Truly at home? Perceived belonging and immigrant incorporation.

This article examines the psychological mechanism of perceived belonging to US society among Latinos, focusing on how experiences of discrimination, acculturation, and sociopolitical messaging influence their sense of social inclusion. Using data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS) and a national survey experiment, the study finds that greater cultural familiarity and American identity are associated with stronger feelings of belonging, while personal and group discrimination, darker skin tone, and hostile messaging reduce perceptions of inclusion. The experimental results demonstrate that exposure to negative, anti-Latino rhetoric causally decreases Latinos’ psychological sense of belonging. These findings highlight the role of social psychological processes in the racialized incorporation of Latino immigrants and their descendants, with implications for their civic and political engagement in the United States.