How Do Turkish Youth’s Individualist and Collectivist Characteristics Affect Their Willingness to Migrate? The Mediator Role of Life Satisfaction

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5782/2223-2621.2022.25.4.40

Keywords:

individualism, collectivism, life satisfaction, migration, young people

Abstract

Many personal factors can also be effective in people's decision to migrate in addition to environmental factors. Having individualistic or collectivist tendencies is thought to be one of these factors. In this study, we will examine the relationship between the willingness of young people between the ages of 18-30 living in Turkey to migrate and their individualism-collectivism tendencies towards migration. The level of life satisfaction, which is one of the personal factors thought to be effective on the desire to migrate, was determined as the mediating variable in the research. Consistent with the prevailing trend in the literature, the main hypothesis of the research is that young people with high individualistic tendencies and young people with low life satisfaction will have a higher desire to migrate. As a result of the research, these hypotheses were confirmed. For collectivist youth, it was determined that being married and having children increased their desire to migrate. This result shows that the probability of migration is not high only for people that are classically associated with migration, such as having individualistic traits and low life satisfaction, being single and young. For the collectivist youth who attach importance to values such as family, tradition, and social solidarity, the effect of establishing a family increases the desire to migrate is due to lowering the emotional and social costs of being separated from the community.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  • Appleton, S., Song, L. (2008). Life satisfaction in urban China: components and determinants. World Development, 36(11), 2325-2340.
    Aypay, A. (2016). Discovering socialization priorities in Turkish society based on what thevalue of success means. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 16(3), 867-890.
  • Bartram, D. (2015). Inverting the logic of economic migration: happiness among migrants moving from wealthier to poorer countries in Europe. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(5), 1211-1230.
  • Knudsen, A.S.B. (2019). Those Who Stayed: Selection and Cultural Change during the Age of Mass Migration. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3321790 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3321790.
  • Bhugra, D., Becker M. (2005). Migration, cultural bereavement and cultural identity. World Psychiatry, 4(1),18–24.
  • Bogatzki, T. (2021). Heterogeneity in migration network effects across cultures (Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Migration, Integration, Transnationalization SP VI 2021-102), WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
  • Brzozowski, J., Coniglio, N. (2021). International migration and the (Un)happiness push: Evidence from Polish longitudinal data. International Migration Review, 55(4), 1089–1120. https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183211004835.
  • Brülde, B. (2007). Happiness theories of the good life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8, 15–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9003-8
  • Caldwell-Harris, C.L., Ayçiçegi A. (2006). When personality and culture clash: The Psychological distress of allocentrics in an individualist culture and idiocentrics in a collectivist culture. Transcultural Psychiatry. 43(3), 331-361.
  • Campbell, P. (2018). Dispositional traits and internal migration: Personality as a predictor of migration in Australia. Journal of Research in Personality. 78.10.1016/j.jrp.2018.12.009.
  • Carden, A. I., and Feicht, R. (1991). Homesickness among American and Turkish college students. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 22(3), 418–428. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022191223007.
  • Ciorbagiu, I., Stoica, A., Mihaila, M. (2020). Life satisfaction and migration-what relationship? Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, 9(1), 105-127.
  • Çebi Karaaslan, K., Çalmaşur, G., Emre Aysin, M., (2021), Bireylerin yaşam memnuniyetlerini etkileyen faktörlerin incelenmesi, Atatürk Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 35(1), 263-290, https://doi.org/10.16951/atauniiibd.789275.
  • Dağlı, A., Baysal, N. (2016). Yaşam Doyumu Ölçeğinin Türkçe’ye uyarlanması: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması, Elektronik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 15(59).
  • Deniz, M. (2006). The relationships among coping with stress, life satisfaction, decision-making styles, and decision self-esteem: An investigation with Turkish university students. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 34(9), 1161-1170.
  • Dette, D., & Dalbert, C. (2005). Moving for their first job or staying put? Predictors of high school students' attitudes toward geographic mobility. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35(8), 1719–1737. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02192.x.
  • Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49 (1), 71-75.
