Symbolic ethnicity and American Jews: The relationship of ethnic identity to behavior and group affiliation

Symbolic ethnicity is a variant of straight-line assimilation theory that predicts an attenuation of the connection between ethnic identity and both ethnic behavior and group affiliation, the result of persistent or heightened interest in the former and decline in the latter. This study utilizes survey data from a midwestern Jewish community to test this thesis. We do so in two stages. First, Cohen's typology of Jewish involvement is employed to assess levels of ethnic behavior and affiliation. Second, we attempt to determine whether manifestations of ethnic identity do or do not have behavioral and affiliative consequences. Our findings do not support the symbolic ethnicity argument.