“It's on Time That They Assimilate” – Differential acculturation expectations towards first and second generation immigrants

Research has shown that societal majority members have specific conceptions (i.e., acculturation expectations) about how immigrants should acculturate. These expectations are often less welcoming towards devalued than valued immigrant groups. In a 2 × 2 experiment with a sample of 187 German majority members we show that acculturation expectations also differ in terms of which generation members of the targeted immigrant groups belong to. Our results revealed lower endorsement of integrationism towards the second generation of both valued and devalued immigrants. However, the results indicated that acculturation expectations were particularly unwelcoming towards the second generation of devalued immigrant groups. For valued immigrants, segregationism was lower towards the second generation than towards the first generation. For devalued immigrants in contrast, assimilationism was higher towards the second generation compared to the first generation. Majority members’ tendency to be less willing to endorse cultural maintenance for second generations stands in stark contrast to immigrants’ preference of cultural maintenance and may therefore lead to particularly conflictual societal outcomes. Implications of the findings for future studies are discussed.     

革命文学家与鲁迅的分歧

为了文学上的意识形态革命,革命文学家们对国内文坛诸多大家展开了批评,他们选择鲁迅作为主要批判对象。革命文学家与鲁迅的分歧主要有两个方面。一是革命文学家的身份问题。由于他们的非无产阶级身份,认为只要具备无产阶级的意识就能成为革命文学家;鲁迅则强调革命文学家自身的革命经验对于革命文学创作的重要性。二是革命文学与时代和革命的关系问题。革命文学家突出强调文学对政治的想象和表达,相信文学是阶级解放的武器;鲁迅则坚持文学自身的审美属性,反对文学被工具化,而且他认为时代是黑暗的,民众也是麻木的,文学暂时无从去表现革命的时代精神,文学也无法承担阶级解放的重任。此番论争为革命文学争取到了初步的生存权,而且革命文学作为一种新的文学观念为现代文学开拓了新的审美空间。     

Identities for Sale: How the Tobacco Industry Construed Asians,Asian Americans,and Pacific Islanders

Previous research has substantiated the targeting of various demographic subgroups by the tobacco industry through marketing practices. However, relatively little research has examined targeting of Asians and Pacific Islanders. Based on prior tobacco document research citing the use of identity-based marketing strategies, a content analytic scheme was developed to assess if these strategies were applied to the Asian and AAPI populations. The study was grounded in social identity theory and optimal distinctiveness theory paradigms in order to develop a coherent analytic framework. Keyword searches of documents were conducted and a random sample of the documents of interest was drawn. These data suggest that the tobacco industry targeted Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States and abroad via interpersonal and commercial communication tactics. These strategies were carefully orchestrated and employed as a result of sophisticated analyses of the social identities and value systems of the source culture populations. Barriers to reaching this culturally and linguistically heterogeneous market were overcome via the construct of collectivism. At the same time, more Westernized Asians were targeted via advertisements that blended a hybrid Western style identity. For both source and immigrant cultures, the industry attempted to facilitate identity construction and maintenance through smoking.     

Perceived discrimination and acculturation among Iranian refugees in the Netherlands

The relations between perceived discrimination, perceived acceptance of immigrants, acculturation orientations, and acculturation outcomes (psychological and sociocultural adjustment) were investigated in a sample of 232 Iranian refugees in the Netherlands. A good fit was found for a path model with perceived discrimination and perceived acceptance as correlated antecedent variables, acculturation orientations as intervening conditions, and measures of psychological and sociocultural adjustment as outcome variables. Perceived discrimination was the most salient variable in the model and showed significant associations with all outcome measures. Acculturation orientations (partially) mediated the relations between antecedent variables and outcomes. Gender differences were found. Women reported significantly less discrimination, more positive and fewer negative acculturation outcomes than did men. It is concluded that despite the high levels of sociocultural adjustment of Iranian refugees in the Netherlands, perceived discrimination plays an essential role in their acculturation.     

