General Information: *Note: The items were tested in German. The items below are English translations of the original German wordings. The translations do not correspond exactly to the formulations in the English PIAAC source questionnaire.*
Introduction: The following statements refer to your culture of origin, i.e. the culture in which your parents were born. If your parents come from different cultures, please think of the culture that shaped you the most.
[Folgende Aussagen beziehen sich auf Ihre Herkunftskultur, d.h. die Kultur, in der Ihre Eltern geboren wurden. Wenn Ihre Eltern aus verschiedenen Kulturen stammen, dann denken Sie bitte an die Kultur, die Sie selbst am meisten geprägt hat.]
Question Text: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
[Inwieweit stimmen Sie folgenden Aussagen zu oder nicht zu?]
Answer Categories
Do not agree at all [Stimme überhaupt nicht zu]

Rather not agree [Stimme eher nicht zu]

Partly agree [Teils, teils]

Rather agree [Stimme eher zu]

Fully agree [Stimme voll und ganz zu]
- Findings for Answer Categories
- Recommendations for Answer Categories

Findings/Recommendations for Multi-Item Scale:
- Findings for Multi-Item Scale
- Recommendations for Multi-Item Scale
Findings for Multi-Item Scale: Question 3 was asked to all test persons. The answer category "do not agree at all" was not chosen for any item. In general, a tendency to agree can be observed for all three items. To Item a) five test persons (TP 01, 05, 06, 07, 14) "fully" agree, six test persons (TP 02, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15) "rather agree”. Four test persons (TP 03, 04, 08, 09) decide to answer "partly agree".

A similar distribution can be found for item b). Here five test persons (TP 04, 05, 06, 07, 14) "fully agree”, likewise six test persons (TP 01, 02, 09, 11, 12, 13) "rather agree”. One test person chooses "partly agree" (TP 10) and "rather not agree" (TP 03). Two test persons (TP 08, 15) do not answer item b).

To Item c) four subjects (TP 05, 06, 07, 14) "fully agree", five subjects (TP 01, 02, 04, 11, 13) "rather agree". Three subjects (TP 09, 12, 05) choose the answer category "partly agree" and three subjects (TP 03, 08, 10) "rather not agree".

The central topic of question 3 is the culture of origin of the test persons. In order to be able to understand this term and the associations of the test persons more precisely, the test persons were asked what they understand by the term "culture of origin" and whether they can give examples of what is typical for their culture of origin.

When asked what they understand by the term "culture of origin", the majority of the test persons name generic terms such as "certain values" (TP 01), "religion, rituals, traditions" (TP 08) or "people who have similar customs" (TP 15). Descriptions of this kind were given 11 times (TP 01, 02, 03, 05, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 15). As concrete examples of what is typical for the culture of origin, different things were mentioned by the test persons. Five test persons (TP 01, 02, 07, 12, 15) without a migration background cite "German virtues" as an example:

"For me, it's this being on time, being correct, being honest." (TP 02)

"Typically German. These are values I learned from my parents. I don't know if that's typical German, but I think so. Hard work, punctuality, reliability, honesty." (TP 07)

"Punctuality, reliability, humanity, sociability, traditions." (TP 15)

The test persons with a migration background do not further specify particularities of their culture of origin, but emphasize "faith, traditions and customs" (TP 11) or "certain religious festivals" (TP 08). The term culture of origin is slightly misleading for test person 06. She actually rather associates it with "the past, the history. Especially historical moments and the old buildings. [...] Culture refers to art, books" (TP 06).

In the case of test person 05, it is clear from the examples that she was thinking more of regional characteristics when she used the term culture of origin. Thus, she describes the Palatine way of life like "the local food. The way of celebrating festivals, people sit together and talk. Typical Palatine wine festivals."

Test person 05 is also one of the three test persons (TP 01, 05, 10 without migration background) who mention religion as an aspect of their culture of origin. Test person 05 lists "religious celebrations such as baptism, first communion, confirmation and so on" , test persons 01 and 10 mention here "in religion mainly Christianity, but that other religions are also respected" (TP 01) and "Christian culture" (TP 10), respectively.

