2023 Theses Doctoral

Latinx Jews: Exploring the relationships of acculturation, Jewish identity, and Latinx gender role scales

Borenstein, Jack

This study explored the relationships between acculturation, Jewish identity – both religious and cultural – and traditional Latinx gender roles. Over the last decades, the number of Latinx’s who identify as Catholic has reduced significantly, albeit maintaining Catholic cultural overtones. Awareness of other Latinx minority groups has only recently garnered attention across multiple disciplines. Latinx gender roles, one example of the influence of Catholicism, has received much attention in psychological research, but fails to differentiate between Latinx subgroups, treating racial-ethnic minority groups as monolithic. Therefore, Latinx gender constructs which are heavily based on Catholic values and European/colonial influences seem likely not to account for minority religious groups, such as Latinx Jews.

Additionally, limited literature addressing gender roles and Judaism, have suggested an interplay between men and women exists per their traditional gender roles, and a rejection of hyper-masculinity, emphasize caring for others and acts of kindness. To better understand the experience of gender roles for Latinx Jews, this study explored the relationships, through a series of hierarchical linear regression analyses, among traditional Latinx gender role scales (Marianismo Belief Scale and The Machismo Caballerismo Scale), and Jewish Identity and Acculturation and Enculturation. Data from 230 participants indicated that Latinx Jews formulate their identity in ways that are unique to their dual-minority identity, given their “in between” or mixed marginalized status in both Latin America and the United States. Their religious Jewish identity, more so than their cultural Jewish identity, is a major contributing factor in their beliefs of traditional Latinx gender roles.