Karmela Liebkind

Ethnic Identity, Immigration, and Well‐Being: An Interactional Perspective

On the basis of existing theory and research regarding ethnic identity and immigration and our own empirical work in four immigrant-receiving countries, we suggest an interactional model for understanding psychological outcomes for immigration. Specifically, the interrelationship of ethnic and national identity and their role in the psychological well-being of immigrants can best be understood as an interaction between the attitudes and characteristics of immigrants and the responses of the receiving society. This interaction is moderated by the particular circumstances of the immigrant group. The strengths of ethnic and national identity vary depending on the support for ethnic maintenance and the pressure for assimilation. Most studies show that the combination of a strong ethnic identity and a strong national identity promotes the best adaptation.

Perceived Discrimination, Social Support Networks, and Psychological Well-being Among Three Immigrant Groups

The authors addressed the specific role of and contradictory results previously obtained regarding ethnic versus host support networks in influencing directly and/or buffering the impact of perceived discrimination on the well-being of immigrants. A nationwide adult probability sample (N= 2,360) included Finnish repatriates and Russian and Estonian immigrants in Finland from Russia, Estonia, and other countries of the former Soviet Union. Perceived discrimination had a significant impact on psychological well-being. The results demonstrated the importance of distinguishing between available and activated social support. In the total sample, strong evidence was obtained for the direct and the buffering effect of host support networks on well-being. In addition, social support provided by ethnic networks abroad was generally beneficial for the psychological well-being of the immigrants. Under some conditions, ethnic support networks were also beneficial for psychological well-being.

Acculturation and Stress Vietnamese Refugees in Finland

In this study, a model of migration contingencies and acculturative stress was developed on the basis of the acculturation model of Berry et al. and a similar model by Beiser. The study aimed at determining to what extent sociodemographic characteristics, the social context, premigration traumatic experiences, post migration acculturative experiences, acculturation attitudes, and degree of acculturation predict acculturative stress in the refugee family. The two-generation sample consisted of 159 young refugees born between 1969 and 1976 and 121 of their parents or caregivers. The results suggest that acculturation attitudes and degree of acculturation exert different and distinct influences on acculturative stress depending on gender and generation. Acculturation attitudes predicted the stress symptoms of adult females only; for the others in the sample, degree of acculturation was more important.

The influence of experiences of discrimination on psychological stress: a comparison of seven immigrant groups

The aim of this study was to compare experiences of discrimination and their influence on trust in authorities and psychological distress among immigrants in Finland. A sample of 1146 immigrants, aged between 20 and 36 and representing seven immigrant groups (Russians, Ingrian/Finnish returnees, Estonians, Somalis, Arabs, Vietnamese and Turks), answered a mailed questionnaire based on traditional acculturation research as well as victim research. In accordance with our expectations, discrimination experiences in various realms of life were highly predictive of the psychological well-being of all immigrants, as well as of lack of trust in the Finnish authorities. However, contrary to our hypotheses regarding the effects of visibility and cultural proximity, group differences in psychological distress did not correspond to the group differences observed in perceived discrimination. These results are discussed in the light of the opposing predictions concerning self-damage effects of discrimination, made by social identity theory on the one hand and the theory on self-protecting functions of external attributions (Crocker and Major, 1989) on the other. It is concluded that the low level of stress observed in the most visible and most culturally distant group, despite high levels of perceived discrimination, is better explained by the latter than the former. Copyright

The interactive nature of acculturation: perceived discrimination, acculturation attitudes and stress among young ethnic repatriates in Finland, Israel and Germany

Abstract This study focused on young ethnic repatriates from the former Soviet Union in Finland (N=170), Germany (N=102) and Israel (N=298). We studied whether the acculturation orientations of the repatriates and the hosts (Finland: N=343, Germany: N=342, Israel: N=213) were concordant or discordant (Bourhis et al., 1997). The resulting intergroup relations with concomitant psychological outcomes (perceived discrimination and acculturative stress) were predicted on the basis of Berrys (1997) four-fold acculturation model and on the basis of a new classification, the need for which derived from the assumed normative quality of the integration option and the subsequent possible response tendency favoring integration among both hosts and immigrants. Integration was the most preferred option among the immigrants when using Berrys original model. Accordingly, the acculturation profiles of hosts and immigrants appeared to be concordant in Israel and Germany, and discordant only in Finland, where most of the hosts preferred assimilation. However, when all respondents favoring integration were sub-classified according to their second preference, the profiles turned out to be discordant and the intergroup relations conflictual in all three countries. Supporting the predictions made on the basis of the new classification, those immigrants whose personal acculturation preferences were most in conflict with those of the hosts (separatists in Finland and Israel, assimilationists in Germany) either perceived more discrimination or reported more stress than other immigrants. The results are discussed in relation to the specific features of the acculturation of repatriates.

