Diffusion, Acculturation and Assimilation of Culture
In an attempt to adapt to the surrounding community, an individual must learn to accept their culture. The level of appreciation or cultural internalization is not same, depending on the intensity of contact or interaction among the individual members of the surrounding community.
Cultural diffusion occurs when an individual selectively borrows some cultural aspects or local tradition. Usually selection is done in consideration of the advantages of the aspect for individuals and rejecting other aspects that are considered to adverse.
For example, western people who like to wear batik in order to make their appearance attractive but they still do not want to learn Indonesian even after so many years living in Java. It is understandable if carrying out of the cultural aspect through the diffusion is not long inherent in the individual.
Through acculturation, the acceptance of norms or new culture is more intensively through changes in the two cultures interaction. Two different cultures meet and intensively processed within the individual and in society so that eventually a modification of the original cultural aspects adapted to the new culture.
So, the process is not just borrowing traditions and other cultural aspects, but involving community organizing efforts to provide opportunities for other cultures to be able to function in the community.
Acculturation can be seen in many places in Indonesia which the members of a community or group carry out traditions and follow norms from different cultures. If cultural changing is so great, so that the trademark is dissolved into another culture, or if the two cultures are merged to form a new culture, then it is called assimilation.
Assimilation process takes a long time and it is more easily achieved by individual who has a strong motivation to change, rather than changing the whole group.
