Family life and acculturation attitudes: A study among four immigrant groups in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between different aspects of family life and acculturation attitudes among adults of the four main immigrant groups in the Netherlands. The focus is on the importance of early parental practices and current (national and transnational) family relationships for the attitude, first, towards socio-cultural maintenance and, second, towards socio-cultural adaptation. The results show that family life matters for both attitudes, but more strongly for the endorsement of socio-cultural maintenance. Family contacts and support are positively related to the endorsement of socio-cultural maintenance but not to the attitude towards socio-cultural adaptation. Growing up with loving and supporting parents is associated with a more positive attitude towards socio-cultural adaptation. In addition to, and independent from, the individual's language proficiency, immigrants within families who speak Dutch more often have a more positive attitude towards socio-cultural adaptation and a lower endorsement of socio-cultural maintenance.