Date of Award

2012

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

School of Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore antecedents to transnational practices among Ecuadorian immigrants in London, and to determine the connection between these practices and their subjective well-being. The study examined the extent to which Ecuadorians stay linked to their home country via various transnational practices, and the association with relevant demographic, immigration and integration factors. This research also aimed at examining the relations that immigration stress and transnational practices had with subjective well-being, as measured by perceived transnational social support, self-esteem, and psychological well-being. Overall, the findings from this study indicate that gender, socio-economic status, having family in Ecuador, network integration and expectation to return to Ecuador are key to understanding London Ecuadorians' likelihood of engaging in transnational activities. These variables, however, impacted private and public transnational practices differently. Likewise, engaging in transnational private or public practices had different effects on subjective well-being. Whereas engagement in private transnationalism had direct positive effects on both perceived transnational social support and self-esteem, engagement in public transnational activities did not have any effect on the measures of subjective well-being included. Immigration stress had significant negative impact on both self-esteem and psychological well-being, and was unrelated to transnational activities.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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