The Role of Homesickness and Nostalgia on Immigrant Acculturation Preferences: An Intergenerational Experience?

Abstract

This paper investigated whether homesickness and nostalgia are related to acculturation preferences (maintenance and adoption) through ethnic- and host-country identification among both first and second generation immigrants. Structural equation modelling using survey data (N = 682) from four immigrant groups in the Netherlands showed that similar psychological processes were going on for both immigrant generations. Results indicated that feelings of longing and adjustment difficulties, ascribed to the homesickness experience, should be regarded as two distinct processes. We found that immigrants experiencing nostalgia or a sense of longing for their (parents’) country of origin experienced higher levels of ethnic identification and showed stronger support for cultural maintenance, both directly and through higher levels of ethnic identification. Experiencing longing or nostalgia was related to lower support for host culture adoption indirectly through higher levels of ethnic identification and, in the case of nostalgia, through lower levels of host country identification.