Immigration-Related Identity Markers and Well-Being in Academia: Perceptions of Conflict at Work and Life Satisfaction Among Foreign-Born Professors in the United States

<p>Although immigrant professionals contribute significantly to the American economy, their processes of adaptation to the host country and integration into work departments has not been sufficiently examined. Based on a survey of 241 immigrant professors in the United States, the current study sought to reveal how immigration-related identity markers, that is acculturation strategy adopted and migrant personality, impact the levels of private life satisfaction, work satisfaction, and perceptions of conflict at work. Results of Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses revealed that maintaining a balance between original cultural values and local ones, as well as scoring towards the lower-end of the migrant personality continuum are associated with increased levels of well-being and decreased perceptions of conflict at work. Contrary, maintaining original cultural values without integrating the local ones, as well as scoring high on the migrant personality continuum are associated with low levels of well-being and heightened perceptions of conflict at work. These findings may inform policy makers and scholars of conflict about the issues inherent in the acculturation process of foreign employees, and may help craft interventions that minimize the negative effects of cultural identity-based conflicts.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy in International Conflict Management (Ph.D. INCM)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Conflict Management

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Gheorghiu, Elena

Contributors dc:contributor

• Darina Lepadatu
• Linda Treiber
• Michael Long

• immigration
• acculturation
• migrant personality
• quality of life
• immigrant professors
• organizational conflict
• academia
• International and Area Studies
• Migration Studies
• Peace and Conflict Studies
• Social Psychology and Interaction
• Sociology of Culture
• Work, Economy and Organizations

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/incmdoc_etd/13

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu:incmdoc_etd-1015