Options
The causal effect of liberalizing legal requirements on naturalization intentions
Kosyakova, Yuliya; Damelang, Andreas (2025): The causal effect of liberalizing legal requirements on naturalization intentions, in: Social Forces, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, Jg. 104, Nr. 1, S. 67–89, doi: 10.17605/osf.io/x69e5.
Faculty/Chair:
Author:
Title of the Journal:
Social forces : SF ; an international journal of social research associated with the Southern Sociological Society
ISSN:
1534-7605
0037-7732
Publisher Information:
Year of publication:
2025
Volume:
104
Issue:
1
Pages:
Language:
English
DOI:
Abstract:
This study investigates the multifaceted factors influencing immigrants’ naturalization intentions, with a primary focus on legal requirements and the implementation of naturalization laws. It distinguishes between different groups of non-citizens, such as refugees, European Union (EU) citizens, and non-EU citizens. Employing a vignette experiment among non-citizens in a large-scale representative data in Germany—the German Socioeconomic Panel (in 2022), the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample (in 2022), and the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees in Germany (in 2021) (Total N = 6431)—the research empirically analyzes the effects of liberalizing legal requirements and the effects of more inclusive naturalization procedure on intentions to acquire German citizenship. This comparison, both for current versus liberalized requirements and less versus more inclusive naturalization procedures, offers a realistic scenario of how liberalization and inclusiveness impact naturalization intentions. The results reveal that liberalizing legal requirements, specifically dual citizenship availability and reduced waiting period, has a positive effect on naturalization intentions. Simultaneously, these effects differ between the three groups of non-citizens, particularly due to differences in the perceived benefits of naturalization. In contrast, a more inclusive naturalization procedure does not affect non-citizens’ naturalization intentions. These results underline the importance of citizenship policy for the naturalization intentions of non-citizens. However, the results also show nuanced reactions to liberalized requirements stressing the importance of group-specific cost–benefit considerations.
GND Keywords: ; 
Deutschland
Einbürgerung
Keywords: ;  ;  ; 
naturalization intentions
refugees
immigrants
vignette experiment
DDC Classification:
RVK Classification:
Type:
Article
Activation date:
April 11, 2025
Versioning
Question on publication
Permalink
https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/107508