Longitudinal data from a novel survey (the Norface funded SCIP survey) among recent immigrants from Poland and Turkey in Germany enables us to analyze the nexus between migrants’ assimilation in other spheres, namely their social and language assimilation, their perceptions of ethnic boundaries and their identification with the receiving society more directly than previous studies.
Most studies have analyzed the relationship between migrants’ cognitive and social assimilation, discrimination and national identification based on cross-sectional data which raises questions about causality. Furthermore, they study assimilation not at the beginning of the process but give a snapshot of this relationship at a later – and necessarily rather arbitrary – stage of their stay in the receiving country. Accordingly, existing research cannot answer the question of whether migrants’ lower (or higher) levels of identification with the receiving country existed already right after or even before immigration or evolved during the course of their stay.
Results suggest that Turkish new migrants start out with higher levels of identification with Germany than Poles. Over time, however, their national identification decreases while it increases for Poles. This is partly explained by the fact that Turkish migrants’ social assimilation stagnates; more importantly, only Turks perceive more rather than less discrimination and value incompatibility over time.
