The mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being in immigrants

Abstract

The aim of the study is to analyze the mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being in South American immigrants in Chile. An analytical, cross sectional, non-experimental design was used. We evaluated 853 Peruvians and Colombians living in the northern cities of Arica, Antofagasta, and Santiago de Chile, the capital located in the center of the country. The instruments used were the Ryff Psychological Well-being Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Perceived Discrimination Scale by Basabe, Paez, Aierdi and Jiménez-Aristizabal. We used the estimation method (RWLS) and polychoric correlation matrices, to estimate the effect size and overall fit of the direct effect models of discrimination and self-esteem on psychological well-being, and indirect and total effects of discrimination mediated by self-esteem. While both populations reported similar levels of perceived discrimination, it was found that the means in psychological well-being and self-esteem of the Colombian population were significantly higher than that of the Peruvian population. Regarding self-esteem, the results provided evidence for the possible mediating effect on the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being. This research aims to contribute to the development of interventions seeking to strengthen self-esteem in order to circumvent possible negative consequences of perceived discrimination, as a consequent, improving immigrants´ personal resources to successfully cope with the diverse demands of their new context.

Associations Between Acculturation, Depressive Symptoms, and Life Satisfaction Among Migrants of Turkish Origin in Germany: Gender- and Generation-Related Aspects

“…The low explained variance in the regression analyses for depression is worth to be mentioned: 8.9% (women) and 17.2% (men). It may be postulated that other essential protective and risk factors not examined in the present study, such as sense of coherence ( 6 ), self-esteem ( 50 ), social support ( 45 ) or (perceived) discrimination ( 5 ) may also substantially influence the manifestation of depressive symptoms.…”

“…Also other psychological or psychosocial factors may moderate the association between separation and depressive symptoms in migrants, for example self-esteem has been demonstrated to moderate the effect of perceived discrimination on depression (50). In some studies, an association between a higher level of acculturation and better performance on cognitive function tests has been detected (52).…”

“…Highest degree of perceived discrimination has been found in separated (second generation) and marginalized (both generations) women of Turkish origin ( 46 ). Perceived discrimination has been shown to be related with depressive symptoms in Turkish migrants ( 5 ) as well as other migrants groups ( 45 , 47 – 50 ). The European Social Surveys from 2006/2007 ( 51 ) and 2014 ( 37 ) confirm the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms in migrants and also non-migrants.…”

El efecto de la discriminación racial y étnica sobre la autoestima individual y colectiva según el fenotipo autoreportado en migrantes colombianos en Chile

“…Se ha demostrado que la autoestima se ve afectada negativamente por la percepción de discriminación (Branscombe et al, 1999;Bourguignon, Seron, Yzerbyt y Herman, 2006;Schmitt, Branscombe et al, 2002). No obstante, la discriminación también podría conducir a la marginación, que podría estar asociada con un bajo nivel de autoestima (Urzúa, Ferrer, Godoy et al, 2018). Este escenario de someti-miento y descalificaciones tiene incidencias con marcada regularidad en relación con conflictos de identidad, desánimo, depresión y fuerte deterioro de la autoestima.…”

“…En estudios previos en Chile, se ha analizado el papel de la AI como variable mediadora entre la discriminación y la salud mental (Urzúa, Cabrera, Calderón y Caqueo-Urizar, 2019) y entre la discriminación y el bienestar psicológico (Urzúa, Ferrer, Godoy, Leppes, Trujillo, Osorio, Caqueo-Urízar, 2018), donde se encontró un efecto mediador parcial de la AI sobre esta última relación. Pese a esto, no se ha profundizado en la relación que pudiese existir entre la discriminación y la autoestima, considerando que existe más de un tipo de discriminación y más de un tipo de autoestima, a la vez que esta relación pudiese presentarse de manera diferente dependiendo de terceros factores, como sería en el caso particular de esta investigación, el fenotipo auto-reportado.…”