Abstract
The aims of this study were to find out the degree of satisfaction with life among adolescents with immigrant background and the factors that may be related to the level of satisfaction with life among them. The study sample consisted of 313 Angolan, Cape Verdean, and Indian adolescents (mean age = 5.00 years; SD = 1.88). The mean duration of sojourn in Portugal for the sample was 8.2 years (SD = 4.8). They were asked to fill a questionnaire with several measures, including demographic information, satisfaction with life, identity, in-group and out-group social interaction, stressful experience acculturation, perceived discrimination, mastery, self-esteem, and symptoms outcome. A control group involving 363 Portuguese youth were also included in the study. There were significant differences only between Portuguese and Angolan adolescents, in terms of level of life satisfaction. Portuguese adolescents were found to be more satisfied than Angolan adolescents from immigrant families. Whereas demographic factors accounted for just 6% of the variance explained, demographic and psychosocial factors accounted for 31% of the variance explained. Mastery was the most important factor related to life satisfaction. Gender, self-esteem, and living in an ethnically homogeneous neighborhood were also found to be predictors of satisfaction with life.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Andrews, F., and Withey, S. (1976). Social Indicators of Well-Being: America's Perception of Life Quality. Plenum, New York.
Argyle, M. (1987). The Psychology of Happiness. London, Methuen.
Beiser, M., and Fleming, J. E. (1986). Measuring psychiatric disorder among Southeast Asian refugees. Psychol. Med. 16: 627–639.
Berry, J. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Appl. Psychol.: Int. Rev. 46(1): 5–34.
Campbell, A. P., Converse, E., and Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life. Sage, New York.
Connell, J. A. (1985). A new multidimensional measure of children's perception of control. Child Devel. 56: 1018–1041.
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychol. Bull. 95: 542–575.
Diener, E. R., Emmons, R. Larsen, R., and Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. J. Pers. Assess. 49(1): 71–75.
Eaton, M. (1998). Foreign residents and illegal immigrants in Portugal. Int. J. Intercult. Rel. 22(1): 49–66.
Entreculturas (1998). Base de Dados. Ministério da Educação, Lisboa.
Eysenck, M. W. (1990). Happiness: Facts and Myths. LEA, East Sussex.
Furnham, A., and Bochner, S. (1982). Social difficulty in a foreign culture: An empirical analysis of culture shock. In Bochner, S. (ed.), Cultures in Contact: Studies in Cross-Cultural Interaction Pergamon, Oxford. pp. 161–198.
Godinho, M. (1978). L'émigration portugaise (Xve-Xxe siécles). Une constante structurale et les réponses aux changements du monde. Revista de História Económica e Social 1: 5–32.
Heaven, P. C. (1989). Extraversion, neuroticism and satisfaction with life among adolescents. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 10(5): 489–492.
Imamoglu, E. R., Kuller, V., Imamoglu, V., and Kuller, M. (1993). The social psychological words of Swedes and Turks in and around retirement. J. Cross-Cult. Psychol. 24(1): 26–41.
Kinze, J. D., Manson, S. M., Vinh, D. T., Tolan, N. T., Anh, B., and Pho, T. N. (1982). Development and validation of a Vietnamese-language depression rating scale. Am. J. Psychiat. 139: 1276–1281.
Kosma, A., and Stones, M. J. (1978). Some research issues and findings in the study of psychological well-being in the aged. Can. Psychol. Rev. 19: 241–249.
Kovacs, M. (1980/81). Rating scales to assess depression in school-aged children. Acta Paedopsychiatry 46: 305–315.
Levenson, H. (1981). Differentiating among internality, powerful others, and chance. In Lefcourt, H. M. (ed.), Research with Locus of Control Construct (Vol. 1) Academic Press, New York.
Michalos, C. (1980). Satisfaction and happiness. Soc. Indic. Res. 8: 385–422.
Mollica, R. F., Wyshak, G., deMarneffe, D. Khuon, F., and Lavelle, J. (1987). Indochinese versions of the Hopkins symptom checklist-25: A screening instrument for the psychiatric care refugees. Am. J. Psychiat. 44: 496–500.
Neto, F. (1986). A Migração Portuguesa Vivida e Representada. Secretaria de Estado das Comunidades Portuguesas, Centro de Estudos, Porto.
Neto, F. (1993). Satisfaction with life among Portuguese adolescents. J. Youth Adolesc. 22(2): 125–134.
Neto, F. (1995). Predictors of satisfaction with life among second generation migrants. Soc. Indic. Res. 35: 93–116.
Neto, F. (1997a). Estudos de Psicologia Intercultural: Nós e Outros. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica, Lisboa.
Neto, F. (1997b). Gender stereotyping in Portuguese children living in Portugal and abroad: Effects of migration, age, and gender. Int. J. Behav. Devel. 20(2): 219–229.
Neto, F., and Mullet, E. (1998). Decision-making as regards migration: Wage differential, job opportunity, and the network effect. Acta Psychologica 98: 57–66.
Paulus, D. L. (1983). Sphere-specific measures of perceived control. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 44: 1253–1265.
Pavot, W., Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., and Sandvik, E. (1991). Further validation of the SatisfactionWith Life Scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. J. Pers. Assess. 57: 149–161.
Pearlin, J., and Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. J. Health Soc. Behav. 19: 2–21.
Phinney, J. S. (1992). The multigroup ethnic identity measure. A new scale for use with adolescents and young adults from diverse groups. J. Adolesc. Res. 7: 156–176.
Phinney, J. S., and Devich-Navarro, M. (1997). Variations in bicultural identification among African American and Mexican American adolescents. J. Res. Adolesc. 7: 3–32.
Reid, D., and Ziegler, M. (1980). Validity and stability of a new desired control measure pertaining to psychological adjustment of the elderly. J. Gerontol. 35: 395–402.
Reynolds, C. R., and Richmond, B. (1985). Revised Childrens' Manifest Anxiety Scale: Manual.Western Psychological Services, Los Angeles.
Robinson, J. P., Shaver, P. R., and Wrightsman, L. S. (Eds.) (1991). Measures of personality and social psychology attitudes. San Diego: Academic Press.
Rosenberg, M. (1986). Conceiving the Self. Krieger, Melbourne.
Sam, D. (1998). Predicting life satisfaction among adolescents from immigrant families in Norway. Ethn. Health 3(1/2): 5–18.
Scott, W., and Stumpf, R. (1989). Adaptation of immigrants: Individual differences and determinants. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Serrão, J. (1974). A Emigração Portuguesa. Livros Horizonte, Lisboa.
Shin, D., and Johnson, D. (1978). Avowed happiness as an overall assessment of the quality of life. Soc. Indic. Res. 5: 474–492.
SOPEMI (1998). Trends in International Migration. OECD, Paris.
Strack, F., Argyle, M., and Schwartz, N. (eds.) (1991). Subjective Well-Being. Pergamon, Oxford.
Ward, C., and Kennedy, A. (1994). Acculturation strategies, psychological adjustment, and sociocultural competence during cross-cultural transitions. Int. J. Intercult. Rel. 18(3): 329–343.
Warr, P., and Payne, R. (1982). Experience of stain and pleasure among British adults. Soc. Sci. Med. 16: 1691–1697.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neto, F. Satisfaction with Life Among Adolescents from Immigrant Families in Portugal. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 30, 53–67 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005272805052
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005272805052