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Immigrant Identifications and ICT Use: A Survey Study of Chinese and South Asian Immigrants in Canada

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A Correction to this article was published on 28 September 2022

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Abstract

An immigrant’s identification with their host country is often considered a key indicator of social integration. Informed by cultural psychology, migration scholars increasingly recognize that many immigrants develop a dual identity with both their host and home countries. This dual identity is shaped by various factors related to their settlement process and their connection with their home country. Today, the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to maintain an active connection in the home country with family, friends, and business partners is popular among transnational migrants, but little research examines how ICT use shapes the dual identity of immigrants. Using an exploratory survey approach, we examine ICT and the identification with host and home countries among Chinese and South Asian immigrants in Canada. Our findings show that our respondents commonly hold dual identities with their home and host society and that ICT use is an important contribution to a home society identity.

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Notes

  1. In our models, we find that survey mode differences are significant when explaining homeland and host society identification. Although this suggests an effect of the survey mode, the directions and significances of predicting variables are consistent in all models regardless of sampling mode.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education under grant MOE2015-T2-2–027.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Capri Ka Po Kong & Sean Lauer

  2. School of Social Work, The University of British Columbia, 2080 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2, Canada

    Miu Chung Yan

  3. School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Shao Hua Zhan

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  1. Capri Ka Po Kong
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Correspondence to Miu Chung Yan.

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Kong, C.K.P., Yan, M.C., Lauer, S. et al. Immigrant Identifications and ICT Use: A Survey Study of Chinese and South Asian Immigrants in Canada. Int. Migration & Integration 24, 885–910 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-022-00983-w

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