Ageing well in a foreign land: group memberships protect older immigrants’ wellbeing through enabling social support and integration

Abstract

Despite the numerous challenges of ageing in a foreign land, many older immigrants are fairly resilient and report experiencing good wellbeing. The key question that the present paper addresses is how this is achieved. Drawing on frameworks from cross-cultural and social identity literatures, the present study proposes and tests a model of serial multiple mediation that identifies possible mechanisms supporting the wellbeing of older immigrants who have resided in the host country for some time. In this model, it is predicted that new group memberships acquired post-migration enable access to social support that in turn provides the basis for perceived integration, which enhances wellbeing. This model was tested in a survey study with 102 older people, whose mean age was 80.3 years and who had migrated to Australia from Asian, European, and Central and South American countries on average 36 years previously. The survey assessed cultural identity, social group memberships acquired post-migration, perceived social support, perceived integration and wellbeing. Results supported the hypothesised model, indicating that joining new heritage culture and wider groups in Australia post-migration provided a platform for social support and integration, which enhanced life satisfaction and reduced loneliness. The implications of these findings for theory and adapting successfully to both migration and ageing are discussed.

Social-ecological factors influencing loneliness and social isolation in older people: a scoping review

“…The 52 included articles utilised quantitative surveys to collect data, which were either self-completed by participants (n = 17) [36,39,40,45,51,55,57,60,63,66,68,70,76,80,81,83,84], conducted as face-to-face interviews (n = 34) [34, 35, 37, 38, 41-44, 46-50, 52-54, 56, 58, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67, 69, 71-75, 77-79, 82, 85], or over the phone (n = 1) [59]. Interventional articles were more likely to detail the employment of face-to-face interview techniques compared to the other modalities (n = 15 face-to-face, n = 4 self-complete, n = 0 phone), as were observational articles (n = 19 face-to-face, n = 13 self-complete, n = 1 phone).…”

“…The global spread of the included articles is depicted in Fig. 2, indicating a range of countries, with the most common being United States of America (USA) (n = 17) [34, 37, 38, 44, 45, 55, 56, 58, 66, 69, 70, 72, 77-79, 82, 84], the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 7) [39,43,50,53,73,75,83], and Australia (n = 6) [36,40,57,59,63,64] (Table 2, Fig. 2).…”

“…The amount of non-vegetated green space in the community Negative association ( [42,43,49,51,57,62], No effect (Ajrouch 2008) [34] Negative association (Diaz et al 2019) [51] accessible services, neighbourhood density, neighbourhood satisfaction, rurality, social cohesion, walkability, transport access, neighbourhood safety, and public thirdplaces. These were determined as community factors due to their influence on the local environment and the fact that they affect a localised group of people rather than the broader society.…”

Effect of perceived economic mobility and income on charitable behavior

“…Our results indicate that a reduction in perceived economic mobility tends to increase social vigilance among low‐income consumers, potentially weakening community bonds and social integration. Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of social integration in local communities for consumer well‐being (Greenaway et al, 2015; Haslam et al, 2022; Silveira & Allebeck, 2001), and policymakers are seeking ways to enhance community ties and foster trust within communities (Di Napoli et al, 2019). Therefore, policymakers can consider increasing perceptions of economic mobility when implementing programs aimed at strengthening communities.…”

Creating new resources: The impact of new group memberships on posttraumatic growth in China

“…Self‐categorization into specific group memberships can provide various psychosocial resources, including a sense of belonging, meaning, purpose, and control (Muldoon, Haslam, et al., 2019). Extensive research has applied the social identity approach to health, revealing the pivotal role of social group memberships and related resources in shaping health (e.g., Haslam, Lam, et al., 2018; Haslam et al., 2019; Haslam et al., 2022). Therefore, building on the social identity approach, Haslam and colleagues proposed the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC; Haslam, Jetten, et al., 2018), emphasizing that individuals utilize psychosocial resources acquired through group memberships to enhance health and well‐being following life changes (In Haslam & Haslam, 2012).…”