  • Docquier, F., Peri, G., Ruyssen, I. (2014). The Cross-country Determinants of Potential and Actual Migration. International Migration Review, 48(1),37-99. https://doi.org/10.1111/imre.12137 https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2015.33.27.
  • Easterlin, R. A. (2005). Diminishing marginal utility of income? Caveat emptor. Social Indicators Research, 70(3), 243-255.
  • Fouarge, D., Özer, M. N. Seegers, P. K. (2019). Personality Traits, Migration Intentions, and Cultural Distance. IZA Discussion Papers 12444, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Frank, K., Hou, F. (2017). Over-education and well-being: How does education-occupation mismatch affect the life satisfaction of university-educated immigrant and non-immigrant workers? Ethnicity and Health, 23(8), 884-901 https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2017.1316832.
  • Gokdemir, O., Dumludag, D. (2011). Life satisfaction among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands: The role of absolute and relative income. Social Indicators Research, 106(3), 407–417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9815-8
  • Gurak, D.T., Caces, F. (1992). Migration Networks and the Shaping of Migration Systems, in Kritz, M.M., Lim, L.L. and Zlotnik, H. (eds.) International Migrations Systems: A Global Approach (pp.150–176). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Güss, C. (2004). Decision-making in individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1032.
  • Hajduch, B., Orosová, O., Kulanová, M. (2018). Factors related to life satisfaction. Relationship between life satisfaction and emigration intentions among university students. Psychological Applications and Trends, 177-181
  • Heckert, J. (2015). New perspective on youth migration: Motives and family investment patterns, Demographic Research, 33, 765-800.
  • Hendriks, M., Bartram, D. (2019). Bringing Happiness Into the Study of Migration and Its Consequences: What, Why, and How? Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 17 (3), 279–298.
  • Hofstede Insights (2018). What about Turkey. www.hofstede-insights.com/country/turkey/
  • Ince, C. (2016). Türkiye bağlamında dış göçler, eğitim sorunu ve toplumsal konumun yeniden üretimi. Karadeniz Uluslararası Bilimsel Dergi, 32(32), 293-306.
  • Ivlevs, A. (2015): Happy Moves? Assessing the Link Between Life Satisfaction and Emigration Intentions, IZA Discussion Papers, No. 9017, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn.
  • Kahneman, D., Krueger, A.B. (2006). Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1),3-24.
  • Kitayama, S., Mesquita, B., & Karasawa, M. (2006). Cultural affordances and emotional experience: Socially engaging and disengaging emotions in Japan and the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5),890–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.5.890.
  • Knudsen, A., Beck, S. (2019). Those Who Stayed: Individualism, Self-Selection and Cultural Change During the Age of Mass Migration. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3321790.
  • Kwan V.S., Bond M.H., Singelis T.M. (1997). Pancultural explanations for life satisfaction: adding relationship harmony to self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(5),1038-51. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.73.5.1038. PMID: 9364759.
  • LeFebvre, R. and Franke, V. (2013). Culture Matters: Individualism vs. Collectivism in Conflict Decision-Making. Societies, 3(1), 128–146. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/soc3010128.
  • Light, I., Bhachu, P., Karageorgis, S. (1993). Migration networks and immigrant. In Light, I. and Bhachu, P. (eds.), Immigration and Entrepreneurship: Culture, Capital, and Ethnic Networks. New Brunswick, NJ: Transcation Publishers.
  • Loschmann, C., Kuschminder, K., Siegel, M. (2017). The root causes of movement: Exploring the determinants of irregular migration from Afghanistan, in Marie Mcauliffe and Khalid Koser (eds), A long way to go: irregular migration patterns, processes, drivers and decision making (pp. 77-102). Canberra: ANU Press.
  • Luhmann, M., Lucas, E. R., Eid, M., Diener, E. (2013). The Prospective effect of life satisfaction on life events, Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4(1), 39-45.
  • Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
  • Massey, D. S. (1990). Social Structure, Household Strategies, and the Cumulative Causation of Migration. Population Index, 56(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.2307/3644186.
  • Massey, D. S. (1993). Social Structure, Household Strategies and the Cumulative Causation of Migration, Population Index 56, 1990, p.3-26. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
  • Massey, D. S. (1999). International migration at the dawn of the twenty-first century: the role of the state. Population and Development Review, 25 (2), 1999, 303–322.
  • McKenzie, D., C. Theoharides, D. Yang. (2014): Distortions in the international migrant labor market: Evidence from Filipino migration and wage responses to destination country economic shocks, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 6(2), 49–75.
  • Melzer, S.M., Muffels, R. J. (2012). Migrant's pursuit of happiness. The impact of adaption, social comparison and relative deprivation: Evidence from a "natural" experiment, SOEP papers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research, No. 448, Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin.
