Religiosity and Identity Among Second-Generation Iranian Immigrants in the United States

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  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 5: Religion and Identity

Abstract

Religion generally serves as an important source of identity and community among many immigrants and their children. Given the rise of a theocracy in Iran as a major source of out-migration from that country, this study focuses on the religious lives of the second-generation Iranian-Americans (SGIA) – an area that has received no attention in diasporic studies of Iranians in the United States. While literature on Iranian immigrants depict them and their children as “secular,” there has not been any study to demonstrate the validity of this claim and, in case of its being the case, the meaning of such secularity for the SGIA.
This is the first and largest study of the SGIA in the US attempting to find out their degree of religiosity, factors affecting such religiosity or lack thereof, whether and to what degree religious identity plays any role in the lives of this population, the degree of religious continuity among them in the US, and the patterns of religious affiliation, attitudes, and practices among them SGIA.
We designed a survey of the SGIA, placed it on Qualtrics from November 2018 to February 2019, and contacted Iranian community organizations, university student associations, cultural centers, churches, mosques, temples, and synagogue in all states. Data from 640 respondents are analyzed for measuring religious affiliations, ethnic identifications, ritual practices, scripture familiarity/reading, parental support and communication for religious activities, parental retention efforts; discrimination due to religious affiliation/identity, religious or secular influences on decision-making, etc. Special consideration is given to the role of religious identity in community integration among the SGIA in the USA. We use statistical analysis to show the association between variables and test the hypotheses. Finally, we compare our results with other studies’ previously tested hypotheses on other immigrant communities in the United States to see whether they hold true for the Iranian-American community.
Our results partially proves the secularity hypothesis but they also demonstrate a redefinition of religious identity and cultural identifications. More importantly, they demonstrate the role of factors influencing the nature and pattern of discrimination experienced by this population, among which religion is the most important one.

Authors

• Ali Akbar Mahdi, Lecturer, Cal. State Uni., Northridge

• Ahmad Khalili