Do Incorporation Policies Matter? Immigrants’ Identity and Relationships With the Receiving Society

Are multiculturalism policies associated with a rejection of the receiving society’s identity by immigrants? Is there a policy arrangement that makes identification with the receiving society more likely? This article addresses head-on whether there is a trade-off between ethnic identification and relationships with the host society and whether this trade-off is associated with certain policy regimes. Looking at immigrants in 10 Western democracies, the results show that despite the fact that inclusive policies decrease identification with the majority, they do so while being associated with integrationist orientations on issues such as language choice and cultural traditions. Immigrants in these countries value relationships with both their ethnic group and the majority to a greater extent. In countries with inclusive policies, ethnic identification is also associated with commitment to the receiving society and, contrary to more restrictive regimes, does not lead to greater perceived discrimination. These findings are robust to additional models looking at Muslim immigrants.