There are well-documented mysteries in social epidemiology. The idea is that immigrants have better health than native-born people when they first arrive, but lose this advantage as they get older. Is it due to acculturation, the process by which immigrants adopt the culture and behavior of their new country?
This is a well-known hypothesis, but new research Journal of Health and Social Behavior tells a different story. In fact, acculturation seems to protect health. Older U.S. immigrants who speak English well are 40 to 50 percent less likely to have a disability than those who don’t. Having a U.S.-born spouse, an indicator of social adjustment, is associated with 10 to 20 percent lower odds of disability than having a foreign-born spouse.
However, when immigrants are re-acculturated in certain aspects but not in others, an experience known as “cultural dissonance,” their health deteriorates. For example, if you are married to a U.S.-born spouse who speaks limited English, you are at greater risk of having a walking disability than if you have a foreign-born spouse with limited English proficiency. Gait disorders, including difficulty walking and climbing, are the most common disability in the United States, affecting one in four adults age 65 and older.
Some immigrants behave and feel very similar to Americans, but because they don’t sound like the average American or live in immigrant enclaves, they are perceived as foreigners. This result indicates that this discrepancy can be physically stressful and manifest as a disability later in life. ”
Leafeon Yeh, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Toronto, study author
The study is based on the American Community Survey, a large population survey collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. This included 958,211 immigrants between the ages of 65 and 80.
Another important finding is that acculturation protects health more for white immigrants than for black, Hispanic, and Asian immigrants. As a result, highly acculturated white immigrants maintain a health advantage over U.S.-born people into old age, while minority immigrants lose that advantage.
“Racial minority immigrants experience additional disharmony. They may also face more racism and exclusion as they adjust to U.S. society. This disparity helps explain racial disparities in health as immigrants grow older,” says Yeh, who is also an affiliated faculty member at the Life Course & Aging Institute and the Global Migration Laboratory at the Munk School of International Affairs and Public Policy.
“This research highlights that being ‘half-integrated’ is a harsh experience. You’re more integrated, but you can also be hitting a wall. It’s not the immigrant experience that people typically imagine, so it’s too often ignored, and it shouldn’t be.”
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Reference magazines:
Yes, LZ (2026). Is acculturation the culprit? Cultural disharmony and the later-life health of immigrants. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. DOI: 10.1177/00221465261450447. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00221465261450447