Acculturation, well-being and classroom behaviour among white British and British Asian primary-school children in the south–east of England: Validating a child-friendly measure of acculturation attitudes

Using a sample of white British and British Asian primary-school children (N = 386, aged 5–11 years), we measured acculturation attitudes (own and perceived outgroup), correlated constructs (ingroup and outgroup affect and identification) and relevant outcomes (self-esteem, classroom demeanour) in a structured interview to validate a customised, child-friendly measure of acculturation attitudes based on Berry's framework. Scale items measuring desire for culture maintenance and intergroup contact loaded onto the predicted factors, were internally reliable and showed concurrent validity with affect and identification. The predictive utility of measures was demonstrated in associations between children's acculturation attitudes (or perceived discrepancies with those of the outgroup) and outcomes such as self-esteem and teacher ratings of emotional symptoms.     

An ecological approach to psychological adjustment: A field survey among refugees in Germany

The situation of refugees in Germany and other countries is a current and important matter. The present study adopts an ecological approach to investigate how refugees perceive the welcoming climate in Germany and the consequences of this perception. To further explore the refugees’ situation, we examined several predictors of their psychological adjustment and acculturation attitudes. In a field study in Eastern Germany with N= 94 refugees as participants, we assessed the perceived context of reception, and perceived acculturation attitudes as contextual variables, discrimination and contact as intergroup variables and, on the individual level, psychological adjustment as well as the personal acculturation attitudes as dependent variables. The results revealed that more perceived discrimination resulted in an increase in reported psychological problems. Refugees living in asylum centers reported more psychological problems and more perceived discrimination than those living in independent housing. The perceived context of reception positively predicted refugees’ desire for maintenance of intergroup relations with the host society. Positive intergroup contact lowered their desire for cultural maintenance. In sum, this study gives us rare and valuable insight into refugees’ perspectives in the context of recent immigration to Germany. In doing so, it emphasizes the importance of a welcoming climate. The study shows how meaningful the assessment of the perceived context of reception is. Practical implications for fields such as the accommodation of refugees are discussed.     

An Exploratory Study of Part-Time Minorities: Finding Home as a Minority Member

This study examines an atypical population of immigrants in Taiwan who immigrated in search of home, self-discovery, and career opportunities. Many of these immigrants sit at the nexus of privilege and othering with their ability to pass as Caucasian. Through the participatory method Photovoice and semi-structured interviews, I investigate the fluid nature of identity processes, the extent that acculturation hinges on predetermined factors, and the benefits and costs of biculturalism, which include cultural fusion and liminality. Additionally, I investigate the impact of context on acculturation strategies and the experience of transformation.     

Culture in acculturation: Refugee youth’s schooling experiences in international schools in New York City

As the number of refugee children and youth across the world continues to grow at an alarming rate, the needs of refugee populations require more and sustained attention. This qualitative study explores the specific academic and socio-emotional needs of refugee students in New York City (NYC), a city that has received refugees and asylum seekers from over 50 countries. Using qualitative research methods and drawing on the literature on refugee students’ school experiences and acculturation theory, in this article we ask how refugee students describe the key features of international high schools that foster students’ academic success, social and cultural integration, and academic well-being. Moreover, we examine how the notion of culture itself can interfere with these efforts.     

When worlds collide: Academic adjustment of Somali Bantu students with limited formal education in a U.S. elementary school

This paper reports on the findings of a two-year ethnographic study of newly arrived Somali Bantu refugee students in a U.S. elementary school (K-6) in Chicago. These data paint a detailed picture of students’ behavioral and academic adjustment to school, and the drivers behind “behavioral incidents” (instances when children’s behavior presented a problem for school staff) and their academic engagement or disengagement. Bantu students required a degree of flexibility and accommodation from their teachers, whose attitudes toward acculturation could generally be characterized as “assimilationist” (requiring students to conform to U.S. culture and school rules) or “multicultural” (respecting and accepting the students expressing their heritage culture at the school). This study illustrates the difficulties faced by refugee students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) when adjusting to U.S. schools, and the pressures placed on teachers and other school staff. Strategies used by teachers in working with SLIFE are described. These findings also extend the literature on the academic engagement of immigrants to this group of SLIFE. In this study, SLIFE were disengaged not because of disinterest or resisting adult expectations at school but because they were unfamiliar with the culture of schooling and did not have the academic background necessary to complete school tasks. The study also illustrates the need to provide schools with adequate support to accommodate the needs of SLIFE.