When asked what they understand by culture of origin, test persons 13 and 14 describe their personal, their family background. Test person 13 reports that "one is shaped by one's environment" and when asked to give a typical example, test person 13 answers "poverty" . Test person 14 also refers to his "parents or grandparents" , who came from a "working class or middle class background" . For subject 14, the motto is: "One should not forget where one came from." It has to be emphasized that these two test persons (TP 13: born in 1948, TP 14: born in 1945) are the oldest participants and when answering, they mainly think about their family background, from which milieu they come.

Also, the answers of the test persons 03 and 10 - both of them, just like TP 13 and 14, at least second generation Germans - show that they have difficulties with the concept of culture of origin. Test person 03 has an idea of what is meant by the term, but does not feel any personal connection to her culture of origin, "because I do not associate a certain culture with my origin. [...] This is very difficult for me to answer. Funnily enough, it is clear what culture of origin means to others, but when I look at myself, I ask myself, is my culture of origin beer drinking, sauerkraut eating or something like that? Maybe it is also difficult in Germany because we are an immigration country and have so many influences from outside" (TP 03). The explanation of test subject 10 reflects a similar problem. He says that it is about values and norms of the country of origin, "but what does German culture stand for? Multiculturalism comes to mind. There are many cultures here. [...] If I lived abroad and I was asked the question, I might be able to answer it better" (TP 10).

Test person 04 also had problems with the term "culture of origin". She answered the questions asked quite neutrally with: "This is the culture of origin of my parents." She provides "language, traditions and social interactions" as examples. The background to this problem became clear in the course of the interview: both parents of test person 04 are from China, but she was born and raised in Italy before she came to Germany at the age of eleven. She, therefore, has three different cultural backgrounds. Question 3 refers to the Chinese culture of origin of her parents, but test person 04 only travelled to her parents' cultural home country as part of an exchange program. Although she agrees with the individual statements of question 3, it is clear from the questions that she feels only a slight connec-tion to the Chinese culture of origin: "When I am asked, I say that I am Chinese. But I don't feel any particular emotional attachment to any country." For her there is a strong bond with her family who live here in Germany: "I feel comfortable here because they are here. [...] This is not dependent on the country but on the person" (TP 04).

With regard to the concept of culture of origin, it can be said that there is an enormous range of understanding of the term. The understanding ranges from "German" virtues to the history of a country to family background and also includes traditions and values.

Furthermore, it should be noted here (see also question 2) that the instruction to focus on the parents' culture of origin can lead to confusion among respondents with multicultural backgrounds. This could be avoided by recording separately which other culture of origin, in their opinion, has influenced the respondents.

[...]

The central questions to be answered by the pretest were: First, how is the concept of culture of origin understood and does it have an affective tone? Second, is statement b) too complex and third, is statement c) perceived as redundant to statement a)?

To summarize the first question, it can be said that, when asked, a large proportion of the test persons describe the same construct for the term culture of origin: they name values, traditions and customs. Only half of the interviewees can describe in more concrete terms what their individual culture of origin constitutes for them personally and what relation they have to it. The test persons with a migration background seem to find this much easier than those without a migration background. Answering the individual items also causes difficulties exclusively for the "German" test persons. The concept of the culture of origin and the affiliation to it are obviously more present for people who have roots in different cultures.

The concept of culture of origin is not tinted affectively per se, but three German test persons justify themselves when answering the items by saying that they do not belong to "Pegida" just because they agree with the statements.

The second question, whether statement b) is too complex, can be answered with "yes". Two test persons refuse to answer. One because it is not clear to her what should be clear to her according to this statement, the other because she does not know what the meaning is. Two other test persons choose the middle category because they are not clear about the statement. The answers of two other test persons are influenced by the uncertainty about what exactly is meant by culture of origin. The explanations of most of the test persons also only refer to the second part of statement b). They describe which aspects of their respective culture of origin are important to them. The first part of the statement, which refers to being aware of the importance of belonging, either causes confusion or is usually simply ignored.

