Islam and the Transmission of Cultural Identity in Four European Countries

Abstract

Studies exploring the integration of European immigrants tend to highlight cultural differences between Muslim children and their peers. While some scholars argue that parent-to-child transmission is a key mechanism underlying this pattern, others privilege extrafamilial explanations by pointing to cultural discontinuities within Muslim households. The current study argues that these mixed results stem from a tendency in the literature to analyze different aspects of cultural identity (e.g., ethnocultural attachments, tolerance norms, gender norms) in isolation from one another. To address this shortcoming, I adopt a multidimensional approach to the measurement of cultural identity. Specifically, I use multigroup latent class analysis to capture how ethnic attachments, tolerance norms and gender norms are implicated in the cultural identities of immigrant parents and children in four European countries. Using a series of regression models, I show that Muslim youth stand out from their peers vis-à-vis their cultural identity profiles. However, I find no evidence to suggest that this pattern is driven by cultural transfers from parents to children.