Eating One's Way To An Effective Acculturation In China:A Mixed Methods Research

This study explores how food orientationsmay impact the acculturation process for sojourners in China,expandingacculturation research from a sociocultural perspective by defining ‘effective' acculturation through affective,behavioral,and cognitive adaptation.A mixed method sequential explanatory design was used to determine the relationship between food orientations and one's acculturation.A quantitative approach(Study 1)was conducted measuring food orientations and Chinese acculturation adaptation outcomes on a 194 expatriates living in Mainland China.18 semi-structured interviews of expatriates living in the People's Republic of China(Study 2)qualitatively analyzed shifts of expatriate acculturation outcomes.Results suggested that one's orientation to a host culture's food is influential to an ‘effective' adaptation process.Findings also showed a stronger predicted pathway to behavioral rather than cognitive and affective adaptation.Qualitative results suggest expats follow a U-Curve process(exotic,shock,adaptation,and mastery)ofadapting to Chinese food.This study contributes to the existing acculturation literature by confirming openness to food as a niche study does in fact influence acculturation,opening the possibility of examining lesser studied sociocultural variables.Openness to food is a manner of culture learning.Culture learning,not time,proves effective to adaptation.Finally,this study is relevant to the ever growing globalized community.Anyone exploring new cultures,beyond the vacation short stay of a tourist,would benefit from being cognizant to exploring a host culture's food.