Timing of Naturalization Among US Immigrants

When do foreign-born individuals acquire US citizenship? Previous studies hypothesized that those eligible for citizenship would choose to pursue naturalization early on in order to enjoy the benefits. I test this hypothesis using newly available information on the timing of naturalization from the American Community Survey (ACS) and I find supporting evidence. Controlling for observable characteristics in a hazard model reveals an interesting, nonlinear pattern of importance for the time spent in the USA. While the duration of stay is positively associated with naturalization, it is increasing at a decreasing rate. The likelihood of naturalization increases for approximately the first 20 years and then starts to decline.     

Naturalization and employment integration of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands

This article deals with immigrants’ naturalization decisions and their effects on socioeconomic integration. The research questions are the following: Is cultural integration of immigrants positively related to naturalization? Does naturalization exert a positive influence on the employment integration of immigrants in the Netherlands? Using data from the ‘Social position and Use of Public Facilities by Migrants’ (SPVA) survey for the year 2002, we concentrate our analysis on Turks and Moroccans. The results of multivariate analyses indicate that naturalization of Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands is not positively related to cultural integration nor to employment integration. These unexpected findings can be explained by the Dutch rules on naturalization.     

More Royalist Than the King? Immigration Policy Attitudes Among Naturalized Citizens

Social psychological research has analyzed immigration attitudes mostly from the perspective of natives without an immigrant background. Nevertheless, an increasing number of migrants obtain national citizenship and take a stance towards immigration policies. By studying immigration policy attitudes reported by naturalized citizens, this article develops a dual-pathway model of immigrant political incorporation featuring pathways of either absorption or transformation. Based on a unique sample of immigrants who just accomplished the naturalization procedure (N = 566), we investigate participants' preferences for permissive or restrictive immigration policies as a function of their naturalization motives and expectations about how immigrants should acculturate in the receiving society (i.e., acculturation orientations). Our findings provide evidence for both processes of political absorption and transformation. On the one hand, belongingness motives underlying naturalization were connected to orientations towards host culture adoption, which in turn predicted support for restrictive immigration policies. On the other hand, instrumental motives were connected to orientations towards heritage culture maintenance, which in turn predicted support for permissive immigration policies. To conclude, we discuss the social psychological dynamics involved in the transition from national outsiders to national insiders and highlight the effects of naturalization on power relations between national majority and immigrant minority groups.     

If you want to be one of us,then become like us: The evaluation of naturalization applicants by host nationals

Immigrant naturalization is a rite of passage, making assimilationist attitudes particularly pronounced among host nationals. Three experimental studies investigate whether heritage culture maintenance violates expectations that citizenship should be deserved by proving strong attachment to the host nation (i.e., neoliberal communitarianism). Study 1 (N = 293) demonstrates that naturalization applicants’ high degree of heritage culture maintenance impairs application evaluations. Perceived attachment to the host nation and citizenship deservingness mediated this effect. Study 2 (N = 220) replicates results across two national contexts and reveals that heritage culture maintenance impairs evaluations only among naturalization applicants from devalued countries. Study 3 (N = 117) manipulates attachment to the host nation and shows that perceived citizenship deservingness mediates the negative effects of naturalization applicants' low attachment to the host nation on application evaluations. Overall, assimilationist attitudes among host nationals are best explained by the combination of neoliberal and communitarian criteria of evaluation.     

Multiple citizenship and naturalization: An evaluation of German and Dutch policies

In many countries the trend has been toward greater acceptance of multiple citizenship and more naturalizations of immigrants. This article analyses and compares developments in Germany and the Netherlands. Central questions are how policies toward dual citizenship have developed and to what extent these policies have influenced naturalization rates. The far-reaching toleration of dual citizenship in the Netherlands in the 1990s resulted in high naturalization rates. However, there were large differences between immigrant groups. Similar differences are found in Germany. Multiple citizenship carries little importance for European Union (EU) citizens, who feel no need to naturalize, and for refugees, who have no desire to retain the citizenship of their country of origin.     

