Discriminación, aculturación y bienestar psicológico en inmigrantes latinoamericanos en Chile

Abstract

La literatura acerca del bienestar psicológico de los inmigrantes ha identificado la discriminación percibida como una fuente importante de estrés que puede mermar su ajuste psicológico en el país de recepción. Asimismo, existe evidencia respecto del impacto de la aculturación en el funcionamiento psicológico positivo de esta población. Este trabajo indaga en las relaciones entre la discriminación, las orientaciones de aculturación y el bienestar psicológico de 152 inmigrantes latinoamericanos que residen en Chile. Los resultados mostraron que el 21,1% de la varianza del bienestar psicológico fue explicado por la edad, la discriminación, y las orientaciones aculturativas de integración e individualismo. Se discute acerca de la importancia del individualismo como orientación de aculturación que ha sido escasamente estudiada en inmigrantes, y cuyos posibles efectos negativos en el bienestar se asociarían con la creencia en la meritocracia, en detrimento de la búsqueda de soporte social en el proceso de adaptación al nuevo contexto.

School Satisfaction in Immigrant and Chilean Students: The Role of Prejudice and Cultural Self-Efficacy

“…Besides, students reported high levels of management in cultural diversity scenarios at school, feeling capable to process information from other cultures, mixing satisfactorily with other cultures, and understanding other ways of life. These results coincide with those informed by Rania et al (2012) and also with previous findings from studies conducted with immigrants and natives in Chile ( Mera-Lemp et al, 2020a , b ).…”

“…Important aspects of school life are grades and other accomplishments ( Casas et al, 2013 ) that are related to self-efficacy. In the context of these participants, the sense of successfully managing in a multicultural classroom can give them this feeling of competence ( Vecchio et al, 2007 ; Mera-Lemp et al, 2020a ).…”

“…Likewise, in a study conducted with immigrant and Italian secondary school students, Rania et al (2012) showed that cultural self-efficacy was positively related with perceived social support between peers. Recently, studies conducted with immigrant and Chilean adolescent samples ( Mera-Lemp et al, 2020a , b ) reported that cultural self-efficacy was explained by students’ attitudes toward cultural interchange, as well as by the perception of cultural discrepancies between school and family cultures. Besides, in the aforementioned researches, cultural self-efficacy turned out to be a predictor of school satisfaction.…”

Ethnic Identity as a Mediator of the Relationship between Discrimination and Psychological Well-Being in South—South Migrant Populations

“…The Colombian population in Chile has reported multiple experiences of discrimination, either by the country of origin, linked to drug trafficking, drugs, and sex trade in the case of women, or based on the color of the skin (many migrants are African descendants) [ 69 , 70 , 71 ]. Previous studies in Chile reported how discrimination has negatively affected both the mental health and the well-being of this population [ 72 , 73 ], in addition to other factors that also affect well-being [ 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ].…”

Affects as Mediators of the Negative Effects of Discrimination on Psychological Well-Being in the Migrant Population

“…This migration has resulted in situations of discrimination, either by the country of origin, linked to drug trafficking, drugs, and sex trade in the case of women, or by the color of the skin (Pavez, 2016;Tijoux, 2016;Gissi et al, 2019). Studies conducted in Chile show how discrimination has negatively affected both the mental health and the wellbeing of this population (Urzúa et al, 2018(Urzúa et al, , 2019bMera-Lemp et al, 2020a), in addition to other factors that also affect wellbeing (Silva et al, 2016;Urzúa et al, 2019aUrzúa et al, , 2020bMera-Lemp et al, 2020b). A qualitative perspective about the effects of migration and racism on the Colombian population in Chile can be reviewed in Gii-Barbieri and Ghio-Suárez 2017and Gii et al (2019).…”