Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2023-3
Classic assimilation,self-selection and parent status: An analysis of the central–local political trust among highly educated Mainland migrants in Hong Kong
Prior research overlooks highly educated migrants and their political incorporation in host societies. This study applies both classic assimilation and self-selection theories to understand political trust among highly educated migrants from Mainland China in Hong Kong, including their trust toward local (host society) and central (home society) governments. We also address the possibility of selective assimilation adopted by migrant parents as risk-reducing strategies. Based on a survey of highly educated Mainland migrants in Hong Kong (n = 2,884), our results show partial support for both theories. Migrants’ political trust is influenced by both their post-migration political exposure and their pre-migration political attitudes. Moreover, migrant parents tend to remain bicultural, showing more positive attitudes toward both governments in host and home societies.
AbrajanoMAHajnalZHassellHJ (2017) Media framing and partisan identity: The case of immigration coverage and white macro partisanship. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics2(1): 5–34.
2.
AiMZhangN (2021) Strong-tie discussion, political trust and political participation: A comparative study of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. International Communication Gazette83(5): 497–516.
3.
BilodeauA (2008) Immigrants’ voice through protest politics in Canada and Australia: Assessing the impact of pre-migration political repression. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies34(6): 975–1002.
4.
BloemraadI (2006a) Becoming a citizen in the United States and Canada: Structured mobilization and immigrant political incorporation. Social Forces85(2): 667–695.
5.
BloemraadI (2006b) Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada. Berkeley: University of California Press.
6.
BuekerCS (2005) Political incorporation among immigrants from ten areas of origin: The persistence of source country effects. International Migration Review39(1): 103–140.
CernaL (2014) Attracting high-skilled immigrants: Policies in comparative perspective. International Migration52(3): 69–84.
9.
ChanKBChanW (2010) Hong Kong’s professional immigrants from Mainland China and their strategies of adaptation. Studies on Hong Kong and Macao1: 146–165.
10.
ChenQ (2017) Globalization and Transnational Academic Mobility: The Experiences of Chinese Academic Returnees. Singapore: Springer.
11.
ChiswickBRTaengnoiS (2007) Occupational choice of high skilled immigrants in the United States. International Migration45(5): 3–34.
12.
ColakogluSYunluDGArmanG (2018) High-skilled female immigrants: Career strategies and experiences. Journal of Global Mobility6(3/4): 258–284.
13.
CzaikaMParsonsCR (2017) The gravity of high-skilled migration policies. Demography54: 603–630.
14.
Da Silva RebeloMJFernándezMAchoteguiJ (2018) Mistrust, anger, and hostility in refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants: A systematic review. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne59(3): 239–251.
15.
DelheyJNewtonKWelzelC (2011) How general is trust in “most people”? Solving the radius of trust problem. American Sociological Review76(5): 786–807.
16.
EibachRPMockSE (2011) The vigilant parent: Parental role salience affects parents’ risk perceptions, risk-aversion, and trust in strangers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology47(3): 694–697.
17.
ErelU (2012) Engendering transnational space: Migrant mothers as cultural currency speculators. European Journal of Women’s Studies19(4): 460–474.
18.
FacchiniGMaydaAM (2012) Individual attitudes towards skilled migration: An empirical analysis across countries. The World Economy35(2): 183–196.
19.
FonerA (1974) Age stratification and age conflict in political life. American Sociological Review39(2): 187–196.
20.
FongEGuoH (2018) Immigrant integration and their negative sentiments toward recent immigrants: The case of Hong Kong. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal27(2): 166–189.
21.
FongELiJXChanCCS (2018) Mainland migrants in Hong Kong. In: LuiTLChiuSWKYepR (eds) Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Hong Kong. London: Routledge.
22.
GeurtsNDavidsTSpieringsN (2021) The lived experience of an integration paradox: Why high-skilled migrants from Turkey experience little national belonging in the Netherlands. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies47(1): 69–87.
23.
GibsonJMcKenzieD (2011) Eight questions about brain drain. Journal of Economic Perspectives25(3): 107–128.
24.
GidengilEStolleD (2009) The role of social networks in immigrant women’s political incorporation. International Migration Review43(4): 727–763.
25.
GordonMM (1964) Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion, and National Origin. New York: Oxford University Press.
26.
GumaTDafydd JonesR (2019) Where are we going to go now?” European Union migrants' experiences of hostility, anxiety, and (non‐) belonging during Brexit. Population, Space and Place25(1): e2198.
27.
HaleyMRTaengnoiS (2011) The skill transferability of high-skilled US immigrants. Applied Economics Letters18(7): 633–636.
28.
HeckathornDD (1997) Respondent-driven sampling: A new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems44(2): 174–199.
29.
HolbrowHJNagayoshiK (2018) Economic integration of skilled migrants in Japan: The role of employment practices. International Migration Review52(2): 458–486.
HugoG (2014) Skilled migration in Australia: Policy and practice. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal23(4): 375–396.
32.
JacobsE (2022) Work visas and return migration: How migration policy shapes global talent. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies48(7): 1647–1668.
33.