The Roots of Patriotism Across Political Contexts

Why do some Americans feel more patriotic than others? We argue that feelings of national pride are reinforced by cues from people's political and social environments. When Americans reside in contexts that align with their values, traits, and civic orientations, they are more likely to express pride in their country. We consider both civic and ethnic pathways to patriotism. We expect that minorities and those who particularly value political equality will feel increasingly patriotic as the racial and ethnic diversity of their state climbs. For those who see politics through a partisan lens, we expect that environments defined by political competition will enhance feelings of national pride. We test our theory using data from the 2012 American National Election Studies (ANES). We find that Americans are more likely to say that they feel love for their country when they reside in political contexts congruent with their values and approach to citizenship.     

Dual Citizenship, Double Membership? Membership and Belonging of Immigrants’ Descendants in France and Sweden

Conceptual changes in the classical understanding of citizenship in connection with marked shifts in citizenship regimes have been widely studied in recent decades. Most of this work has been developed to explore legal and institutional aspects, thus giving citizenship a static framework. By turning to individuals?? perceptions, a new picture of citizenship is discovered. The present study pays attention to a group that has not hitherto been central in discussions about citizenship, namely immigrants?? descendants or so-called second-generation immigrants. This group is regarded as being in-between their parents?? native country and the country in which they were themselves born, which could result in an ambiguous membership and potentially divided allegiance, especially for those having dual citizenship. This article introduces the experiences of Turkish descendants in France and Sweden. Qualitative work complemented by survey data shows how dual citizens prioritize one country or both in order to develop new and traditional aspects associated with citizenship. Two dimensions are explored: a civic dimension composed by traditional elements associated with legal status such as rights and duties and a subjective dimension that is defined by the personal elements that link individuals with the country, city, or community to which they belong. Citizenship regimes and paradigms of integration are also problematized in this article in order to capture the context and possible influence over people??s narratives.     

Integrating Immigrants into the Life of Canadian Urban Christian Congregations: Findings from a National Survey

In just one generation the cultural face of Canadian society has been transformed. The relative level of immigration has increased rapidly as has diversity among those immigrants. This article reports on the findings of a national survey that offers a baseline of how and to what extent local Canadian Christian congregations are responding to this cultural diversity. In particular, it explores how churches are integrating immigrants within the life of their local congregations. This article uses a systems change perspective to frame immigrant integration. This perspective emphasizes three requirements for change: vision, structure and processes that promote immigrant integration. Data was collected using an online survey of urban congregations in the nine urban Canadian communities having an immigrant population above the national average (20% foreign-born). Using these data this article explores the full range of immigrant integration efforts from the initial welcome to inclusion into congregational life. It describes the present status of immigrant integration, details reported successes and challenges and notes respondent suggestions for better integration. Results of this survey provide first-time baseline insights into how a range of urban Christian congregations from across Canada are presently responding to the Canadian immigrant reality.     

Editorial

Abstract

After outlining its geographical horizons, this article goes on to survey the history of Islam, in Europe and the different profiles of the Muslim communities today in western Europe, the USA and the Balkans. It suggests that there are usually four phases in the development of these communities. The three main Western approaches to managing diversity are outlined, alongside the three most common models for the relationship between religion and the state. The politics of identity is discussed, addressing the question, ‘How can religious diversity be reconciled with shared citizenship?’, along with the crisis of leadership among Muslims in the West and the radicalisation of some Muslims. Muslim attitudes towards Christianity are described, as are church responses at both national and international level. Finally two further questions are addressed: ‘Can the churches act as an antidote to religious nationalism?’ and ‘Can Christians and Muslims together shape civic space for the common good?’     

