Segmented Assimilation Revisited: Types of Acculturation and Socioeconomic Mobility in Young Adulthood

Abstract

This article examines the debate between key theories of immigrant assimilation by exploring the effect of acculturation types – dissonant, consonant, and selective – on socioeconomic outcomes in young adulthood. Drawing on survey data from the Immigrant Second Generation in Metropolitan New York, we show that while all three types occur, dissonant acculturation is the exception, not the norm, among second generation young adults. Our results also suggest that neither the type of acculturation nor the level of ethnic embeddedness can account for the variation in mobility patterns both across and within second generation groups. These findings lead us to question assumptions about the protective effect of selective acculturation and the negative effect of dissonant acculturation.