3/1/2013
More than two thirds of U.S. Latinos are proud of their heritage and want their children to speak Spanish and English equally well, according to EthniFacts and LatinWorks. Increasingly, Hispanic Americans aspire to be “ambicultural,” maintaining a strong sense of themselves as Latinos while also feeling fully American. Currently, 44% of Hispanic Americans view themselves as ambicultural, 41% view themselves as more Latino than American, and 15% view themselves as more American than Latino.
Among those who already feel ambicultural, 85% want to stay that way. Furthermore, 71% of U.S. Latinos who feel more American than Latino would like to feel ambicultural, as would 45% of those who currently feel more Latino than American.
When asked to describe what being Latino and being American mean to them, U.S. Latinos describe their Latino identity as centered around family and community, while they view being American as tied to economics, freedom, and education.
More than a third of Latinos who are or aspire to be ambicultural (35%) have romantic partners of a race or ethnicity different than their own. Among parents of teens/adults, 44% say their kids are dating non-Hispanics. About a third of ambicultural or aspiring ambicultural Latinos (32%) regularly socialize with people from more than one race or ethnicity. Ambicultural and aspiring ambicultural Latinos have large circles of friends; 63% see five or more friends regularly.
Latinos who aspire to be ambicultural are more likely than those who aspire to be more Latino or those who aspire to be more American to define success as having a good family life (49% vs. 37% and 35%, respectively). More than a third of those who aspire to be more American (34%) define success as making more money, while this goal does not figure into the other two groups’ definitions of success.
Source: “The Plus Identity: Shifting Paradigms and the Future of Latino Culture in the U.S.,” February 2013, EthniFacts and LatinWorks. EthniFacts, Adrienne Pulido, VP Research & Strategy, 1431 Greenway Dr., #800, Irving, TX 75038; 972-870-4408; apulido@ethnicfacts.com; www.ethnifacts.com. Price: Available online at no charge.
LatinWorks, Christian Filli, VP Strategy, 206 E. 9th St., Austin, TX 78701; 512-479-4528; c.filli@latinworks.com; www.latinworks.com.
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