Proposal Title
Social integration and mental health for immigrant Arab Americans
Abstract
This paper focuses on outcomes of mental distress, including levels of social integration, self-esteem, and self-efficacy of immigrants originating from the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) moving to the U.S. Two independent variables will be analyzed. A: “Individualistic Shift”- defined as the shift experienced by immigrants from a countries with a collectivist culture moving to the U.S. which has an individualistic culture. B: “Demotion Effect”-defined as the experience of immigrants moving from high socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in their nations of origin to low socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in the U.S.
I hypothesize that: 1.) immigrants experiencing the Individualistic Shift will experience a measurable increase in mental distress and sense of alienation than a control group of immigrants who move from countries with an individualistic culture to the U.S. which has a similarly individualistic culture. 2.) immigrants experiencing the Demotion Effect will experience a measurable increase in mental distress and a measurable decrease in self-efficacy and self-esteem when compared with immigrants who are moving from high socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in their nations of origin to similarly high socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in the U.S. 3.) the intersectional group of immigrants experiencing the compounding effect of both the Individualistic Shift and the Demotion Effect will experience a measurable increase in mental distress, sense of alienation, and a measurable decrease in self-efficacy and self-esteem that is greater than the sum of the Individualistic Shift and Demotion Effect when measured separately.
Start Date
27-3-2019 11:00 AM
End Date
27-3-2019 11:50 AM
Room Number
U-Hall 3-100
Presentation Type
Paper
Disciplines
Community Psychology | Industrial and Organizational Psychology | Migration Studies | Multicultural Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Social integration and mental health for immigrant Arab Americans
This paper focuses on outcomes of mental distress, including levels of social integration, self-esteem, and self-efficacy of immigrants originating from the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) moving to the U.S. Two independent variables will be analyzed. A: “Individualistic Shift”- defined as the shift experienced by immigrants from a countries with a collectivist culture moving to the U.S. which has an individualistic culture. B: “Demotion Effect”-defined as the experience of immigrants moving from high socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in their nations of origin to low socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in the U.S.
I hypothesize that: 1.) immigrants experiencing the Individualistic Shift will experience a measurable increase in mental distress and sense of alienation than a control group of immigrants who move from countries with an individualistic culture to the U.S. which has a similarly individualistic culture. 2.) immigrants experiencing the Demotion Effect will experience a measurable increase in mental distress and a measurable decrease in self-efficacy and self-esteem when compared with immigrants who are moving from high socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in their nations of origin to similarly high socioeconomic status and job prestige levels in the U.S. 3.) the intersectional group of immigrants experiencing the compounding effect of both the Individualistic Shift and the Demotion Effect will experience a measurable increase in mental distress, sense of alienation, and a measurable decrease in self-efficacy and self-esteem that is greater than the sum of the Individualistic Shift and Demotion Effect when measured separately.
