An analysis of status mobility patterns among middle-class Mexican Americans in Texas

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was twofold. First, an explanation was sought for the observed slow rate of upward mobility among Mexican Americans, Secondly, and the more salient focus of the investigation, was the identification of variables which might help explain differential assimilation rates among middle-class Mexican Americans. The data were collected from a random probability sample of 151 middle-class Mexican Americans residing in Waco, Austin, McAllen, and Lubbock, Texas. Occupational status was used to operationalize middle-class. The data were collected by trained interviewers using standardized interview schedules prepared by the investigators with the assistance of a panel of judges. The panel of judges consisted of five Mexican Americans who are active in, and knowledgeable of, the Mexican-American community in Waco, Texas. Three scales designed to measure various components of the assimilation process were developed using items abstracted from the interview schedules. Specifically, the scales were designed to measure interaction with the Mexican-American subculture, identification with the Mexican-American subculture, and Gemeinschaft-type interaction with Anglos. Variables were then selected for testing in order to determine their significance for explaining differential assimilation rates among middle-class Mexican Americans. These variables consisted of items Included in the interview schedule. The items fell into one of three categories: (1) situational socialization factors representing a discontinuous status sequence, i.e., socialization processes not part of the normative socialization patterns within the Mexican-American subculture; (2) post socialization factors; and (3) alternative factors, i.e., variables not covered by either of the other categories. ...