Statement c) is perceived by two thirds of the test persons as redundant to statement a). Only four test persons see a difference between the two formulations. The difference is that the attachment to the culture of origin has an emotional component, whereas the affiliation is primarily based on "neutral" attribution. As a result, statement a) achieves a lot of agreement, only four test persons chose "partly", none disagreed with the statement. Since one has no influence on the affiliation to one's own culture of origin, since it is given to one quasi from birth, the probability of obtaining an even distribution in the answer categories is rather low. The more detailed description of affiliation by the adjective "strong" was not discussed. An emotional connection to one's culture of origin is not necessarily felt "because one has been born there". Therefore, statement c) is preferable. Furthermore, statement c) corresponds to the formulation of the following question 4, which is asked of people with a migration background to express their attachment to German culture.
Recommendations for Multi-Item Scale: Question: The concept of culture of origin varies greatly in understanding and has a particularly alienating effect on people without a migration background. In order to make the question easier to understand for Germans, they should be asked explicitly about "German culture" instead of their "culture of origin". In addition, a question for people with a migrant background could be included upstream, which, with the help of an open question, can be used to identify further cultural backgrounds that shape them (including an explanation of what is meant by "culture of origin") and then be used specifically at the relevant points in the items, e.g. for item c):
I feel closely connected to the [German/ Polish/ Turkish/ Kurdish etc.] culture.
[Ich fühle mich der [deutschen/ polnischen/ türkischen/ kurdischen etc.] Kultur eng verbunden.]
Furthermore, it should be noted that the response scale only covers different levels of consent and that the addition "or not to" in the question "To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements" is not necessary. Consequently, we propose the following wording within the question:
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
[Inwieweit stimmen Sie folgenden Aussagen zu?]
Answer options: On the whole, the test persons do not have any difficulties with the answer option "partly, partly".
However, since it is a unipolar scale of consent, where "the middle category stands for a middle position, which is expressed by the use of labels such as 'middle consent' or 'moderately true'" (Menold & Bogner, 2015 : p.5), the use of the middle category 'agree moderately' is an alternative.

Cognitive Techniques: Comprehension Probing, Category Selection Probing, Specific Probing

