The intent of this study was to investigate whether or not the assimilation of new immigrants was contingent upon their "needs" in the new social setting. Maslow's need hierarchy paradigm serves as the theoretical groundwork for this study. It is hypothesized that assimilation of newly arrived immigrants in American society is primarily determined by fulfillment of their basic needs. The needs for each specific group of immigrants are measured by seven variables relevant to dimensions of their goals. It is also suggested that Mexicans' needs were for economic subsistence, Cubans' are for safety and security, and Middle Easterners' are of esteem.
The data on Mexican and Cuban refugees were gathered in 1978 as part of the project "Latin American Immigrant Minority in the United States." The Middle Eastern immigrants' data were collected through snowball sampling by the author from 1981 to 1983 across the United States.