Through acculturation individuals find themselves adopting the traits of the culture they are exposed to. Mexican-Americans often find themselves navigating through the process of acculturation due to the exposure of new cultural and societal norms that are dominant in America. Culture plays a role in the way we perceive and express our emotions which influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between acculturation and emotional belief and regulation among Mexican-Americans. It was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation. As Mexican Americans acculturate more to American culture, their emotional belief and regulation systems would become more aligned with American norms, which would result in an increased acceptance of emotions and different beliefs about emotional expression. Participants (n=225) completed self report measures on the survey platform PROLIFIC which assessed acculturation levels as well as emotional belief and regulation techniques. The ages ranged from 18 and 75 years with a mean of 33 years. The findings from my research did not support my hypothesis, but there was a positive correlation between acculturation and the usefulness of positive and negative emotions among participants. Further research may examine this relationship through different surveying techniques.
