a process in which a person or a group largely rejects its original cultural identity (traditions, values, norms of behavior) and assimilates the culture of another social group, usually dominant. As a result, there is a gradual assimilation and merging with the new cultural environment, which can lead to the loss of the original culture and the formation of a new cultural identity. Cultural assimilation affects individual and group self-perception, adaptation, as well as the processes of social identification and intercultural communication.