A Meta-Analysis of Social and Contextual Correlates of Migrant Adaptation to Living in Receiving Societies

Abstract

Abstract International migration has been consistently rising in modern times, and understanding what factors are associated with the successful inclusion of migrants is urgent. This meta-analysis helps pinpoint such factors by identifying the most robust social and contextual correlates of successful migrant adaptation to living in the receiving societies. Here, we meta-analyze 5,066 effects from 1,114 primary studies among 571,260 first-generation migrants, international students, business expatriates, and refugees. We show that migrant adaptation is most strongly negatively associated with the presence of stressors, especially acculturative stressors and perceived discrimination, and positively with the availability of social resources, especially feelings of connectedness with the social context and not feeling lonely. The role of variables related to culture learning, namely exposure to social groups within the new culture, and the distance between the new culture and one’s heritage culture, was more limited. This pattern was found across the different migrant groups.