Essentialism in Social Representations of Citizenship: An Analysis of Greeks' and Migrants' Discourse

Following a Social Representations approach, the article examines the representations of citizenship held by both migrants and Greek citizens in Greece after the announcement of a heavily debated citizenship legislation. Essentialism, a way of representing social categories as holding an underlying essence that determines their characteristics, was used as an analytical tool to understand the inclusive or exclusive function of representations of citizenship towards migrants. Findings showed that Greeks construct representations based on ethnic, civic, and cultural ideas, while migrants construct representation of citizenship based on civic and cultural ideas. Essentialism was a way of constructing ethnic and cultural representations of citizenship and functioned in both exclusive and inclusive ways, but assimilatory terms accordingly. Civic and cultural representations of citizenship were constructed in nonessentialist ways and functioned in inclusive ways. However, from Greeks' perspective, civic inclusion was conditioned upon an often‐questioned legality of migrants and upon cultural assimilation terms. Studying both the content and the essentialist/nonessentialist formulation of representations of citizenship is an important tool in understanding the politics of inclusion and exclusion of citizens in the social arena.     

Teachers' self-efficacy and organizational citizenship behaviors

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between teachers' instructional efficacy and their organizational citizenship behavior. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 1,100 French Canadian high school teachers. A response rate of 44.36% was obtained (279 women and 208 men whose mean age was 40.4 yr.) Teachers' instructional efficacy was assessed with a French Canadian version of the Teacher Efficacy Scale and organizational citizenship behavior was assessed with a questionnaire constructed for the study. Analysis yielded positive and significant correlations (rs ranging from .19 and .34, p<.01) between teachers' personal teaching efficacy and organizational citizenship behaviors such as altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, and civic virtue. General teaching efficacy was only related to sportsmanship (r=.15, p <.01). So the predictions were partially supported by the results.     

Portuguese-Canadian Emigrant Descendents in Multicultural Canada: Ambiguous Identity in a Sure-Footed Nation or Cultural Awareness in an Uncertain Country?

This paper examines the ways the descendents of Portuguese-Canadian immigrants contemplate and formulate their identities. Through qualitative, open-ended interviews, the research demonstrates how these individuals contest ideas of ‘being Portuguese’ and ‘being Canadian’ within the frameworks of the Canadian multicultural policy. Refusing to be positioned outside the nation and Anglo/Francophone conformity, these individuals produce their own meanings of identity by working through their own personally identified multiethnic bodies to the national body politic, where some of them see their own selves as intrinsically ‘multicultural’ and contributors to the very definition of a Canadian identity. Challenging the tropes of the Canadian multicultural narrative, these descendents, thus, develop nuanced models of cultural citizenship, illustrating that national identities are formed and transformed in relation to representation. Through the process of narrative analysis, my endeavour of this article are twofold: on one hand, to illuminate the role of these individuals who, as active actors, are shaped by the social worlds they delve in and, on the other, to explicate how the roles played out by these actors can contribute to the construction of ‘a Canadian identity’.     

Selling Citizenship: A Defence

Many people think that citizenship should not be for sale. On their view, it is morally wrong for states to sell citizenship to foreigners. In this article, I challenge this view. I argue that it is in principle permissible for states to sell citizenship. I contend that, if states can permissibly deny foreigners access to citizenship in some cases, then states can permissibly give foreigners the option of buying citizenship in these cases. Furthermore, I defend the permissibility of selling citizenship against the objections that selling citizenship values citizenship in the wrong way, corrupts civic norms, and unfairly discriminates against poor foreigners. I conclude by noting that, although selling citizenship is not intrinsically wrong, it could still be wrong for states to sell citizenship in practice. If existent immigration restrictions are unjust, then it may be impermissible for states to sell citizenship in the real world.     

Roles of instruments in psychological research

What roles have instruments played in psychology and related disciplines? How have instruments affected the dynamics of psychological research, with what possibilities and limits? What is the psychological instrument? This article provides a conceptual foundation for specific case studies concerning such questions. The discussion begins by challenging widely accepted assumptions about the subject and analyzing the general relations between scientific experimentation and the uses of instruments in psychology. Building on this analysis, a deliberately inclusive definition of what constitutes a psychological instrument is proposed. The discussion then takes up the relation between instrumentation and theories and differentiates in greater detail the roles instruments have had over the course of psychology's history. Finally, the authors offer an approach to evaluating the possibilities and limitations of instruments in psychology.     