Items

Item Text	Item Tested
a) I feel a strong sense of belonging to my culture of origin. [Ich fühle mich meiner Herkunftskultur stark zugehörig.] Tested Item and Recommendations Findings Topic and Construct Item Text: a) I feel a strong sense of belonging to my culture of origin. [Ich fühle mich meiner Herkunftskultur stark zugehörig.] Recommendations: Since the respondents do not perceive any difference between item a) and item c) in terms of content and item c) differentiates even better, we recommend deleting statement a) without replacement. Implementation of Recommendations: No Findings: As mentioned above, most test persons (rather) agree with this item. Only four test persons chose the middle category "partly". The test persons were asked to explain why they agree or disagree with the item. Two subjects (TP 01, 07) who "fully agree" with the statement and two subjects who "rather agree" (TP 10, 15) choose their answers "because I have no other culture of origin" (TP 01). For these test persons there is no possibility of comparison, because "I was born here" (TP 10). Test person 10 further explains, "I already like my culture". Similarly, test subject 05 argues, who also fully agrees. She says, "I live here in harmony" (TP 05). Test person 06 also "fully agrees" with statement a), but refers the answer to her French culture of origin. She explains that "the most important times [childhood, youth] I spent there. […]. The inner core belongs to the culture of origin". However, from the explanations of test persons 07 and 14, who "fully agree", and 15, who “rather agree” to the statement a), it can be seen that they feel the need to justify their agreement. Test person 15 emphasizes: "But I don't belong to Pegida! " Test person 14 reports that she was born in the post-war years and that "one has to leave out some periods where things did not go so [peacefully]”. Test person 07 finds "being German [...] very exhausting at the moment". Test person 12 justifies her answer "rather agree" with the fact that "Germany does not have a strongly formative culture". She feels that the German culture is "loose" and therefore not so strongly associ-ated. Similar to test person 12, test person 02 also justifies her answer. Her mother comes from Germany, her father from Italy. She rather agrees with the statement, "but not perfect, because you still have a different way of doing things when you have two parents [who have different origins]. And that's why I only agreed more because I grew up here in Germany and also grew up here with my mother. So I only partly noticed the other side”. On the other hand, test person 13 agrees more, but describes her family and social imprint as so strong that her culture remains "into old age" . The response category "rather agree" thus has two different functions here: Two test persons want to express that they do not fully agree with the German culture because of its perceived low imprinting power, for the other test person the answer category stands for the fact that one cannot completely get away from his family background. Of the four test persons (TP 03, 04, 08, 09) who agree with the statement "partly agree", three are migrants (TP 04, 08, 09). Test person 03 speaks of her previously reported lack of connection to her culture of origin: "Partly I feel connected to my culture of origin, because my parents are also from Germany. And partly I also feel strongly connected as a German and with my home country, partly not at all. Sometimes I call myself a world person because I am very curious. I could also live well in another country." The answers of the test persons with migration background are similar. On the one hand, they feel part of their culture of origin, on the other hand, they feel at home and connected (TP 08, 09). Test person 04 reports that she is aware of her Chinese roots, but that she has "not grown” into the traditions and the typical social interactions, because she has lived in China only for a short time in the context of an exchange program, "therefore I am not familiar with it in this depth" (TP 04). Test person 11, who also has a migration background, rather agrees with the statement: "I do not fully agree with the statement, because I grew up in a dual-cultural environment. With the western culture and my culture of origin, into which I was born. I definitely feel a part of it, but I feel just as much a part of Western culture in Germany". Question Topic: Religion & culture/ Cultural identity Construct: Culture of origin	Yes
b) It is quite clear to me what belonging to my culture of origin means to me. [Mir ist ziemlich klar, was die Zugehörigkeit zu meiner Herkunftskultur für mich bedeutet.] Tested Item and Recommendations Findings Topic and Construct Item Text: b) It is quite clear to me what belonging to my culture of origin means to me. [Mir ist ziemlich klar, was die Zugehörigkeit zu meiner Herkunftskultur für mich bedeutet.] Recommendations: The intention of the item is very unclear, which can be attributed to the vague formulation of the entire statement. If the item is to be used to inquire about the significance of the culture of origin, we recommend to reformulate statement b) as follows: Belonging to the [German/ Polish/ Turkish/ Kurdish etc.] culture means a lot to me. [Die Zugehörigkeit zur [deutschen/ polnischen/ türkischen/ kurdischen etc.] Kultur bedeutet mir viel.] If, however, the item is intended to record whether the test persons are aware of the criteria that determine whether they belong to their parents' culture of origin, then we recommend the following formulation: I know what makes me a part of the [German/ Polish/ Turkish/ Kurdish