Is emigration worth the trouble? Satisfaction with life,group identifications,perceived discrimination,and socio-economic status of immigrants and stayers

In the present study, we examined satisfaction with life (SWL), group identifications, perceived discrimination, and socio-economic status among immigrants and stayers. The study had two main objectives: 1) to test the morbidity and salutary hypotheses of immigration by comparing the psycho-social characteristics of immigrants and stayers; 2) to test a resource model of well-being among immigrants and stayers by investigating the effect of different resources and stressors on SWL. The study was conducted using a random representative sample of first-generation immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel (n = 400) and a not-random large and geographically dispersed sample of Jews staying in Russia (n = 935). The comparison of immigrants and stayers revealed that immigration is a mixed blessing, salutary in some aspects and onerous in others. In general, immigrants were more satisfied with their life than stayers. In addition, identification with the country of residence was stronger among immigrants than stayers. However, immigrants reported a higher level of perceived discrimination, and their socio-economic status was lower than that of stayers. Socio-economic status, identification with the country of residence, and perceived discrimination were directly connected to SWL among immigrants and stayers. In addition, among stayers, identification with the ethnic minority group was connected to SWL, while among immigrants, identification with the country of origin was not connected to SWL. Socio-economic status and perceived discrimination also affected SWL indirectly, through their connections to identification with the country of residence among immigrants and stayers and through their connection to ethnic identification among stayers.     

Perceived Personal Discrimination,Panethnic and National Identification,and Collective Action to Support Immigrants’ Rights among U.S. Latinas/os

Many Latinas/os in the United States participated in the protests and rallies (i.e., collective action) to support immigrants’ rights that followed Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. President in 2017. Following the rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification models, we examined whether perceived personal discrimination, panethnic (i.e., Hispanic or Latina/o) identification, and national (i.e., American) identification were associated with greater likelihood of having engaged in collective action to support immigrants’ rights among a national sample of Latinas/os in the United States (N = 1,501). We found support for the rejection-disidentification model. Perceived personal discrimination was associated with lower national identification. Latinas/os who reported lower national identification, in turn, were more likely to have reported participating in collective action to support immigrants’ rights. We found less support for the rejection-identification model. Perceived personal discrimination was not associated with higher (pan)ethnic identification, although (pan)ethnic identification was positively associated with collective action. We consider the implications of these results for the rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification models and emphasize the importance of attending to U.S. Latinas/os’ multiple identities.