Acculturation Strategies and Ethnic Identity Among Second-Generation Israeli Migrants in the United States

This paper examines acculturation strategies among second-generation Israeli migrants in the United States as part of their ethnic identity formation process. Utilizing data obtained through semi-structured personal interviews and building on Berry’s model (J Soc Issues 57(3):615–631, 2001, Int J Intercult Relat 29(6):697–712, 2005), as well as Cohen’s (Int Migr 49(4):1–22, 2011a) expanded typology, it traces four dominant strategies among this group; Those who employed Group Integration (A) and Group Nostalgic Insulation (B) expressed explicitly positive attitudes towards their parents’ country of origin as well as co-migrants while those using Individual Integration (C) were equally attached to their homeland and host country cultures. A fourth group subscribed to Assimilation (G), a strategy that entails negative attitudes towards the country of origin and the in-group of migrants but highly positive identification with the host society and culture. Thus, interactions and networks in the host—versus home—society dynamically construct acculturation strategies of second-generation migrants and contribute to the formation of their ethnic identities.