The theoretical issue that gave rise to the Russian Culture vs. American Culture Study was the relationship between immigration and a person's ability to be fluent in a new culture. What happens to a person in the face of immigration? Is it beneficial to be a product of a multicultural society? There has been general agreement concerning the effects of immigration on a personalities characteristics. The role of observation is emphasized in social-learning theory where variables that undergo adaptation are general knowledge about the culture a person comes from, about new culture, and the way a person contacts with nationals. Elements such as cultural identity, and changes in values as part of acculturation process has been investigated.
Much has been written about immigration, and how immigrants challenge themselves to succeed in the new country despite difficulties with adaptation and problems with communication in another language. However, little attention has been paid to the experiences of immigrants, or how personal, and cultural factors combine to influence immigrants' experiences in the new culture. This paper turns to discussion of characteristics that characterize two cultures of interest to look at the factors that impact upon the ability of an individual to integrate. Using participant-observation and data collected from some interviews with individuals living in America, the paper shows how individual factors, relating to their experiences in home country, influence individuals' personal characteristics adopted by these individuals in the new country.