(2024):
The role of social capital in immigrants’ and refugees’ labour market integration: evidence from Germany.
288-304.
Cheltenham,
Edward Elgar.
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Partnership Formation in the Context of Recent Refugee Migration (PARFORM)
Project Directors
Prof. Dr. Irena Kogan
Project Staff
Dr. Stefanie Heyne,
Dr. Jana Kuhlemann,
Carlos Palomo Lario,
Marlene Bauer
European Research Council (ERC)-funded
2018 – 2027
Research question/goal:
The project explores the process of partnership formation among newly arrived (male) immigrants in the context of skewed sex ratios and newcomers’ pronounced cultural and social distances to the host countries’ mainstream population. In doing so, it applies a two-sided perspective, i.e., it examines the interplay of (subjective) attitudes on part of the majority population within the host society and immigrants’ individual preferences and constraints. Since transnational marriages are common among immigrants, particularly Muslims, the project intends to scrutinize this type of partner choice.
Current stage:
In 2024, the first and the second wave of the PARFORM data collection were completed and the fieldwork for the third wave was started. Furthermore, the project team has begun to prepare the scientific use file and compile additional data at regional level, which will be merged with the data from the respondents.
The results from the different data collections (PARFORM wave 1, CILS4EU-DE, GIP) have been presented at several international conferences and prepared for publication. Several papers are currently under review or have been accepted for publication in scientific journals. Furthermore, the team has initiated international and national collaborations and organised a workshop with colleagues from the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) at the MZES.
Publications
Book Chapters
Journal Articles
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(2026): It takes two to court: Partnership formation in the context of forced migration. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 102, April 2026, More
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(2025): The long arm of the family: Family role in partner selection among male refugees in Germany. Populations, 1, 2, Article 13, 1-21. More
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(2025): Cultural distance through the lens of social closeness and individual experiences with diversity : Unveiling attitudes toward recent immigrants in Germany using a factorial survey experiment. Soziale Welt : SozW, 76, 1-2, 105-131. More
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(2025): Attitudes towards interethnic partnerships with refugees: Evidence from a factorial survey experiment in Germany. Journal of Family Research, 37, 267-286. More
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(2025): Partnership preferences in modern migration societies: religious homophily among young muslims and christians in Germany. European Journal of Population = Revue Européenne de Démographie, 41, 1, 1-23. More
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(2024): Linking refugees’ time perceptions and their time use. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50, 18, 4621-4641. More
Presentations
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(2025): Partnership Formation in the Context of Forced Migration: (Three) Insights on Syrians and Afghans in Germany. [Seminar at the Research Data Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Nürnberg, 07/12/2025]. More
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(2025): Partnerships in Transition, Marriages in Tradition: Comparing Partnership Histories of Recent Male Refugees from Syria and Afghanistan, and German Resident Population. [Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2025: Demographic Perspectives on Migration in the 21st Century, 18/11/2025 - 20/11/2025]. More
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(2025): Partnerships in transition, marriages in tradition: Partnership histories of recent male refugees from Syria and Afghanistan and the German resident population with and without migration background. [5th Conference of the Academy of Sociology, Mainz, 07/10/2025 - 09/10/2025]. More
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(2025): Opportunity structures and young refugees’ transitions into and out of partnerships in Germany – A longitudinal perspective. [5th Conference of the Academy of Sociology, Mainz, 07/10/2025 - 09/10/2025]. More
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(2025): Partnership Formation in the Context of Forced Migration: Insights on Syrians and Afghans in Germany. [MZES Speaker Series, Mannheim, 20/10/2025]. More
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(2025): Partnerships in Transition, Marriages in Tradition: Partnership histories of recent male refugees from Syria and Afghanistan, German resident population with and without migration background. [6th International CILS4EU User Conference, Mannheim, 22/10/2025 - 23/10/2025]. More
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(2025): Ego-centric female networks of male refugees from Syria and Afghanistan: Romantic potential. [Sunbelt 2025 "Social Networks, Mechanisms, and Algorithms", Paris, 22/06/2025 - 28/06/2025]. More
