Acculturation of Portuguese immigrants in Luxembourg: Do value orientations of Portuguese and Luxembourgish mothers and daughters converge or diverge?

In acculturation research, the convergence/divergence in value orientations of immigrants and host nationals as well as the question of an acculturation gap between first- and second generation immigrants are important issues. The present study examines similarities and differences between first- and second generation immigrants compared to host nationals in a sample of n = 51 Luxembourgish and Portuguese mother-daughter dyads living in Luxembourg who were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire regarding (a) value orientations, (b) family norms, and (c) self-construal. Controlling for the psychometric properties of the national groups, mean comparisons indicated an acculturation gap regarding family norms with Portuguese daughters being more similar to their Luxembourgish counterparts than to their mothers, whereas both Portuguese generations rated conservation values higher and an independent self-construal lower than Luxembourgish participants. Results are discussed in a theoretical framework of value change in acculturation considering the role of salience of different value contents.