The relationship between generation, first and second, ethnic identity, modernity, and acculturation among immigrant Lebanese American women

Based on Berry’s model of acculturation, when immigrants move to a new country, they choose to live according to any one of the following four acculturation modes: assimilation, integration, separation, or marginalization. The specific cultural and psychosocial characteristics of the acculturating individual or group determine what acculturation mode they will most likely follow. Generation, ethnic identity and modernity are few examples of those cultural and psychosocial referents. The present study examined the relationship of generation first and second, ethnic identity and modernity to acculturation among Lebanese American immigrant women living in the metro-Detroit area. Using the snowball technique, ninety women (first generation = 51, second generation = 39) took part in the study. The participants responded on Qualtrics (online survey platform) to the four measures used in this study: (1) a demographic survey, (2) the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), (3) Traditionalism-Modernism Inventory-Revised (TMI-R), and (4) the Acculturation Rating Scale for Arab Americans II (ARSAA-II). Multiple regression was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that generation and ethnic identity had a significant relationship to acculturation, as they were the best predictors of acculturation in Lebanese American women in the metro Detroit area. Unexpectedly, modernity did not contribute significantly to acculturation. The main implication of this research is that if immigrants’ generation (first, second, etc.) and ethnic identity are known, then professionals can make meaningful determinations of immigrants’ acculturation. Discussion of the relationships among the variables as stated in the hypothesis is provided. Implications for future research and practice are also provided