Migrants’ Social Networks and Cultural Identification Patterns

Although public attention has tended to focus on the negative effects of social networks among migrants, these networks may also contribute to healthy cultural integration and therefore be protective against negative outcomes such as radicalization, a fact that is often overlooked. The present research examines this positive role of social networks in migrants’ psychological acculturation, with a special emphasis on cultural identity negotiations.

We adopt a social network theory perspective, which posits (1) a key role of social connections in human functioning and (2) bidirectional links between people’s psychological dispositions (such as their cultural identification) and the pattern of their social connections (Borgatti & Everett, 2013). This study relies on an ego-net approach (i.e., analyzing personal networks in contrast to a complete bounded network such as a class or a corporation). Among Russian migrants to Canada (N=85), we examine the relations between structural network characteristics and cultural identification. We focus on both strength of identification with mainstream and heritage cultural groups, as well as cognitive configurations of these identities: having predominance of one identity (categorization), compartmentalization one’s different identities, and integration of one’s identities. Results show that migrants’ cultural identification patterns are mirrored in the structure of their social network. Implications of these results and of using social network methods in acculturation are discussed.