etc.] culture. [Ich weiß, was mich zu einem Teil der [deutschen/ polnischen/ türkischen/ kurdischen etc.] Kultur macht.] Implementation of Recommendations: Item revised Findings: Also for item b) the majority of the test persons "rather" (n=6) or "fully" (n=5) agree. Only test person 03 "rather does not agree" and test person 10 chooses the answer "partly agree". The test persons 08 and 15 do not select an answer here. For both it is not clear what this statement refers to: "I do not know what should be clear to me" (TP 08). When asked what belonging to their culture of origin means to them personally, subject 08 states that the Polish language is important to her and that she can speak it with her children. She further explains that although she comes from Poland, "I would certainly not say I am Polish. Because I'm not really Polish any more. I'm so in between, such a mixture." When asked whether she would describe herself as German, test person 08 also answers with "no, I would definitely not. I have an accent, I can't tell anyone that I am German. I don't want that either, I don't need that either" . Test person 15 also has a problem. For him it is not clear how the meaning should be expressed: "What does ‘means to me’ mean? Whether I am emotionally... I have problems. I have to think about what that means. Whether I'll put my hand on my heart and sing the anthem when Germany is in the final? Or whether I'll just sit still? It's a bit unclear to me which direction this is going in. Is it about patriotism or, conversely, about demarcation? I have the feeling, ‘What do they want from me?’” (TP 15). For subject 08, item b) poses a problem because of her migration background, subject 15, who is German, does not have a clear frame of reference and therefore refuses to answer. Test person 03 rather disagrees with the statement, but justifies her answer similarly to the test persons who did not give an answer. She says she cannot assess "what it means emotionally for me. That would be something I would have to think about for quite a long time" (TP 03). Test subject 10 responded to item b) with "partly", but argues similarly. He says, "Partly I know, but partly I don't know either. I would have to google how German culture is expressed. I have not yet thought about the word" (TP 10). The explanations of the test persons with a migration background are striking here, but in particular those of test person 04, who also stood out in item a). She agrees "completely with the statement", but reports very neutrally, "I know which criteria have to be fulfilled so that I belong 100% to this country" . She interprets the statement to mean that she is aware of certain points, such as traditions and language of her parents' Chinese culture of origin, which she would have to meet in order to belong to the country completely. Accordingly, she answers the statement not in relation to the personal significance of belonging, but in relation to existing factual knowledge about the parents' culture of origin. In stark contrast to the statement of test person 04, the statement of test person 06 is in complete agreement with the statement of test person 04. She justifies her answer with the statement "that I will never be like the Germans" (TP 06). She is very aware of her cultural roots and their significance for her. Test person 09 is also very aware of her cultural roots, agrees more with statement b), and explains that "it is quite clear to me what would have been different in my life if it had been different. I can imagine it pretty well. If I did not have the cultural background or if I had stayed there" . Test person 11 also agrees more with the statement, and attributes it to "the traditions and customs. That I stick to traditions [...] that you live a little bit according to them." The three remaining test persons, who fully agree with the statement, also give different reasons for their answers. Either with the fact that they feel comfortable and at home here (TP 05) or that they identify strongly with their culture of origin (TP 14). Test person 07 says that she fully agrees because she has spent her whole life in Germany and "therefore I can't think of anything else but agreeing with that" . Test person 01 "only" rather agrees because she is not 100% sure "what the culture of origin says, what is behind it - apart from religion and values" . Test person 02 rather agrees with the statement, because "this sounds a bit like the first statement to me" , as well as test person 13, who with increasing age returns to her cultural and family roots. Test person 12 answered "out of feeling" and did "not think that long". Regarding item b), it can be noted that the test persons cover a broad spectrum with their associations and that similar arguments are reflected in different response options. This is not surprising, since the item is formulated very vaguely and the intention is not clear. Question Topic: Religion & culture/ Cultural identity Construct: Culture of origin	Yes
