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Title: Looking Down or Looking Up: Status and Subjective Well-Being Among Asian and Latino Immigrants in the United States

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2010

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Abstract: Foundational theories of international migration rest on the assumption thatimmigrants maintain reference groups in their country of origin even after settling in a newplace. Such assumptions are extended in popular accounts to argue that immigrants therefore donot mind dirty, dangerous, or demeaning jobs that native-born workers shun. This paper usesdata from the nationally-representative National Latino and Asian American Survey to examinewhether immigrants' subjective well-being is shaped more by social comparisons in the homecountry, as theory would predict, or by social comparisons in the United States. I find that bothrational assessments of the decision to migrate and affective well-being are more closelyassociated with comparisons to others in the United States than comparisons to those in the homecountry. This finding challenges migration theories, and suggests the need for further research onthe effects of destination country social status on international migrants.

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Authors: Gelatt, Julia

Conference Name: Population Association of America

Publisher Location: Dallas, TX

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration, Poverty and Welfare, Race and Ethnicity

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