Acculturation and Psychological Well-Being among Immigrant Adolescents in Finland A Comparative Study of Adolescents From Different Cultural Backgrounds

This study investigated the effects of acculturation on the psychological well-being of immigrant adolescents. The respondents were 11 to 20 years old, originally from the former Soviet Union, Turkey, Somalia, and Vietnam, and now living in Finland (N = 588). To gain an understanding of the complexity and specificity of the relationship between acculturation and psychological well-being, a large range of existing psychological well-being scales measuring acculturative stress, behavioral problems, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and sense of mastery were used as dependent variables. Most indices of psychological well-being were clearly and negatively related to perceived discrimination, and some of them were also positively related to second-language proficiency. In addition, the adolescents’ experiences of parental support and adherence to traditional family-related values promoted their psychological well-being. However, the impact of this adherence was found to depend on both the specific aspect of well-being measured and the specific family-related values in question.

Extended contact through peer modelling to promote tolerance in Finland

A field experiment studied the effect of extended contact through peer modelling for tolerance promotion among 1480 Finnish students (ages 13–15) in three pairs of middle schools that were matched on the proportion of foreign students (ranging from 3 per cent to 19 per cent) and randomised to control or experimental condition. In the experimental schools, printed stories of ingroup members engaged in close friendship with members of outgroups were presented in two sessions as examples of successful intergroup contact. In order to avoid subtyping, i.e. to ensure both inclusion of the ingroup member in the self and generalisation from the outgroup friend to the whole outgroup, the typicality of both the ingroup exemplar and the outgroup friend was enhanced. Intergroup attitudes were measured before and after the experimental intervention. A scale score measuring intergroup tolerance showed stability or favourable changes in experimental schools, while attitudes worsened or stayed the same in the control schools. The experimental effect was significant in four statistical tests (p<0.001 to p<0.05). The results show that tolerance can be improved or maintained by extended contact, i.e. peer modelling of positive intergroup contacts. Copyright

Cultural Identity, Perceived Discrimination, and Parental Support as Determinants of Immigrants’ School Adjustments:: Vietnamese Youth in Finland

This study focuses on factors predicting school adjustment of immigrant adolescents. One hundred seventy-five immigrant adolescents of Vietnamese origin in Finland (ages 13 to 18) were compared with a sample of host national Finnish youth (N = 337). The immigrant adolescents were better adjusted to school than were their host national peers. In addition, school adjustment was enhanced by the integrative mode of acculturation (i.e., acquisition of the skills needed for participation in the host culture along with adherence to traditional cultural patterns). However, ethnic identity and acculturation were shown to be distinct phenomena; the acquisition of new cultural traits did not imply the simultaneous adoption of a new identity. In addition, perceived discrimination had a detrimental, whereas perceived parental support had a positive impact on the immigrants’school adjustments. The impact of these factors turned out to be mostly indirect (e.g., through self-esteem, sense of mastery, and psychological distress).

Immigration, acculturation and the paradox of adaptation in Europe

Drawing from the International Comparative Study of Ethnocultural Youth (ICSEY) dataset, this paper examines the immigrant paradox phenomenon among a group of immigrant youth in five European countries. The sample consisted of over 2700 immigrant and 1400 national youth (age range 13 – 18 years) living in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. At the core of the immigrant paradox is the counterintuitive finding that immigrants often show better adaptation outcomes than their national peers in spite of poorer socioeconomic status. However, the paper argues for a more conservative position based on three criteria for concluding the existence of the paradox. On the bases of these criteria, the paper found mixed support for the immigrant paradox. Whereas the pattern of socio-cultural adaptation for first- and second-generation immigrants resembled the immigrant paradox, results for psychological adaptation were opposite to the paradox. Reasons for the mixed findings are discussed.

Coping with Disaster

Disaster research in the behavioral sciences is a relatively new area. With the exception of the major pioneering studies, research concerned with disasters began systematically in the United States in the 1950s and in Europe and Japan in the following decades (Dynes, 1987a; Hultaker, 1983; Raphael, 1986; United Nations, 1986). Early disaster research was by nature documentary and descriptive and lacking in well-specified conceptual and methodological approaches. As descriptive research studies accumulated, however, they made possible more sophisticated analytical studies of the effects of disaster. Methodologically and ethically, researchers can study disasters only post hoc, of course, and this presents many problems concerned with psychosocial outcomes (see Chapter 10, in this volume). Among the persistent problems is that of delineating the interactive effects of individual differences variables and pervasive situational and environmental effects common to all disaster situations (Hultaker, 1983; Wilson, 1989).