Publications by authors named "Thomas Soehl"

How does context shapes religious practices and religious expression of immigrants? Existing work has focussed on changes over the long term and across generations. We argue that context can shape religious practice shortly after arrival. Using a nationally representative survey of Syrian refugees with children who arrived between late 2015 and 2018, we examine how often parents talk to their children about religion, a central mechanism in religious socialization.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Which immigrant groups differ most from the cultural values held by mainstream society and why? The authors explore this question using data from the European Social Survey on the values held by almost 100,000 individuals associated with 305 immigrant groups and the native majorities of 23 countries. They test whether distant linguistic or religious origins (including in Islam), value differences that immigrants "import" from their home countries, the maintenance of transnational ties and thus diasporic cultures, or legal and social disadvantage in the country of settlement shape acculturation processes. They find that only legally or socially disadvantaged groups differ from mainstream values in significant ways.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As Gordon noted in his 1964 treatise on assimilation, marriage across ethnic boundaries and in particular, marriage into the mainstream is a key indicator as well as a mechanism of immigrant assimilation. Since then research has investigated numerous micro- and macro level correlates of exogamy. In this paper we focus on a topic that has received less attention thus far - how the timing of marriage is associated with partner choice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF