Acculturation Attitudes of Kharwar and Agaria Tribal Groups of Sonebhadra

Abstract

Social and cultural change is a phenomenon witnessed by almost all the societies in today's world. Some of these changes take place due to the internal dynamics of the concerned societies, but many seem to be governed by dynamics external to them. Characterising the situation of acculturation, changes of the latter kind have generated significant research in many parts of the world, with the main focus on immigrant groups. In the present study the accul turation attitudes of the Kharwar and Agaria tribal groups living in Sonebhadra region of Uttar Pradesh were analysed, using Berry's model of acculturation. Findings revealed that the level of contact-acculturation of these groups did not differ significantly in spite of the fact that the Kharwar had been in contact with the outside world for a relatively longer period of time than the Agaria. No evidence of significant differences was found in their integration, assimilation and marginalisation attitudes towards acculturation. On the other hand, Agaria displayed a significantly stronger separation attitude than the Kharwar. Step wise MRA revealed that in both the groups, contact-acculturation was a significant predictor of integration and separation attitudes.

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