c) I feel closely connected to my culture of origin. [Ich fühle mich meiner Herkunftskultur eng verbunden.] Tested Item and Recommendations Findings Topic and Construct Item Text: c) I feel closely connected to my culture of origin. [Ich fühle mich meiner Herkunftskultur eng verbunden.] Recommendations: I feel closely connected to the [German/ Polish/ Turkish/ Kurdish etc.] culture. [Ich fühle mich der [deutschen/ polnischen/ türkischen/ kurdischen etc.] Kultur eng verbunden.] Implementation of Recommendations: No Findings: Five test persons (TP 05, 06, 07, 09, 14) state that they do not see a big difference between this statement and the previous statements. Test subject 07 hesitates when answering and asks: "What was the first question", whereupon the interviewer reads item a) again. The test person answers, "Isn't that the same? Then the same answer. I immediately had the feeling that it is about the same thing [statement a], but has a different choice of words". She adds that the intentions of both statements are conditional: "If I do not feel connected to something, I do not belong to it and vice versa". The five other respondents put forward a similar line of argument when asked why they had chosen their respective answer category: "It's basically the same thing." (TP 05) "This is the same for me as before. I didn't notice any difference in the question." (TP 06) "It's the same. As the first statement." (TP 09) These five test persons (TP 05, 06, 07, 09, 14) chose the same answer category for statement c) as before for statement a). The reaction of test person 01 illustrates very well the intention of the different statements, which are perceived as similar: "Why do I feel I belong?". She therefore spontaneously takes up the formulation of statement a). Furthermore, she subsequently reports that she found it very difficult to distinguish between the statements, whereby she "rather" agrees with statement c), but "fully" agrees with statement a). Three test persons (TP 02, 11, 13) "rather" agree with statement c) and also answer it exactly like statement a). To justify her choice of answer, test person 02 states that part of her "is on the Italian side and that is why I answered ‘rather’” . The "only" agreeing rather expresses that she cannot fully agree with the attachment to the German culture of origin because of her father's Italian roots. Test person 11 argues that "through the parents and the family alone, one feels connected [with the Kurdish culture of origin]”. A total of five test persons (TP 03, 04, 08, 10, 12) provide different information for items a) and c). Test person 04 agrees "rather", "because my parents are Chinese, I have a tendency to be attracted to China". Test person 12 answers with "partly" and in the explanation it becomes clear that again the perceived lack of coining power of the German culture is the reason for the low agreement to the statements: "If you pray together - I have an uncle who lives in Dubai. And they pray together 5-6 times a day - the culture is more connected when you have something that everyone does together, like in Germany, where you are completely free, there are many different cultures and religions.” Test persons 03, 08 and 10 answer here with "rather disagree" and belong, like test persons 04 and 12 mentioned before, to those who gave a different answer to item c) than to item a). When asked why they answered in this way, different reasons follow. Test person 03 finds that "I cannot even say exactly what it means to me. So, accordingly, I do not feel closely connected." For subject 08, the aspects of her culture of origin are "no longer so important" and she "can now see this from a distance". Test person 10 cannot agree with statement c), because "if someone agrees completely, then I immediately think of the boys who are running with Pegida in Leipzig. This is the first thing that comes to my mind. They are very much connected to their culture of origin. They want to do everything to preserve their culture. I simply don't like this word ‘culture of origin’”. A similar association is also awakened by question 3 in test person 15 (answer: "partly"). He justifies the choice of his answer with the fact that "I did not know exactly, what do they want from me here? That is why I formulated a little cautiously, neither clearly "yes" nor clearly "no", in order to be simple in the middle". He was afraid that by agreeing to the statements he would be placed in the political right corner. The test persons whose answers to statements a) and c) were different were asked to describe what they thought was the difference between the two. Four test persons (TP 03, 04, 08, 10) define "belonging" in such a way that it is sufficient to be "born here, grown up here" (TP 10) to feel that they belong. "Connectedness" on the other hand is characterized by an emotional component: "Closely connected sounds very emotional to me. [...] And to belong strongly means that you belong. One can also belong to a group, i.e. I am German because I was born in Germany, and the culture of origin would be closely connected emotionally. And although I can be German and belong to it, I cannot feel connected to it at all" (TP 03). Test person 12, after a closer look at both statements, would revise his answer to statement a) and change it from "rather agree" to "partly": "I would now also rather state 'partly, partly' when I think about the strongly associated, if I think about it now. That was so out of feeling. There is not much difference between the statements". Test person 15 answers differently, "but the questions don't make any difference to me. Whether closely related or strongly related, it's all the same to me." To justify the different answer categories, he cites that "the second question came I slowed down even more." He felt - as described above - pushed into the political right corner. For half of the test persons the only difference between statements a) and c) is the wording of the items, their intentions are the same. For four test persons, the formulation of statement c) has an emotional coloration. This could also be the reason why some test persons disagree with this item, whereas none of the test persons disagrees with statement a) Question Topic: Religion & culture/ Cultural identity Construct: Culture of origin	Yes