Public opinion on homosexuality remains unfavourable in Poland, one of the main sending countries of migrants to Western Europe. This contrasts sharply with public opinion in many of the Western European receiving countries. Using data collected shortly after migration and in a second wave one and a half years later, this contribution investigates the extent to which Polish migrants’ anti-gay attitudes change over time. Focusing on four Western European countries (Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK), it examines factors that act as barriers and facilitators of acculturation. We find that intention to settle permanently and greater social integration in the host country are associated with greater acculturation, while the opposite is the case for religious involvement and negative attitudes about the host society.
AdamczykAPittC (2009) Shaping attitudes about homosexuality: The role of religion and cultural context. Social Science Research38(2): 338–351.
2.
AhroldTMestonCM (2010) Ethnic differences in sexual attitudes of U.S. college students: Gender, acculturation, and religiosity factors. Archives of Sexual Behaviour39(1): 190–202.
3.
AlbaRDNeeV (2003) Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
4.
AlwinDFKrosnickJA (1991) Aging, cohorts, and the stability of socio-political attitudes over the life span. American Journal of Sociology97(1): 169–195.
5.
Arends-Tóth J and Van de Vijver JR (2009) Cultural differences infamilz, marital, and gender-role values among immigrants and majoritz members in the Netherlands. International Journal of Psychology 44(3): 161--169.
6.
Berry JW (1997) Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review 46(1): 5--68.
7.
BranscombNSchmittMHarveyR (1999) Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: Implications for group identification and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology77(1): 135–149.
8.
Diehl C, Gijsberts M, Güveli A, et al. (2015) Socio-Cultural Integration Processes of New Immigrants in Europe (SCIP) – Data file for download. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne.
9.
DiehlCKoenigMRuckdeschelK (2008) Religiosity and gender-equality. Comparing natives and Muslim migrants in Germany. Ethnic and Racial Studies32(2): 278–301.
10.
EngbersenGOkólskiMBlackR (2010) Working out a way from East to West: EU enlargement and labour migration from Central and Eastern Europe. In: BlackREngbersenG (eds) A Continent Moving West?, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 7–22.
11.
ErsanilliE (2012) Model(lin) citizens? Integration policies and value integration of Turkish immigrants and their descendants in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies10(3): 338–358.
12.
FitzgeraldRWinstoneLPrestageY (2014) Searching for evidence of acculturation: Attitudes toward homosexuality among migrants moving from Eastern to Western Europe. International Journal of Public Opinion Research26(3): 323–341.
13.
FloridaR (2002) The Rise of the Creative Class, New York: Basic Books.
14.
FonerNAlbaR (2008) Immigrant religion in the U.S. and Western Europe: Bridge or barrier to inclusion. International Migration Review42(2): 360–392.
15.
Gans HJ (1997) Toward a reconsideration of ‘assimilation' and ‘pluralism': The interplay of acculturation and ethnic retention. International Migration Review 31(4): 875--892.
16.
GerhardsJ (2010) Non-discrimination towards homosexuality: The European Union’s policy and citizens’ attitudes towards homosexuality in 27 European countries. Sociology25(1): 5–28.
17.
Goodhart D and Asscher L (2013) So much migration puts Europe's dzkes in danger of bursting. The Independent. 20 August 2013.
18.
GreyJARobinsonBEColemanE (2013) A systematic review of instruments that measure attitudes towards homosexual men. The Journal of Sex Research50(3/4): 329–352.
19.
Gresser A and Schacht D (2015) SCIP Survey–Methodological Report. Konstanz. www.scip-info.org.
20.
GüngörDFleischmannFPhaletK (2011) Religious identification, beliefs and practices among Turkish Belgian and Moroccan Belgian Muslims. Intergenerational continuity and acculturative change. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology42(8): 1356–1374.
21.
IglickaK (2000) Mechanisms of migration from Poland before and during the transition period. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies26(1): 61–73.
22.
