Social and Contextual Correlates of Migrant Adaptation to Living in Receiving Societies: A Meta-Analysis of 1,114 studies

The number of international migrants has been consistently rising in modern times. Scientists and stakeholders agree that to maximize the benefits of this global megatrend, understanding what factors are associated with the successful and equitable inclusion of migrants is a matter of highest urgency. Our meta-analysis helps pinpoint such factors by identifying the strongest and most robust social and contextual correlates of successful migrant adaptation to living in the receiving societies. Across 5,066 effects from 1,114 primary studies among 571,260 first-generation migrants, international students, business expatriates, and refugees, the degree of adaptation was most strongly negatively associated with the presence of stressors, especially acculturative stressors and perceived discrimination, and positively with the availability of social resources, especially feelings of connectedness with the social context and not feeling lonely. The role of variables related to culture learning, namely exposure to social groups within the new culture, and the distance between the new culture and one’s heritage culture, turned out to be more limited. These findings did not differ significantly between the migrant groups.