  • Mihai, Iuliana & Novo-Corti, M Isabel. (2020). Cultural Distance and Migration Patterns in the EU: The Romanian Case. European Research Studies Journal, 23(4), 410-424.10.35808/ersj/1646.
  • Nghia, T. L. H. (2019). Motivations for studying abroad and immigration intentions: The case of Vietnamese students. Journal of International Students, 9(3), 758–776.
  • Nowok B., van Ham M., Findlay A.M., Gayle V. (2011). Does Migration Make You Happy? A Longitudinal Study of Internal Migration and Subjective Well-Being. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6140.
  • Oishi, S., Diener, E. F., Lucas, R. E., Suh, E. M. (1999). Cross-cultural variations in predictors of life satisfaction: Perspectives from needs and values. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(8), 980–990.
  • Olgiati, A., Calvo, R., Berkman, L. (2013). Are migrants going up a blind alley? Economic migration and life satisfaction around the world: Cross-national evidence from Europe, North America and Australia. Social Indicators Research, 114,383–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0151-4
  • Otrachshenko, V., Popova, O. (2014). Life (Dis)Satisfaction and the Intention to Migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Socio-Economics, 48,40– 49.
  • Parola, A., Marcionetti, J. (2022). Career Decision-Making Difficulties and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Career-Related Parental Behaviors and Career Adaptability. Journal of Career Development, 49(4), 831–845. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845321995571
  • Pedersen, P. J., Pytliková, M., Smith, N. (2008): Selection and network effects migration flows into OECD Countries 1990-2000, European Economic Review, 52(7), 1160–1186.
  • Polgreen, L., Simpson, N. (2011). Happiness and international migration, Journal of Happiness Studies, 12(5), 819-840.
  • Popova, O., Otrachshenko, V. (2011). Life (Dis)satisfaction and decision to migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. SSRN Electronic Journal. 10.2139/ssrn.1982502.
  • Renzaho, A.M., Dhingra N, Georgeou N. (2017). Youth as contested sites of culture: The intergenerational acculturation gap amongst new migrant communities-Parental and young adult perspectives. PLoS One. 7;12(2):e0170700. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170700.
  • Schnittker, J. (2008). Happiness and success: Genes, families, and the psychological effects of socioeconomic position and social support. American Journal of Sociology, 114(S1), S233-S259.
  • Schwartz, S. H. (2004). Mapping and interpreting cultural differences around the world. In H. Vinken, J. Soeters, & P Ester (Eds.), Comparing cultures, Dimensions of culture in a comparative perspective (pp.43-73). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
  • Singelis, T. M. (1994). The measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5), 580–591. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294205014
  • Singelis, T.M., Triandis, H.C., Bhawuk, D.P.S., Gelfand, M.J. (1995). Horizontal and vertical dimensions of ındividualism and collectivism: A theoretical and measurement refinement. Cross-Cultural Research, 29(3), 240–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/106939719502900302
  • Smith, P. B., Bond, M. H. (1993). Social psychology across cultures: Analysis and perspectives. Harvester Wheatsheaf.
  • Switek, M. (2012). Internal migration and life satisfaction: Wellbeing effects of moving as a young adult, IZA Discussion Papers, No. 7016, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn.
  • Triandis, H. C., Bontempo, R., Villareal, M. J., Asai, M., Lucca, N. (1988). Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(2), 323–338. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.2.323
  • Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT). (2020). International Migration Statistics-2019. https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Uluslararasi-Goc-Istatistikleri-2019-33709
  • Van Mol C., Snel E., Hemmerechts K., Timmerman, C. (2018). Migration aspirations and migration cultures: A Case Study of Ukrainian Migration Towards the European Union. Population, Place, and Space, 24(5), 1–11.
  • Veenhoven, R. (1996). Happy Life-Expectancy: A comprehensive measure of quality-of life in nations. Social Indicators Research, (39),1–58.
  • Veenhoven, R. (2016). Quality of life and happiness: concepts and measures,. In Luigino Bruni & Pier Luigi Porta (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Happiness and Quality of Life, (pp.309-333). Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Wasti, S. A., Eser Erdil, S. (2007). Bireycilik ve toplulukçuluk degerlerinin olculmesi: Benlik kurgusu ve INDCOL ölçeklerinin Turkçe gecerlemesi. Yonetim Arastirmalari Dergisi, 7, 39-66.
  • Yeung, W.J.J., Mu, Z. (2019). Migration and marriage in Asian contexts. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 46(14), 2863-2879.
  • Zaiceva, A. (2014). The impact of aging on the scale of migration. IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-99.

Downloads

Published

2023-03-09

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 4 (2022): Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.