InglehartR (1997) Modernization and Postmodernization, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
23.
JaspersELubbersMDe GraafND (2007) ‘Horrors of Holland’: Explaining attitudes change towards euthanasia and homosexuals in the Netherlands, 1970–1998. International Journal of Public Opinion Research19(4): 451–473.
24.
KelleyJ (2001) Attitudes towards homosexuality in 29 nations. Australian Social Monitor4(1): 15–22.
25.
KochenovD (2007) Democracy and human rights – Not for gay people? EU enlargement and its impact on the protection of the rights of sexual minorities. Texas Wesleyan Law Review13(2): 459–495.
26.
KringsTBobekAMoriartyE (2009) Migration and recession: Polish migrants in post-celtic Tiger Ireland. Sociological Research Online14(2).
27.
LangenkampTJ (2003) Finding fundamental fairness: Protecting the rights of homosexuals under European Union Accession law. San Diego International Law Journal4: 437.
28.
LeaperCValinD (1996) Predictors of Mexican American mothers’ and fathers’ attitudes toward gender equity. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science18(3): 343–355.
29.
LubbersMJaspersEUlteeW (2009) Primary and secondary socialization impacts on support for same-sex marriage after legalization in the Netherlands. Journal of Family Issues30(12): 1714–1745.
30.
MaliepaardMLubbersMGijsbertsM (2010) Generational differences in ethnic and religious attachment and their interrelation. A study among Muslim minorities in the Netherlands. Ethnic and Racial Studies33(3): 451–472.
31.
O’DwyerCSchwartzK (2010) Minority rights after EU enlargement: A comparison of antigay politics in Poland and Latvia. Comparative Political Studies8: 220–243.
32.
PhaletKSchönpflugU (2001) Intergenerational transmission in Turkish immigrant families. Journal of Comparative Family Studies32(4): 489–504.
33.
PortesAZhouM (1993) The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science530: 74–97.
34.
RöderA (2014) Immigrants’ attitudes towards homosexuality: Socialisation, religion and acculturation in European host societies. International Migration Review. (Online first).
35.
RöderAMühlauP (2014) Are they acculturating? Europe's immigrants and gender egalitarianism. Social Forces92(3): 899–928.
36.
Rumbaut RG (2008) Reaping what zou sewö Immigration, youth, and reactive ethnicity. Applied Developmental Science 22(2): 1--6.
37.
SnelEEngberseGLeerkesA (2006) Transnational involvement and social integration. Global Networks6(3): 285–308.
38.
StulhoferARimacL (2009) Determinants of homonegativity in Europe. Journal of Sex Research46(1): 24–32.
39.
TakácsJSzalmaI (2013) How to measure homophobia in and international comparison?Družboslovne RazpraveXXIX(73): 11–42.
40.
TeneyCSubramanianSV (2010) Attitudes toward homosexuals among youth in multi-ethnic Brussels. Cross-Cultural Research44(2): 151–172.
41.
Thoemmes F (2012) Propensity score matching in SPSS. University of Tübingen.
42.
Van de MeerendonkBScheepersP (2004) Denial of equal rights for lesbians and gay men in the Netherlands, 1980–1993. Journal of Homosexuality47(2): 63–80.
43.
Van den AkkerHVan der PloegRScheepersP (2013) Disapproval of homosexuality: Comparative research on individual and national determinants of disapproval of homosexuality in 20 European countries. International Journal of Public Opinion Research25(1): 64–86.
44.
Van der BrachtKVan de PutteB (2014) Homonegativity among first and second generation migrants in Europe: The interplay of time trends, origin, destination and religion. Social Science Research48: 108–120.
45.
Van TubergenFSindradottirJ (2011) The religiosity of immigrants in Europe: A cross-national study. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion50(2): 272–288.
46.
YamanakaKMcClellandK (1994) Earning the model-minority image: Diverse strategies of economic adaptation by Asian-American women. Ethnic and Racial Studies17(1): 79–114.
