Acculturation preferences towards immigrants: Age and gender differences among Finnish adolescents

Discussions concerning if and how immigrants should acculturate into Finnish society have become popular especially in the aftermath of the refugee crisis. Despite the abundance of research on acculturation preferences of majority members towards immigrant groups, research on the stability of majority acculturation preferences in adolescence does not exist. In a sample of early (11-13 years, n = 157), middle (14-16 years, n = 362) and late (17-19 years, n = 279) adolescents, this study investigated the stability of acculturation preferences as adolescents age, and the extent to which men and women differed. Contrary to expectations, results indicated support for integration increased with age while support for assimilation decreased with age. Moreover, women were more supportive of integration and less supportive of assimilation when compared to men. Implications and future directions are discussed.