Culture, Mind and Biology: Examining Heart Rate Variability Associated with Acculturation in Maghreb Immigrants

This study examines vagal tone (VT) and vagal flexibility (VF) as biological individual differences that are implicated in the process of acculturation. Recent literature has demonstrated that VT is a marker of the capacity for social engagement and that VF indexes individuals’ ability to perceive social-emotional information more accurately and to show greater sensitivity to their social context. Given that acculturation takes place largely through social interactions, it is expected that VT will be a predictor of orientation toward mainstream culture (H1), that VF will influence migrants’ response to stress as well as their orientation toward mainstream culture (H2). We predict that discrimination experiences will moderate the relationship between VF and orientation towards mainstream culture (H3). 80 Maghreb immigrants, living in the greater Montreal area, participated in a study and were given a set of acculturation questionnaires, including the Brief Acculturation Orientation Scale, (BAOS) as well as an electrocardiogram at rest and under a stressor related to their discrimination experiences. As expected, participants who had a greater VT scored higher on the questionnaires relating to orientation towards mainstream culture (BAOS). Preliminary regression analyses have demonstrated that participants who had greater VF scored higher on the acculturation orientation questionnaire (BOAS) and this relationship was moderated by their discrimination experiences. Our results showed that VT and VF play an important role in predicting key variables in the acculturation process. This study will allow health care professionals to be better equipped to identify and support those at risk for various struggles upon migration.