The impact of acculturation and personal discrimination on Latinx public opinion

Abstract

ObjectiveTo what extent does personal experience with discrimination moderate the effect of acculturation on policy preferences amongst Latinxs? Work on acculturation shows that acculturation is an important predictor of policy preferences in Latinxs—with more acculturated individuals generally holding attitudes closer to their non‐Latinx Anglo counterparts than less acculturated Latinxs. Substantively less is known about how personal experience with discrimination influences the extent to which Latinxs adopt more mainstream policy stances. This rings even more true for attitudes outside of immigration, an area that has been the primary focus of scholars for a long time. We begin that exploration here.MethodsWe use the 2020 Collaborative Multi‐Racial Post‐Election Survey to explore the moderating role of personal discrimination on acculturation and, by extension, police preferences. We do so in a variety of policy areas, including abortion, affirmative action, climate change, police reform, and immigration, among others.ResultsWe find that personal experience with discrimination inhibits the expected attitudinal convergence of Latinxs with their Anglo counterparts on a number of issues.ConclusionThe findings here demonstrate that migrant experiences need to be accounted for when trying to understand the political incorporation of the Latinx population in the United States.