An Evaluation of Life Satisfaction within the Migratory Experience According to Psychosocial Variables

Macarena Vallejo Martín, Maria del Pilar Moreno-Jiménez

Málaga University, Málaga, Spain.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2012.312A185                

Abstract

This study attempts to discover which psychosocial variables effect whether a displaced person evaluates their migratory experience and their life in the new context as positive. The psychosocial variables studied are: social support, individual self-esteem, social identity, analysis of endogroup and exogroup, assimilation of host culture, and perception of the assessment of the host culture and level of retention of the original culture. The general objective is to discover to what degree these variables predict the level of life satisfaction in thenew cityof residence. Following an analysis of the data, we find that social support predicts satisfaction in 23.3%. Furthermore, in order to generalise these findings across the overall immigrant population, resident in Spain, a comparison of three Spanish cities is carried out: Barcelona, Madrid and Málaga. The results show that although an identical pattern cannot be applied to all three cities, but in conclusion we can say that the variables with greater success in predicting life satisfaction are: social support, assimilation and assessment of host culture and self-esteem.

Keywords

Immigration; Life Satisfaction; Assimilation of Host Culture; Social Support; Retention of Original Culture

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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