Previous research has
shown that immigrants who approach, rather than avoid, social stimuli are more
likely to have positive attitudes toward integrating with people in their host
country (Matschke & Sassenberg, 2010). In some recent research, my colleagues and I investigated whether
immigrants’ problem-solving style was also involved in this relationship.
We asked 137 Australian immigrants to complete
measures of approach vs. avoidance orientation and independent vs. interdependent
problem-solving style. To measure social integration, we then asked the
immigrants to indicate (a) the proportion of Australian friends that they had, (b)
how included they felt in Australian society, and (c) how satisfied they were
with their employment,
accommodation, and life in Australia.
We found that immigrants who had an
independent problem-solving style and a strong approach orientation reported having the greatest proportion of Australian friends and
feeling the most included and satisfied with their life in Australia. Based on
this evidence, we believe that immigration services should encourage immigrants to (a) take charge of
their own integration (i.e., independent problem-solving) and (b) make
proactive efforts to achieve this integration (i.e., approach orientation) in
order for them to achieve the highest levels of social integration in their
host society.
For more information about this research,
please see the following research article:
Rubin, M., Watt, S., & Ramelli, M. (2012). Immigrants’ social integration as a function of approach–avoidance orientation and problem-solving style International Journal of Intercultural Relations DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.12.009
