The Association of Acculturation and Well-Being: Second-Generation Immigrants in Switzerland

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a rapid increase in immigration rates throughout Europe, and many immigrants remained permanently. As a result, a substantial part of society are second-generation immigrants. Despite an increase in research related to this population, predominantly from the US, it remains unknown, whether growing up and living in two cultures fosters immigrants’ subjective well-being. The present study investigated the association between acculturation (here heritage and mainstream culture orientation) and subjective well-being of second-generation immigrants in Switzerland. We further ran a multigroup analyses for women and men separately. Data of N = 492 adult children of immigrants (66% women; M_age = 32.39, SD_age = 10.46) were analyzed. Structural equation modelling showed that both orientation toward heritage and toward mainstream culture were positively related to subjective well-being, and that this was moderated by gender. Furthermore, the interaction between both kinds of orientation had a significant effect on subjective well-being. The study addresses several gaps in the existing research literature in three key ways: (1) it adds a European perspective; (2) it focuses on understudied second-generation immigrants; (3) it measures acculturation bilinear and multidimensional, as is required theoretically. Moreover, the findings may contribute to a more nuanced public discourse, where the significance of both mainstream orientation and heritage culture is occasionally called into question.