Toward a Concept of a Migrant Personality

Abstract

In this article we argue that individuals who want to emigrate possess a syndrome of personality characteristics that differentiates them from those who want to stay in their country of origin. Based on our own research, as well as other research findings, we show that those who want to resettle in another country tend to be more work-oriented and to have higher achievement and power motivation, but lower affiliation motivation and family centrality, than those who do not want to leave their country of origin. This migrant personality syndrome is seen as only one of the variety of factors that determine migratory behavior. We further discuss some of the possible implications of our findings for the receiving and the sending countries and possible psychological interventions that can ease the acculturation of immigrants.A satisfactory theoretical and methodological account of international migration should consider the motivations, goals, values, and aspirations of individuals who decide to resettle in another country (Gans, 1999;Massey, 1999). Is there a set of motives, values, and traits that characterize the personalities of people who emigrate? In this article, we argue that desire to emigrate is associated with a specific set of personality characteristics that differentiates people who want to emigrate from people who want to stay in their country of origin. We propose a model of the personality factors that predict desire to emigrate. Further, we discuss our previous findings that, indeed, across six cultures, desire to emigrate, compared to desire to stay, was associated with significantly higher achievement, power motivation, and work centrality and lower family centrality.Research on international migration has consistently shown that economic

The role of self-determined motivation and goals for study abroad in the adaptation of international students

“…For example, the psychoanalytic approach to studying immigrants' experience (Elovitz & Kahn, 1997) and their motivation (Marlin, 1997) might lead researchers to utilize projective methods in their studies (Fass, 2003). Another approach aimed to apply McClelland's three-motive model of human motivation (based on the motives for achievement, power, and affiliation) to the situation of international migration (Boneva & Frieze, 2001;Frieze et al, 2004). These studies demonstrated using psychological scales and survey methodology that people who are willing to emigrate possess higher levels of achievement and power motivation and lower levels of affiliation motivation in comparison to those who decide to stay in their home country.…”

“…Boneva, Frieze, and their colleagues (Boneva & Frieze, 2001;Boneva et al, 1998;Frieze et al, 2004), for example, considered values, such as work or family orientation, together with dispositional motives, to be key determinants of the decision to move abroad. In particular, they found that emigrants score higher on work orientation and lower on family orientation in comparison to those who stay.…”

I-O Psychology and Poverty Reduction: Past, Present, and Future?

“…That includes, for example brain drain from developing nations, whether in the Caribbean (Tidrick, 1971) or within Eastern Europe (Boneva & Frieze, 2001). In development organizations at present, there is much interest in what is termed the "migration-development nexus."…”

Premigratory disposition of high school graduates in four biggest cities in Croatia

“…Valja reći i da su migracije važna sastavnica demografskoga, ali i ukupnoga razvoja svakoga društva. Istraživa-nja Boneve i Frieze (2001) pokazala su da su osobe koje imaju želju za odlaskom u neku drugu zemlju više orijentirane na posao, postižu veće uspjehe, ali su slabije povezane s društvom i obitelji. Važan teorijski i metodološki okvir za analizu migracija kroz motive, osobne ciljeve, vrijednosti i težnje pojedinaca donijeli su u svojim znanstvenim radovima Gans (1999) i Massey (1999), a do sličnih zaključaka došli su i Koikkalainen i Kyle (2016) nedavnim empirijskim istraživanjem kognitivnih migracija koje prethode svakom stvarnom fizič-kom pokretanju i imaju veliki utjecaj na migracijsko ponašanje pojedinaca.…”

“…It is important to note that migration is an important part of both demographic and overall development of every society. The research done by Boneva and Frieze (2001) showed that people with the desire to relocate to another country were more work-oriented, achieved greater success, but had weaker ties to their family and society. Gans (1999) and Massey (1999) set up an important theoretical and methodological framework for migration analysis using motives, personal goals, values, and aspirations of individuals.…”