Citizenship and immigration a current review

The presence of immigrants and their activities challenge traditional notions of citizenship centred on the conflation of national and state membership. Four dimensions of citizenship— defined here as membership in a socio-political community—are identified: legal status, rights, identity, and participation. Discussion centres on the constraints and determinants of naturalization, the extent to which rights are linked to personhood rather than membership in a nation-state, and the challenge to state identity and cohesion produced by multiculturalism. It is suggested that future research should consider citizenship as participation. This dimension highlights how immigrants’ transnational activities challenge traditional views of citizenship. We cannot, however, dismiss the importance of the state. The concept of participation is therefore also important since it focuses attention on dynamic interactions between the individual and the nation-state.     

Grounding Citizenship: Toward a Political Psychology of Public Space

This article considers the political nature of public space and explores its psychological relevance as a natural arena of citizenship. Drawing on literature in social psychology, environmental psychology, and political geography, the article addresses how common understandings of normative behavior in public are often based on particular constructions of place and people‐space relations. In so doing, it shows how such culturally shared “locational” notions are essentially contested in relation to their political significance and ideological orientation within a particular public socio‐spatial context. It is argued that claims for and demands on public space are enshrined in broader struggles over the psychological boundaries of belonging, identity, and civic entitlements which are central to the contentious issue of citizenship. This is illustrated through the analysis of an emblematic struggle over a public space located in the Old Town of Barcelona between 1999 and 2007, triggered by the social appropriation of an undeveloped urban lot. The article pinpoints how considering the material dimension of public space may also enrich existing psychological approaches to citizenship.     

Beyond the Ethnic‐Civic Dichotomy: Cultural Citizenship as a New Way of Excluding Immigrants

In European Union (EU) countries, public debates about immigrants and citizenship are increasingly framed in cultural terms. Yet, there is no agreement within the citizenship literature on whether a cultural citizenship representation can be distinguished from the more established ethnic and civic representations and on how its measures relate to anti‐immigrant attitudes. The present study tested measures of citizenship representations among high school students (N = 1476) in six EU countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Sweden). Factor analyses favored a three‐factor model of citizenship representations (i.e., ethnic, cultural, and civic factors), which showed partial metric invariance. Across countries, ethnic and cultural scales correlated positively with each other and negatively with the civic scale. Moreover, ethnic and cultural scales related positively and the civic scale negatively to anti‐immigrant attitudes. However, when analyzed simultaneously, relations of the ethnic scale with anti‐immigrant attitudes were no longer significant, while those of the cultural and civic scales proved to be robust. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Labor Market Performance of Naturalized Immigrants in Switzerland—New Findings from the Swiss Labor Force Survey

The objective of this paper is to obtain new empirical insights into the integration of naturalized immigrants in Switzerland. In particular, we focus on a comparison of first-generation immigrants with and without Swiss citizenship. The analysis on the basis of the 2008 wave of the Swiss Labor Force Survey is motivated by findings in the literature highlighting the role of the acquisition of citizenship in the integration process. In line with those findings, our results demonstrate that naturalized first-generation immigrants tend to have higher wages than non-naturalized immigrants. An applied Blinder?COaxaca decomposition technique demonstrates that this result is strongly connected to the higher human capital endowments of immigrants who have attained Swiss citizenship. The findings are in line with other case studies stating that immigrants positively select into citizenship.     

Les relations entre l'implication au travail,les comportements de citoyenneté organisationnelle et l'intention de retrait

The relationship between job involvement and organizational citizenship behaviours and between organizational citizenship behaviours and withdrawal intent (intent to quit and intent to absenteeism) are slightly well-documented. The purpose of this paper was to associated job involvement, organizational citizenship behaviours and withdrawal intent to examined their relationship. An empirical study was made using a sample of 252 employees. Data showed that job involvement predict most of citizenship behaviours (helping behaviour, civic virtue, sportsmanship) except altruism. Citizenship behaviours have significant and negative impact on intent to quit. More precisely, civic virtue and altruism predict only intent to absenteeism, while sportsmanship predict simultaneously intent to quit and intent to absenteeism. At last, helping behaviors predict neither intent to quit nor intent to absenteeism. Managerial and theoretical implications and limits of the study are discussed.