Finding new latent integration patterns in acculturation research
Dear colleagues,
Center for Socio-Cultural Research invites you to research seminar from series
«Culture Matters»
Petra Sidler
Doctoral student, National Center of Competence in Research –
The Migration-Mobility Nexus and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
« Finding new latent integration patterns in acculturation research »
Seminar will be held on February 25, 2021 at 15:00
Working language is English
Summary of the report
The most common definition of “integration” in acculturation research refers to John Berry’s two-dimensional acculturation attitudes measurement, which focuses on two issues: first, whether immigrants’ maintenance of cultural heritage and, second, whether immigrants’ adoption of majority culture is considered to be of value (Berry et al. 1989). By this logic, integration is understood as the condition when immigrants are maintaining their cultural heritage, while also adopting the dominant majority culture.
Berry’s approach, while valuable, has two limitations for understanding patterns of acculturation attitudes of immigrant and native pupils. What if there exists a wider heterogeneity in patterns of acculturation attitudes that is not adequately measured by the method described above? Additionally, what if we look at integration as something that concerns not only immigrants, but the society as a whole i.e. immigrants, natives, and institutions?
We have analysed questionnaire data taken in 2019 of 1160 secondary school pupils in Swiss, German, and Greek schools. We used a newly constructed four-dimensional acculturation attitudes scale taking into account that acculturation attitudes are held not only towards immigrant pupils, but also towards native pupils and towards schools’ responsibility of supporting intercultural exchange. We then applied a latent profile analysis (LPA) to facilitate the needed empirical heterogeneity in acculturation patterns. By using LPA, we will identify and empirically validate latent integration patterns, and we will discuss these results in relation to two groups, i.e. native and immigrant pupils.