The 2013 National Survey of Latinos explored pan-ethnicity among Latinos by asking about how much Latinos in the U.S. share values in common but also asking U.S. Latinos how much they have in common with people in the home countries of their ancestors.
How Much Do U.S. Latinos Share Values?
Overall, 39% of survey respondents say Latinos from different countries in the U.S. have “a lot in common.” An equal share (39%) say U.S. Latinos share “some” values, and about one-in-five say U.S. Latinos have “only a little” (15%) or “almost nothing” (5%) in common.
Views of shared values among U.S. Hispanics vary across Hispanic origin groups. Half (51%) of Salvadoran-origin Hispanics say U.S. Hispanics from different countries have a lot in common with Salvadorans living in the U.S. Among Dominicans, 44% say U.S. Hispanics from different countries share values with Dominicans in the U.S. Some 40% of Cubans and 38% of Mexicans also say the same about the commonalities of U.S. Hispanics. Among Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin, 36% say that U.S. Hispanics have a lot in common with Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Hispanics in some origin groups are more likely than others to say U.S. Hispanics from different countries have some values in common. Among Puerto Ricans, 46% say U.S. Hispanics from different countries share some values with Puerto Ricans. Among Mexicans, 41% express the same view about shared values between other Hispanics and Mexicans.
But not all Hispanics see shared values among the nation’s Hispanic origin groups. For example, one-in-four (24%) Cubans say other Hispanics and Cubans in the U.S. have only a little (13%) or almost nothing (11%) in common. Some 22% of Salvadorans say the same about shared values between other Hispanics and Salvadorans in the U.S. And among other Central American Hispanics, that share is 27%.
Views of shared values among U.S. Hispanics also vary by demographic subgroups among the Hispanic population. For example, foreign-born Hispanics are more likely than native-born Hispanics to say U.S. Hispanics from different countries have a lot in common—43% versus 33%, respectively.
And among the foreign born, views of how much is shared in common among U.S. Hispanics are higher the longer an immigrant has lived in the country. Among Hispanic immigrants who have been in the U.S. for five years or less, 35% say U.S. Hispanics from different countries have a lot in common. By contrast, among Hispanic immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, 45% say the same. Looked at another way, 28% of Hispanic immigrants who have been in the U.S. for five years or less say U.S. Hispanics from different countries have only a little or almost nothing in common. Among Hispanic immigrants who have been in the U.S. for more than 20 years, that share is 18%.
Language is also linked to views of shared values among U.S. Hispanics. For example, Spanish-dominant Hispanics are more likely than English-dominant Hispanics to say U.S. Hispanics from different countries share a lot of values—46% versus 32%. But nearly half (48%) of English-dominant Hispanics say U.S. Hispanics share some values. Among Spanish-dominant Hispanics, 31% say the same.
How Much Do U.S. Latinos Share Values in Common with People Living in Latin America?
The Pew Research survey asked respondents about their views of shared values between U.S. Latinos and those living in their ancestral home countries.
Overall, 38% of Hispanics say U.S. Hispanics and people in the country of their ancestors have “a lot” of shared values. An additional 34% say the two groups have some values in common. However, one-quarter (25%) of U.S. Hispanics say they have “only a little” (18%) or “almost nothing” (7%) in common with those in the countries of their ancestors.
Views of shared values between U.S. Hispanics and those in the home countries vary by Hispanic origin group. Among Salvadorans, 56% say Salvadoran-origin Hispanics in the U.S. share a lot of values with people in El Salvador. Overall, Salvadorans have the highest foreign-born share (60%) among the five largest Hispanic origin groups in the U.S. (Lopez, Gonzalez-Barrera and Cuddington, 2013). However, not all Salvadorans agree as strongly. Two-in-ten (20%) say that U.S. Hispanics of Salvadoran origin have some values in common with those in El Salvador. And about a quarter say that Salvadorans in the U.S. have only a little (16%) or almost nothing (6%) in common with those in El Salvador.
Views about shared values with the home country are different among U.S. Hispanics of Cuban origin. Among them, while 36% say Cubans in the U.S. have a lot of values in common with those in Cuba, just as many say Cubans in the U.S. have only a little (18%) or almost nothing (17%) in common with those in Cuba.
Among Mexicans, the largest Hispanic origin group in the U.S., 37% say Mexican origin Hispanics in the U.S. share a lot of values with those in Mexico, 35% say Mexicans in the U.S. share some values with those in Mexico, and one-quarter (26%) of Mexicans say Mexicans in the U.S. share only a little (20%) or almost nothing (6%) with those in Mexico. The survey finds similar views among Puerto Ricans and Dominicans about shared values between those in the U.S. and those in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.
Views of shared values between U.S. Hispanics and those in the home countries also vary among demographic subgroups of Hispanics. About half (47%) of foreign-born Hispanics see “a lot” in common between U.S. Hispanics and those in the home country. Among native-born Hispanics, that share is just 26%. Looked at another way, 30% of native-born Hispanics say U.S. Hispanics have only a little (23%) or almost nothing (7%) in common with those in the home country. Among immigrant Hispanics, that share is 22%.
Among Hispanic immigrants in the U.S., views about shared values with the home country differ by time in the U.S. Among recent arrivals (those in the U.S. for five years or less), 35% say U.S. Hispanics have only a little or almost nothing in common with those in the home countries. Among Hispanic immigrants who have been in the U.S. for more than 20 years, 22% say the same.
Spanish-dominant Latinos are most likely to see common values between U.S. Latinos and those in the home country. Half (50%) say the two groups have a lot in common. Among bilingual Latinos, 35% say the same. But among English-dominant Latinos, that share falls to 25%.
Young Hispanics are less likely than Hispanics ages 30 and older to say U.S. Hispanics have a lot in common with people in their family’s ancestral home countries. About one-third (31%) of Hispanics ages 18 to 29 see a lot in common, compared with about four-in-ten (42%) among Latinos ages 30 or older.
