Ethnic identification preferences among Germany's immigrants and their descendents: a comprehensive perspective

Abstract

Ethnic identification of immigrants and their descendents has attracted the attention of different disciplines within the social sciences, yet its relevance transcends beyond the scientific world. The persisting centrality of discussions on ethnic identification in both the scientific and public spheres can be traced back to its association with the large scale immigration waves of contemporary time, in the context of which it is often contested. In this dissertation I propose to view the ethnic identification preferences of immigrants and their descendents as based on a simple investment model aimed to maximize certain utilities. The causal paths associating the different integration related characteristics of the immigrants and their descendents with their ethnic identification preferences are thus defined within the framework of the subjective expected utility theory. This framework requires however clear and specific postulations of the mechanisms through which these characteristics contribute to the formation of the ethnic identification preferences. These specific mechanisms are derived from the three main perspectives on social identity: social identity theory, identity theory and the developmental approach to identity. This dissertation provides a theoretical model, uncovering the main mechanisms linking the respondents' integration related characteristics, with their identification with their ethnic minority and the German society. This model is then tested empirically. A second aim of this dissertation is to disentangle possible interrelations between the different integration related characteristics specified, and the respondents' ethnic identification preferences. A third aim of the dissertation is to predict the respondents' ethnic identification preferences as conceptualized within the fourfold typology of acculturation. This aim is pursued using the earlier defined and tested paths associating the respondents' integration related characteristics with their ethnic minority and German identification levels. Finally, this dissertation also tests the relevance of emerging adulthood related events to immigrants' ethnic identification preferences. The methodological contributions of this dissertation rely primarily on the longitudinal nature of the data used to test the theoretical model it suggests, and the advanced methods applied to these data. Using a longitudinal survey (the German Socioeconomic Panel waves 1993-2003) and an advanced method that allows an estimation of 'within individual' changes, I provide more insightful information regarding ethnic identification change processes, narrowing a significant gap in the literature. The findings provide support for the main arguments promoted throughout this dissertation. First, they confirm that ethnic identifications are an outcome of utility based considerations. Second, they demonstrate the importance of the theoretical separation between the two ethnic identification alternatives – the respondents have with the receiving society or with the ethnic minority. While in many cases these two alternatives do appear to imply opposing forces, this is not always the case. Modeling the interrelations between the different predictors, I found further evidence for the different logics determining the respondents' levels of German and ethnic minority identifications. The findings also testify for the relational nature of respondents' ethnic identification preferences, conceptualized in the two-dimensional acculturation model. Specifically, the ability to foresee the respondents' preferences between the different pairs derives from the understanding of the mechanisms shaping their identification with the German or ethnic minority groups. Finally, the findings also support the claims regarding the importance of life-course related events to ethnic identification of immigrants and descendents of immigrants. Specifically, leaving home implies increasing levels of German identification. More importantly, in line with the expected utility rationale of this thesis, this trend is observed primarily among individuals who expect to gain from this identification.