Abstract
Research on the psychology of immigrants has primarily focused on their socioeconomic status, but has not factored in macroeconomic indicators. These provide a deeper understanding of the stressors experienced by immigrants through the lens of cultural gaps between home and host countries. This study examined predictors of psychological well-being (PWB) and academic performance among 376 immigrant college students by employing Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of development (1994) consisting of four levels of environmental factors: Macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem and microsystem. The results revealed that higher PWB was predicted by mesosystem variables (lower perceived stress, lower acculturative stress) and microsystem variables (higher resilience, higher ethnic identity, being older), whereas better academic performance was predicted by microsystem variables (being younger, higher resilience) and exosystem variables (higher family economic status). Although macrosystem factors (economic growth, income inequality) alone did not impact the outcomes significantly, an additional moderation analysis revealed a significant interaction effect of income inequality and resilience in predicting PWB. Namely, the positive relation between resilience and PWB was larger in magnitude among immigrants from more egalitarian countries than it was among immigrants from less egalitarian countries. Immigrants from non-egalitarian countries proved to be more resilient than immigrants from egalitarian countries: Their higher level of resilience seemed to translate into better skills of coping with distress rather than enhancing their PWB or academic performance. Higher levels of ethnic identity were also associated with better PWB, but not with academic performance. The moderating effect found for PWB was not found for academic performance.
","abstract_html":"<p>Abstract</p> <p>Research on the psychology of immigrants has primarily focused on their socioeconomic status, but has not factored in macroeconomic indicators. These provide a deeper understanding of the stressors experienced by immigrants through the lens of cultural gaps between home and host countries. This study examined predictors of psychological well-being (PWB) and academic performance among 376 immigrant college students by employing Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of development (1994) consisting of four levels of environmental factors: Macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem and microsystem. The results revealed that higher PWB was predicted by mesosystem variables (lower perceived stress, lower acculturative stress) and microsystem variables (higher resilience, higher ethnic identity, being older), whereas better academic performance was predicted by microsystem variables (being younger, higher resilience) and exosystem variables (higher family economic status). Although macrosystem factors (economic growth, income inequality) alone did not impact the outcomes significantly, an additional moderation analysis revealed a significant interaction effect of income inequality and resilience in predicting PWB. Namely, the positive relation between resilience and PWB was larger in magnitude among immigrants from more egalitarian countries than it was among immigrants from less egalitarian countries. Immigrants from non-egalitarian countries proved to be more resilient than immigrants from egalitarian countries: Their higher level of resilience seemed to translate into better skills of coping with distress rather than enhancing their PWB or academic performance. Higher levels of ethnic identity were also associated with better PWB, but not with academic performance. The moderating effect found for PWB was not found for academic performance.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Yamaguchi, Yumiko"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Adriana Espinosa","Ann Marie Yali","Glen Milstein"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:21Z","subjects":["Well-being","Academic Performance","Income Inequality","Resilience","Acculturative Stress","Perceived Stress","Immigrants in the United States","Multicultural Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/757","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Adriana Espinosa","Ann Marie Yali","Glen Milstein"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Yamaguchi, Yumiko"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-08-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Well-being","Academic Performance","Income Inequality","Resilience","Acculturative Stress","Perceived Stress","Immigrants in the United States","Multicultural Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/757"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Abstract
Research on the psychology of immigrants has primarily focused on their socioeconomic status, but has not factored in macroeconomic indicators. These provide a deeper understanding of the stressors experienced by immigrants through the lens of cultural gaps between home and host countries. This study examined predictors of psychological well-being (PWB) and academic performance among 376 immigrant college students by employing Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of development (1994) consisting of four levels of environmental factors: Macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem and microsystem. The results revealed that higher PWB was predicted by mesosystem variables (lower perceived stress, lower acculturative stress) and microsystem variables (higher resilience, higher ethnic identity, being older), whereas better academic performance was predicted by microsystem variables (being younger, higher resilience) and exosystem variables (higher family economic status). Although macrosystem factors (economic growth, income inequality) alone did not impact the outcomes significantly, an additional moderation analysis revealed a significant interaction effect of income inequality and resilience in predicting PWB. Namely, the positive relation between resilience and PWB was larger in magnitude among immigrants from more egalitarian countries than it was among immigrants from less egalitarian countries. Immigrants from non-egalitarian countries proved to be more resilient than immigrants from egalitarian countries: Their higher level of resilience seemed to translate into better skills of coping with distress rather than enhancing their PWB or academic performance. Higher levels of ethnic identity were also associated with better PWB, but not with academic performance. The moderating effect found for PWB was not found for academic performance.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Well-Being And Academic Performance In Immigrant Students: The Role Of Inequality Of Country Of Origin And Resilience"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Adriana Espinosa","Ann Marie Yali","Glen Milstein"],"dc:creator":["Yamaguchi, Yumiko"],"dc:date.available":["2018-08-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Abstract
Research on the psychology of immigrants has primarily focused on their socioeconomic status, but has not factored in macroeconomic indicators. These provide a deeper understanding of the stressors experienced by immigrants through the lens of cultural gaps between home and host countries. This study examined predictors of psychological well-being (PWB) and academic performance among 376 immigrant college students by employing Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of development (1994) consisting of four levels of environmental factors: Macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem and microsystem. The results revealed that higher PWB was predicted by mesosystem variables (lower perceived stress, lower acculturative stress) and microsystem variables (higher resilience, higher ethnic identity, being older), whereas better academic performance was predicted by microsystem variables (being younger, higher resilience) and exosystem variables (higher family economic status). Although macrosystem factors (economic growth, income inequality) alone did not impact the outcomes significantly, an additional moderation analysis revealed a significant interaction effect of income inequality and resilience in predicting PWB. Namely, the positive relation between resilience and PWB was larger in magnitude among immigrants from more egalitarian countries than it was among immigrants from less egalitarian countries. Immigrants from non-egalitarian countries proved to be more resilient than immigrants from egalitarian countries: Their higher level of resilience seemed to translate into better skills of coping with distress rather than enhancing their PWB or academic performance. Higher levels of ethnic identity were also associated with better PWB, but not with academic performance. The moderating effect found for PWB was not found for academic performance.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/757"],"dc:subject":["Well-being","Academic Performance","Income Inequality","Resilience","Acculturative Stress","Perceived Stress","Immigrants in the United States","Multicultural Psychology"],"dc:title":["Well-Being And Academic Performance In Immigrant Students: The Role Of Inequality Of Country Of Origin And Resilience"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:21Z"}