Perceived discrimination, employability, and psychological well-being among Latin American immigrants in Chile

Abstract

Research about immigrants’ psychological functioning emphasizes the negative impact of discrimination on psychological well-being. Although there is agreement about the relevance of job access to immigrants’ adjustment to host countries, employability’s effects on immigrants’ well-being have been scarcely studied. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived discrimination, employability, and psychological well-being in a sample of 100 Latin-American immigrants settled in Chile. We aimed to determine the contribution of discrimination and employability on well-being’s explanation, and to establish the incidence of employability on the relation between discrimination and well-being. Perceived discrimination and employability explained the 31.5% of well-being’s variability, and employability mediated the relation between discrimination and well-being. Employability’s role as a psychosocial resource in a migratory context is discussed.