Inspired by the global research project WVS, this paper builds on the assumption that attitudes and opinions are guided by underlying value patterns which vary from one country to another (Rokeach, 1979). As those are consistent through several contexts, they can be inferred from questions concerning several life domains (Halman & de Moor, 1994). Operationalizing them as latent variables, the present paper strives to connect the concept of value patterns with national habitus as an attempt to measure acculturation process. For this purpose, the German city of Rüsselsheim was selected as its population is made up of a distinctively high number of residents with a migration background from Turkey and Morocco (Stadt Rüsselsheim, 2017) and the country of Germany can be located on the opposite side of the Inglehart-Welzel cultural map compared to Islamic countries (WVS, 2018). Similar to the EVS, a survey was chosen as a method with the main part being adapted from this large-scale study but also a list of TV consumption questions and specific demographic items in addition. As the EVS data is so far mainly limited to native respondents, one aim of this work was to further the current knowledge of those value patterns and gather data about respondents with a bicultural background. In a first step a comparative analysis was performed, situating the population´s results between the EVS data of Germany and Turkey by means of frequency tables. With the completion of this step, a principal factor analysis had been used in order to extract consistent value patterns. In Germany the migrants´ media consumption is primarily made up of television (Zambonini & Simon, 2008) which can be seen as objectified cultural capital (Yoon et al., 2011). Through active consumption it enables one to acquire cultural competence and incorporate a country´s habitus which might be distinct from the rules of the society the person experienced so far and might thus cause the person to assimilate its habitus (Bonnewitz, 2002). With this in mind, this paper also calls into question if local TV content is capable of transmitting cultural value patterns to such an extent that it accelerates an individual´s acculturation process. To this end, several regression analyses were conducted, investigating whether there is a linear relationship between local TV consumption and the adoption of German value patterns as well as the educational background and the time of residence in the country. The results of this study move for the most part in the middle of the two native EVS samples. The evidence suggests that the population is well integrated and adopted more or less the German value patterns. Whereas educational attainment, language skills and nativeness have a positive effect on the acculturation process, religious adherence decelerates the adoption of modern values. Furthermore, the regression analyses could reveal a correlation between the consumption of German TV content and the intensity of secular-rational as well as self-expression values. Also, a longer time of residence in Germany promoted those orientations as well as emancipative values.

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Hofhuis, L.
hdl.handle.net/2105/46549
Media, Culture & Society
Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication

Kopp, K. (2019, February 26). Change the Channel. A Study on TV Viewing Habits and Value Patterns of Immigrants from Islamic Societies Living in Rüsselsheim. Media, Culture & Society. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/46549