Marital Stability Among Jewish and Mixed Couples Following Immigration to Israel From the Former Soviet Union

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoav Lavee ◽  
Ludmila Krivosh
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Social Adjustment ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Marital Stability ◽  
Marital Instability ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Mixed Marriages ◽  
Marital Outcomes ◽  
Jewish Immigrants

This research aims to identify factors associated with marital instability among Jewish and mixed (Jewish and non-Jewish) couples following immigration from the former Soviet Union. Based on the Strangeness Theory and the Model of Acculturation, we predicted that non-Jewish immigrants would be less well adjusted personally and socially to Israeli society than Jewish immigrants and that endogamous Jewish couples would have better interpersonal congruence than mixed couples in terms of personal and social adjustment. The sample included 92 Jewish couples and 92 ethnically-mixed couples, of which 82 couples (40 Jewish, 42 mixed) divorced or separated after immigration and 102 couples (52 Jewish, 50 ethnically mixed) remained married. Significant differences were found between Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants in personal adjustment, and between endogamous and ethnically-mixed couples in the congruence between spouses in their personal and social adjustment. Marital instability was best explained by interpersonal disparity in cultural identity and in adjustment to life in Israel. The findings expand the knowledge on marital outcomes of immigration, in general, and immigration of mixed marriages, in particular.

Health-related quality of life in Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Germany

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Nesterko ◽  
Michael Friedrich ◽  
Nadja Seidel ◽  
Heide Glaesmer
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Jewish Immigrants

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test a hypothesized structure of interrelations between pre-migration dispositional factors (cultural identity and optimism/pessimism) and immigration-related experiences (level of integration and perceived discrimination) in association with mental and physical components of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a sample of Jewish people from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who immigrated to Germany. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire in Russian, including items about the immigration background, level of integration, perceived discrimination as well as cultural identity, dispositional optimism/pessimism (Life Orientation Test-R) and HRQoL (SF-12) was handed out to Jewish immigrants from the FSU living in Germany. The data of 153 participants were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings Whereas no significant associations between Jewish identity and HRQoL could be found, both a positive association between optimism and level of integration with a link to physical and mental health, and an inverse relation between optimism and perceived discrimination with a link to mental health, were observed. Opposite associations were found for pessimism. Originality/value The results replicate prior research findings on Jews from the FSU living in Israel and the USA and suggest more detailed assessment methods for further investigations on integration processes and cultural identity in the selected group of immigrants. Additionally, HRQoL is significantly lower in the Jewish sample than in the general population. These findings underline the need for a better integration policy, especially for Jewish people from the FSU.

scholarly journals Fifty Shades of Gray: Satisfaction with Life Among Jewish Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 92-96
Author(s):  
E. Tartakovsky
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Jewish Immigrants ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Mixed Blessing ◽  
Two Populations

In the present study, we tested the morbidity and salutary hypotheses of immigration investigating satisfaction with life (SWL) among Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel. The study was conducted using a random representative sample of first-generation immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel (N = 400) and a large geographically dispersed sample of Jews staying in Russia (N = 935). We applied three measures of SWL: general satisfaction with life (GSWL), multifaceted satisfaction with life (MSWL), and relative satisfaction with life (RSWL). The results demonstrated that immigrants were higher than stayers in GSWL. At the same time, the difference between the two populations was not significant in the average scores of MSWL. When comparing the two populations in ten domains of MSWL, immigrants reported higher satisfaction only in medical care. Stayers reported higher satisfaction in four domains: work, family relationships, relationships with friends, and entertainment and leisure. Immigrants assessed their standard of life as higher compared to the premigration period and to that presently existing in their country of origin. However, they assessed their standard of life as lower compared to the non-immigrant Israelis. Thus, immigration was a mixed blessing for the studied group of immigrants, salutary in some aspects and onerous in others.

