Acculturation is comprised of several components including economics and socialization. Economic acculturation has been measured by having a job, average or better socioeconomic status (Cohrs & Stelzl, 2010), and social acculturation has been measured by self-identifying with the new host country, language proficiency in the host country, and more recently having met expectations after immigration (Amit & Bar-Lev, 2015; Frank et al., 2016; Raijman, Semyonov, & Geffen, 2015).
Most studies on immigration note the reasons for leaving the country of origin as political turmoil and economic stress (Paat, 2013). A less frequently mentioned reason is to return to a country with an ancestral connection (diaspora). Past studies have described individuals who were in diaspora in Russia and returned to Finland (Mahonen, Leinonen, & Jasinskaya-Lahti, 2013), Greece (Motti-Stefanidi, Pavlopoulos, Obradovic, & Masten, 2008), and Germany (Stoessel, Titzmann, & Silbereisen, 2014); or diaspora immigrants returning to Israel (Schiefer, Mollering, & Daniel, 2012; Titzmann, Silbereisen, Mesch, & Schmitt-Rodermund, 2011; Zaban, 2015). Among the few studies examining diaspora immigrants’ types of acculturation, social acculturation was found to be more important than economic acculturation (Mahonen et al., 2013).
Objectives: This study's main objective was to examine whether social acculturation for healthy, college-educated women who were diaspora immigrants coming to Israel differed by English-Speaking Country of origin.
Methods: This secondary data analysis was conducted on a cross-sectional dataset with a convenience sample of native English-speaking participants (n=725). From the original study, a sample matched by age and years-as-an-immigrant of college-educated, healthy women from five countries (i.e., Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States) (n=55) was selected. Questionnaires contained information on demographic characteristics (e.g., birthdate, gender, marital status, country of birth, date of immigration, health status), family support (e.g., immigrated with family, had family in Israel prior to arrival), and acculturation variables (e.g., self-identity, met expectations after immigration, and language proficiency). Having met expectations after immigration was measured by the REALI with scores ranging from 0 to 12 (highest level of met expectations), achieving a Cronbach alpha=0.86 in this subsample. Language proficiency was measured by three questions, with scores ranging from 0 to 12 (highest level of proficiency) achieving a Cronbach alpha=0.92 in this subsample. SAS (version 9.3) was used for analyses. Significance was declared at p<0.05.
Results: The matched sample (by age and years-as-an-immigrant) of healthy, college-educated women from the five English-speaking countries of Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States were between 18-64 years old. Approximately 45% were under 40 and the remaining 55% were 40 or over. Almost 71% were married. Although years as an immigrant were matched, they spanned to 43 years (mean=13.0, standard deviation=12.89; median=9.0). Forty percent came with family, and 24% had family members awaiting them in the host country. No significant differences by country were found in any of these demographic or family support variables. Acculturation variables show that almost two-thirds of women (n=33) included the host country in their self-identity, with a moderate level of expectations (mean=6.2, standard deviation=2.63), and a low to moderate level of language proficiency (mean=4.9, standard deviation=3.59). No significant differences by country were found for these acculturation variables.
Conclusions: In a study with an age and years-as-an-immigrant matched sample of English-speaking, college-educated, diaspora female immigrants, arriving from relatively high-income countries, it was surprising to find only moderate levels of social acculturation. Country of origin, whether Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States, did not influence levels of acculturation. Countries receiving immigrants must consider the types of services they offer to assist with social acculturation. Such services need to consider gender, and education level, but have no need to consider country of origin.
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