Cultural adaptation, perceived discrimination, and well-being of South American migrants in Chile

Abstract

Immigration has multiplied almost sixfold in the last thirty years in Chile; nevertheless, there is little knowledge about its strategies for cultural adaptation, perceived discrimination, and well-being, three dimensions that in this article are measured in an intermediate city (Talca, Chile), using a non-probability sample of South American migrants made up of 255 adults, matched by gender, most of which are Venezuelans, with a high educational level, bicultural (92.4%), and with a high well-being index (M=8.56 out of 10, SD=1.21). The results indicate that 41.1% perceive high discrimination, and that there is a significant negative relationship between perceived discrimination and both the tendency to biculturalism and well-being. These and other results are discussed.