Cultural Identification Among Immigrants from the Former USSR

Insights from Comparative Research with Five Groups in Germany and Israel

authored by: Katharina Sonnenberg, Peter F. Titzmann, Rainer K. Silbereisen
Abstract: The chapter presents a comparative study on immigrants’ cultural identification with the majority in their country of settlement and with their minority background. We focused on diaspora immigrants who after the fall of communist regimes left the former USSR and immigrated either to Germany (i.e., ethnic Germans) or to Israel (i.e., Russian Jews) and compared them with Russian Jewish refugees in Germany, Turks in Germany, and the Arab minority in Israel. Results point to considerable group differences in majority and minority identification that seemed to be due to country of settlement, groups’ (legal) status, and distance to the cultural mainstream in terms of religion. Individual assets such as finances and high-status social networks added to the prediction of majority identification. Moreover, higher identification was related to higher engagement in terms of language, attitudes, and peer contacts, both with respect to majority and minority culture. Taken together, the results suggest that contextual factors play a major role in the adaptation process of former USSR immigrants.
Organisation(s): Institute of Psychology
External Organisation(s): FernUniversität in Hagen
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Pages: 365-381
No. of pages: 17
Publication date: 2018
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Sociology and Political Science, Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous), Development
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72616-8_21 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@inbook{5e3d6afe1ca54a118cd0339ab591602e,
title = "Cultural Identification Among Immigrants from the Former USSR: Insights from Comparative Research with Five Groups in Germany and Israel",
abstract = "The chapter presents a comparative study on immigrants{\textquoteright} cultural identification with the majority in their country of settlement and with their minority background. We focused on diaspora immigrants who after the fall of communist regimes left the former USSR and immigrated either to Germany (i.e., ethnic Germans) or to Israel (i.e., Russian Jews) and compared them with Russian Jewish refugees in Germany, Turks in Germany, and the Arab minority in Israel. Results point to considerable group differences in majority and minority identification that seemed to be due to country of settlement, groups{\textquoteright} (legal) status, and distance to the cultural mainstream in terms of religion. Individual assets such as finances and high-status social networks added to the prediction of majority identification. Moreover, higher identification was related to higher engagement in terms of language, attitudes, and peer contacts, both with respect to majority and minority culture. Taken together, the results suggest that contextual factors play a major role in the adaptation process of former USSR immigrants.",
keywords = "Cultural identification, Diaspora immigrants, Engagement with majority and minority culture, Ethnic Germans, Germany, Israel, Refugees, Religion, Russian Jews",
author = "Katharina Sonnenberg and Titzmann, {Peter F.} and Silbereisen, {Rainer K.}",
year = "2018",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-319-72616-8_21",
language = "English",
isbn = "978-3-030-10236-4",
series = "Societies and Political Orders in Transition",
publisher = "Springer, Cham",
pages = "365--381",
booktitle = "Changing Values and Identities in the Post-Communist World",
edition = "1",
}