JaskulowskiKPawlakM (2020) Migration and lived experiences of racism: The case of high-skilled migrants in Wrocław, Poland. International Migration Review54(2): 447–470.
34.
JedwabJ (2006) Immigrants wanted: Employment issues and immigrant destinations in Montréal and the rest of Quebec. Our Diverse Cities2: 154–157.
35.
KaramRA (2020) Becoming American by becoming Muslim: Strategic assimilation among second-generation Muslim American parents. Ethnic and Racial Studies43(2): 390–409.
36.
KerrSPKerrWÖzdenÇ, et al. (2017) High-skilled migration and agglomeration. Annual Review of Economics9: 201–234.
37.
KerryNMurrayD (2020) Politics and parental care: Experimental and mediational tests of the causal link between parenting motivation and social conservatism. Social Psychological and Personality Science11(2): 284–292.
38.
Kempny-MazurM (2017) Between transnationalism and assimilation: Polish parents’ upbringing approaches in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Social Identities23(3): 255–270.
39.
KlaggeBKlein-HitpaßK (2010) High-skilled return migration and knowledge-based development in Poland. European Planning Studies18(10): 1631–1651.
40.
KoslowskiR (2014) Selective migration policy models and changing realities of implementation. International Migration52(3): 26–39.
41.
LacyKR (2007) Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class. Berkeley: University of California Press.
42.
LanPC (2011) White privilege, language capital and cultural ghettoisation: Western high- skilled migrants in Taiwan. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies37(10): 1669–1693.
43.
LimHJSkinnerT (2012) Culture and motherhood: Findings from a qualitative study of East Asian mothers in Britain. Families, Relationships and Societies1(3): 327–343.
44.
LoLLiWYuW (2017) Highly-skilled migration from China and India to Canada and the United States. International Migration57(3): 317–333.
45.
MalhotraPLingR (2020) Agency within contextual constraints: Mobile phone use among female live-out domestic workers in Delhi. Information Technologies and International Development16: 32–46.
46.
MaxwellR (2010a) Evaluating migrant integration: Political attitudes across generations in Europe. International Migration Review44(1): 25–52.
47.
MaxwellR (2010b) Trust in government among British Muslims: The importance of migration status. Political Behavior32(1): 89–109.
48.
MaxwellR (2013) The geographic context of political attitudes among migrant-origin individuals in Europe. World Politics65(1): 116–155.
49.
MollenkopfJHochschildJ (2010) Immigrant political incorporation: Comparing success in the United States and Western Europe. Ethnic and Racial Studies33(1): 19–38.
50.
PantojaAD (2005) Transnational ties and immigrant political incorporation: The case of Dominicans in Washington Heights, New York. International Migration43(4): 123–146.
51.
ParkRE (1950) Race and Culture. Glencoe: Free Press.
52.
PengY (2016) Student migration and polymedia: Mainland Chinese students’ communication media use in Hong Kong. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies42(14): 2395–2412.
53.
PengY (2020) From migrant student to migrant employee: Three models of the school-to- work transition of Mainland Chinese in Hong Kong. Population, Space and Place26(4): e2283.
54.
PortesAZhouM (1993) The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science530(1): 74–96.
55.
RöderAMühlauP (2012) Low expectations or different evaluations: What explains immigrants’ high levels of trust in host-country institutions?Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies38(5): 777–792.
56.
RothsteinBUslanerEM (2005) All for all: Equality, corruption, and social trust. World Politics58(1): 41–72.
57.
SiarSV (2011) Skilled migration, knowledge transfer and development: The case of the highly skilled Filipino migrants in New Zealand and Australia. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs30(3): 61–94.
58.
SossJ (1999) Lessons of welfare: Policy design, political learning, and political action. American Political Science Review93(2): 363–380.
UpretyDSylwesterK (2017) The effect of remittances upon skilled emigration: An empirical study. Journal of Economic Development42(2): 1–16.
61.
UpretyD (2019) Skilled migration and health outcomes in developing countries. International Journal of Health Economics and Management19(1): 1–14.
62.
UpretyD (2020) Does skilled migration cause income inequality in the source country?International Migration58(4): 85–100.
63.
Van RiemsdijkMBasfordSBurnhamA (2016) Socio-cultural incorporation of skilled migrants at work: Employer and migrant perspectives. International Migration54(3): 20–34.
64.
VolzEHeckathornDD (2008) Probability based estimation theory for respondent driven sampling. Journal of Official Statistics24(1): 79–97.
65.
WangL (2016) Zhi Ye Pi Pei Yu She Hui Shi Ying: Nei Di Zhi Shi Xing Yi Min Zai Xiang Gang De She Hui Rong Ru [Career match and social adaptation: Social integration of Mainland professional immigrants in Hong Kong]. Youth Studies2: 86–93. [In Chinese].
66.
WangPJoossePChoLL (2020) The evolution of protest policing in a hybrid regime. The British Journal of Criminology60(6): 1523–1546.
67.
WongSHWMaNLamWM (2016) Migrants and democratization: The political economy of Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong. Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal2(2): 909–940.
68.
XuCL (2015) When the Hong Kong dream meets the anti-mainlandisation discourse: mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs44(3): 15–47.
