Asian Indian women using U.S. American standardized measures of skin tone related variables were explored. Participants were 169 Asian Indian women over the age of 18 from New Delhi, Mumbai, and other major cities in India and proficiency in English. The data were collected via an Internet-based survey with measures including the Skin Tone Specific Surveillance Subscale of the Objectification Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS, McKinley & Hyde, 1996); the Skin Color Satisfaction Scale (SCSS, Bond & Cash, 1992); Internalization subscale from the Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire -3 (SATAQ-3, Thompson, van den Berg, Gurada, & Heinberg, 2004), and a questionnaire about skin tone preference and use of skin lightening products (Hamed, Tayyem, Nimer, & Alkhatib, 2010). Results of the study indicate that an increase in skin tone surveillance was significantly predicted by decreasing skin tone satisfaction, increased preference for lighter skin tone, internalization of cultural standards of beauty and increased use of skin lightening products among the participants. Implications of this study include illuminating the role of skin tone related attitudes and beliefs among Asian Indian women in the persistence of objectification experiences among Asian Indian women to advance feminist scholarship on objectification.

The present study examines the relationship between acculturation, parental control, and psychological adjustment among adult first and second-generation Asian Indian women who have immigrated, or whose parents have immigrated to the United States, from the Indian state of Kerala. Data from 73 participants indicate second-generation immigrants report poorer psychological adjustment than do their counterparts. Additionally, regression analyses reveal discomfort towards Kerala culture significantly predicts depressive symptoms, while high maternal control predicts self-esteem. Qualitative data were collected to provide richer understanding of immigrants' adaptation to the U.S. Implications of this research may impact mental health practitioners' ability to improve quality of life with Asian Indian women from Kerala.