ACCULTURATION OF ARAB-AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

A nonrandom sample of 39 Arab-American immigrants was surveyed with re spect to measures of acculturation, satisfaction with life in the Unit ed States, family life satisfactions, and various independent variable s. Results from this limited sample suggest that longer residence in t he U.S., younger age at immigration, having not recently visited :one' s homeland, and being of a Christian religious persuasion are associat ed with greater acculturation to I,U.S. society and greater satisfacti on. with life in the United States, but with reduced family satisfacti on. Discrimination experiences are associated with reduced satisfactio n with life in the United State but not with acculturation in general. Although permissiveness is unrelated to most acculturation variables, it is related negatively to parental satisfaction. Although accultura tion appears to be associated positively with satisfaction with life i n the United States,it also-appears to be associated negatively with f amily satisfaction, confirming the hypotheses of some scholars regardi ng the stressfulness of immigration experiences and their adverse impa ct on family life and organization.