Immigrant identity of israeli adolescents from Ethiopia and the former USSR: Culture-specific principles of organization

The study examines how a sample of 210 high-school immigrant students (ages 14-15) from Ethiopia and the former USSR socially represent their notion of what klitat aliyah (successful adaptation to Israel) means. Prevalent relevant theories - Berry's model of Acculturation Tendencies (BAT), Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Social Comparison Theory (SCT) - suggest three kinds of patterns by which minority or socially weak groups deal with these kinds of situations. These underlying patterns were tested by a 47-item questionnaire (with a 4-point Likert-like scale), constructed from immigrant narratives regarding their klitat aliyah according to SIT, SCT and BAT categories of adaptation strategies. A Guttman non-parametric Similarity Structure Analysis (SSA) revealed four-facet organization of items for both males and females in both sub-samples. These facets, which reflected social representations of Israeli society, were dubbed: Extended Identity, Rivalry Identity, Secluded Identity and Identity Loss. Results did not confirm the underlying categorization of strategies suggested by SIT and SCT, and partially replicated those suggested by BAT.