Joining the Jewish People: Non-Jewish Immigrants from the Former USSR, Israeli Identity and Jewish Peoplehood

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 218-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Yakobson
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Cultural Integration ◽  
Jewish Immigrants ◽  
The Right ◽  
Law Of Return ◽  
Former Ussr

The Law of Return grants every Jew the right to immigrate to Israel; this also applies to non-Jewish relatives of Jews. The Citizenship Law grants every such “returnee” automatic citizenship. The wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union in the 90s brought a large number of immigrants not considered Jewish under the definition accepted in Israel. Is this large group of Israeli citizens—who do not, at least formally, belong to the Jewish people—an emerging second substantial national minority in Israel? This Article argues that regardless of formal definitions based on Orthodox religious law under which a religious conversion is the only way for a non-Jew to become Jewish, these immigrants, through their successful social and cultural integration in the Hebrew-speaking Jewish society in Israel, are joining, de facto, the Jewish people. It is no longer true that religious conversion is the only way to join the Jewish people.

‘Without it I am nothing’: The internet in the lives of older immigrants

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Khvorostianov ◽  
Nelly Elias ◽  
Galit Nimrod
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Older Immigrants ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Jewish Immigrants ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article aims to explore how using the internet may facilitate coping with the challenges of immigration in later life, based on the case of older Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel. For that purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with 32 immigrants living in southern Israel. Results indicated that internet usages by the study participants were: (1) Managing health; (2) Nurturing professional interests; (3) Maintaining and extending social networks; (4) Appreciating the past; and (5) Enjoying leisure. Each usage seemed to preserve and even strengthen the participants’ self-worth and improve their quality of life. These findings suggest that older immigrants who use the internet practice, in fact, strategies of successful ageing, which help them to cope not only with the challenges associated with ageing, but also with the tremendous difficulties and losses posed by immigration.

Do They Feel the Same Way? Health-Related Quality of Life and Satisfaction With Life in Jewish Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union in Germany and Israel

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 618-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Nesterko ◽  
Natalie Ulitsa ◽  
Michael Friedrich ◽  
Heide Glaesmer
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Jewish Immigrants

There is consensus that experiences gained during immigration have an impact on health status. However, studies comparing health-related outcomes in homogeneous groups of immigrants living in different host countries are rare. In a sample of Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in two different host countries, Germany and Israel, possible predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and satisfaction with life (SWL) were examined. In total, 359 Jewish immigrants from the FSU living in Germany ( n = 180) and Israel ( n = 179) completed the questionnaire measuring immigration-related and sociodemographic characteristics. HRQoL was assessed via Short Form Health Survey Version 2 (SF-12v2), and SWL via Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Hierarchical linear regression models were applied for analyzing immigration-related and sociodemographic predictors of HRQoL and SWL. Participants living in Israel scored higher on HRQoL, and no differences were found concerning SWL ratings. However, no direct influences of the host country were detected by predicting HRQoL and SWL scores. In both subgroups, immigration-related factors such as perceived discrimination or level of integration were found as significant predictors. In the face of different immigration waves in the host countries, Germany and Israel, the results display similarities rather than differences between the groups concerning the sociodemographic and immigration-related predictors on HRQoL and SWL. The findings using cross-cultural analysis level underscore the need of much more detailed future research on this issue.

The Dynamic Nature of Being Jewish

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 1341-1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Rosner ◽  
Wendi L. Gardner ◽  
Ying-yi Hong
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
European Ancestry ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
American Jews ◽  
Russian Jews ◽  
Identity Centrality ◽  
Jewish Immigrants

To investigate acculturation as it is influenced by Jewish identity, Russian Jewish immigrants born in the Former Soviet Union and American Jews of Eastern European ancestry were surveyed regarding their three identities: American, Jewish, and Eastern European ethnic/Russian. Study 1 examined perceived differences between the three cultures on a series of characteristics. Study 2 explored perceptions of bicultural identity distance between the American and Eastern European ethnic/Russian identities as a function of Jewish identity centrality. Findings revealed that for Russian Jews, Jewish identity centrality is related to less perceived distance between the American and Russian identities, suggesting that Jewish identity may bridge participants’ American and Russian identities. In contrast, for American Jews, Jewish identity centrality is not related to less perceived distance between the American and Eastern European ethnic identities. The authors discuss implications for the long-term acculturation of Russian Jews in the United States and the function of religion in acculturation.

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