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(2025): Partnership Formation in the Context of Forced Migration: Three Insights on Syrians and Afghans in Germany. [InFER Colloquium (Institute for Empirical-Analytical Research), Frankfurt am Main, 16/06/2025]. More
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(2025): Attractiveness for status? The role of attractiveness in male refugees’ romantic relationships in Germany. [Interdisciplinary Workshop on Experimental Social Science on the Causes and Consequences of Appearance-based Discrimination, Heidelberg, 10/06/2025 - 12/06/2025]. More
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(2025): Going online: New forms of transnational relationships among refugees from Syria and Afghanistan in Germany. [DemoSoc Seminar, Barcelona, 07/04/2025]. More
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(2025): Attractiveness for status? The role of attractiveness in male refugees’ romantic relationships in Germany. [CED Colloquium (Centre for Demographic Studies), Barcelona, 23/04/2025]. More
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(2025): Going online: New forms of transnational relationships among refugees from Syria and Afghanistan in Germany. [RC28 Spring Meeting 2025, Mailand, 24/03/2025 - 26/03/2025]. More
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(2025): Partnership formation in the context of forced migration: The case of Syrian and Afghan young men in Germany. [Analytical Sociology Seminars, Linköping, 19/02/2025]. More
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(2024): Religion and partner search among young refugees, migrants, and natives in Germany. ["Ungleichheit und Zusammenhalt", Gemeinsame Tagung der DGS-Sektion "Soziale Ungleichheit und Sozialstrukturanalyse" und des Cluster 2 des Forschungsinstituts Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt (FGZ), Bremen, 04/03/2024 - 06/03/2024]. More
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(2024): Are male Muslim immigrants perceived as a particular threat in Western countries? Evidence from a factorial survey experiment in Germany. ["Ungleichheit und Zusammenhalt", Gemeinsame Tagung der DGS-Sektion "Soziale Ungleichheit und Sozialstrukturanalyse" und des Cluster 2 des Forschungsinstituts Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt (FGZ), Bremen, 04/03/2024 - 06/03/2024]. More
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(2024): Is it a match? The congruence of partnership preferences between Syrian and Afghan refugees and the German population. [Workshop "Experimental Research on ethnic diversity, discrimination, and pro-sociality in European societies", Mannheim, 12/03/2024 - 14/03/2024]. More
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(2024): The role of family context in partner search among male refugees in Germany. [5th International CILS4EU User Conference, MZES, Mannheim, 25/09/2024 - 26/09/2024]. More
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(2024): Is it a match? The similarity in partnership preferences between Syrian and Afghan refugees and the German population. [European Consortium for Social Research Annual Conference, Barcelona, 11/09/2024 - 13/09/2024]. More
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(2024): It takes two to court: Partnership formation in the context of forced migration. [RC28 Summer Meeting, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 05/08/2024 - 07/08/2024]. More
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(2023): Instability of Interethnic Partnerships in Early Adulthood. [3rd International Conference on Fertility and Family Dynamics in Migrant and Minority Group, Wiesbaden, 11/10/2023 - 12/10/2023]. More
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(2022): Refugees' Time Investments – Differences in the time use of refugees, other immigrants, and the native population in Germany. [RC28 Spring Meeting, London, 20/04/2022 - 22/04/2022]. More
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(2022): Refugees’ Time Investments - Differences in the time use of refugees, other immigrants, and natives in Germany. [19th IMISCOE Annual Conference, Oslo (hybrid), 28/06/2022 - 30/06/2022]. More
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(2022): Interethnic partnership preferences of migrants and natives in Germany. [41. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie, Bielefeld, 25/09/2022 - 29/09/2022]. More
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(2022): Attitudes towards partnerships with Afghan and Syrian refugees: Evidence from a factorial survey experiment. [2nd IMES Workshop on Immigration, Integration, and Attitudes, Mannheim, 21/09/2022 - 22/09/2022]. More
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(2022): Attitudes towards partnerships with Afghan and Syrian refugees: Evidence from a factorial survey experiment. [Seminar "Analytical Sociology: Theory and Empirical Applications", San Servolo, Venice, 13/11/2022 - 16/11/2022]. More
Reports
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(2025): ParForm: Technical Report on the Factorial Survey Experiments, Wave 1 and Wave 3. Mannheim, MZES, University of Mannheim. More
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(2024): Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries – Germany. Technical Report on the Factorial Survey Experiment “Partnership Preferences among Young Adults in Germany”. Wave 9 – 2022, v7.0.0. 1-12. Mannheim, University of Mannheim. More