Effects of chronic ethnic discrimination in the daily life of Turkish immigrants living in Austria: study protocol of a 30-day ambulatory assessment study

IntroductionChronic ethnic discrimination is associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes in ethnic minority groups. It is assumed that suffering from repeated discriminatory events leads, over time, to psychological consequences such as higher perceived stress, higher negative affect and lower positive affect. Higher stress reactivity to non-discriminatory stressors, such as daily hassles, as well as anticipation and avoidance behaviour regarding discriminatory events, may further contribute to the overall burden for affected individuals. Studies investigating chronic ethnic discrimination and its psychological consequences in the daily lives of affected persons are lacking. Here, we present a study protocol to investigate the impact of chronic ethnic discrimination and acute discriminatory events in the daily lives of Turkish immigrants living in Austria, using an ambulatory assessment design. The feasibility of our study design was tested and confirmed in a pilot study (n=10).Methods and analysisNinety male Turkish immigrants will complete daily questionnaires for 30 days. Participants will indicate stress, perceived discrimination, negative and positive affect, daily hassles, anticipation and avoidance behaviour, as well as rumination with regard to discriminatory events on a daily basis. Furthermore, they will use preprogrammed iPods to assess acute discriminatory events in real time. Our hypotheses will be tested using multilevel analyses.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been approved by the institutional review board of the University of Vienna (reference number 00358). Results will be presented at conferences and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Living as immigrant in Germany: an analysis of civil society organizations leaders’ perspectives

Purpose Immigration is considered a stressful process that causes many problems such as social isolation, prejudice, unemployment, minority status and intergenerational tensions. This study aims to determine the opinions of the leaders of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Germany about the experiences of individuals who immigrated from Turkey to Germany. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a qualitative method was used. This study was conducted between April and May 2014 with leaders of CSOs who were living in Germany. Informed consent forms were signed by all the participants. Purposeful sampling was used to select the leaders of CSOs to be included in the sample. In-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview format. The data reached saturation for the 30 leaders of CSOs. The data were collected through in-depth interviews and evaluated through thematic analysis. Findings Four main themes were identified: “Difficulties experienced”, “Recommendations to cope with/solve the difficulties experienced,” “Medical tourism” and “Use of health services.” Research limitations/implications This study has some limitations that should be taken into consideration during the interpretation of the results. A majority of the leaders of CSOs had bachelor’s degrees, and were middle-aged and older, which might affect the variety required in qualitative studies. Thus, it remains unclear whether the results could be generalized to all Turkish immigrants in Germany. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative study conducted with different Turkish CSO leaders living in Germany. This study outlines perspectives of CSO leaders’ migration-related challenges that Turkish immigrants struggle with to integrate into German societies. As a consequence, Turkish immigrants’ socio-cultural values, beliefs, difficulties they experienced, and legal rights should be taken into consideration in health care and tourism interactions. Possible found experiences could help to provide evidence on how to improve migrants’ situations.

Immigrant Men’s Economic Adaptation in Changing Labor Markets: Why Gaps between Turkish and German Men Expanded, 1976–2015

How important were manufacturing and heavy industries to the economic integration of twentieth-century immigrants in Western societies? This article examines how macro-social change in Germany since the height of manufacturing has affected the socio-economic integration of male immigrants. We develop an analytical framework to assess how educational expansion among natives, deindustrialization, and the increasing importance of formal qualifications shape male immigrant-native gaps in labor-market outcomes over time. Empirically, we focus on first-generation male Turkish immigrants in Germany and use micro-census data spanning almost 40 years. Through a novel empirical quantification of key theoretical arguments concerning immigrant economic integration, we find growing inter-group differences between the late 1970s and mid-2000s (employment) and mid-2010s (incomes), respectively. The growth of differences between the immigrant and native income distributions was most pronounced in their respective bottom halves. Our analysis shows that these trends are linked to the increased importance of formal educational qualifications for individual labor-market success, to educational expansion in Germany, and to deindustrialization. Employment in Germany shifted away from middling positions in manufacturing, but while natives tended to move into better-paying positions, Turkish immigrants mainly shifted into disadvantaged service jobs. These results provide novel evidence for claims that the economic assimilation of less-skilled immigrants may become structurally harder in increasingly post-industrial societies. We conclude that structural change in host countries is an important, yet often overlooked, driver of immigrant socio-economic integration trajectories.

Attitudes towards Turkish and Turks in Austria: From Guestworkers to “Quasi-Foreigners” in a Changing Social Landscape

In Austria, Turkish immigrants have long suffered from the stigma of being the uneducated and unintegrated guestworker, often portrayed as marginalised and as living in parallel societies. However, second-generation Turks who were born and/or raised in Austria have challenged this stigma profoundly. This paper argues that this has led to a re-indexicalisation of Turkish in Austria. Evidence for this is drawn from two matched-guise studies (n = 226) that aimed to unearth the covert language attitudes of Austrian participants towards Turkish. The data presented shows that many Austrian participants still conceive of the Turkish guises in overall xenophobic terms. They were depicted as more aggressive, less educated, less integrated, more joyous of life and more family-oriented when compared to the German guises. There was, however, an age-effect indicative of changing attitudes among participants born after 1998, for whom this stereotype seems to be losing its influence.

Positive and negative ageing perceptions account for health differences between older immigrant and native populations in the Netherlands

Background This study assessed the extent to which persistent differences in self-rated health (SRH) between older immigrants and natives are attributable to negative and positive ageing perceptions. Methods The study was conducted with three population groups in Rotterdam, the Netherlands: native Dutch people aged ≥70 years (n = 1150), Turkish immigrants aged ≥65 years (n = 680) and Moroccan immigrants aged ≥65 years (n = 292). To assess participants’ internal ageing representations, we used the short Aging Perceptions Questionnaire, which distinguishes negative (consequences, chronic and cyclical timeline awareness, and emotional representations) and positive (positive consequences, positive and negative control) dimensions and has been validated in native and immigrant populations. We analysed differences in ageing perceptions between immigrants and natives and the associations of ageing perceptions with SRH. We used Karlson–Holm–Breen decomposition to assess ageing perceptions’ mediation of the relationship between migration background and SRH. Results Older immigrants had stronger negative and weaker positive ageing perceptions (excepting the positive consequences of ageing) than did Dutch natives. Ageing perceptions mediated the relationship between migration background and SRH. SRH differences between Turkish immigrants and native Dutch older persons were explained mainly by differences in negative consequences and cyclical timeline awareness. SRH differences between Moroccan immigrants and native Dutch older persons were attributable mainly to differences in negative consequences and positive control. Conclusions Differences in positive and negative ageing perceptions between older immigrants and natives in the Netherlands largely explained SRH differences between these population groups.

Inequalities in Frailty Among Older Turkish and Moroccan Immigrants and Native Dutch: Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam

Very few studies have investigated frailty among older immigrants in Europe. The aim of the current study was to investigate inequalities in frailty in young-olds related to gender, educational level and country of origin, as well as intersections between these characteristics. Cross-sectional data were used from older Turkish and Moroccan immigrants (n = 466) and native Dutch (n = 1,020), all aged 55–65 years and participating in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Frailty was assessed with a 30-item frailty index, based on the deficit accumulation approach. Frailty was higher among women, lower educated, and people with a migration background. Of all groups considered, frailty levels were the highest among Turkish immigrants. No statistically significant interaction effects between gender, educational level and country of origin were found. When targeting frailty interventions, special attention should be devoted to older immigrants, as they are the most vulnerable group with the highest frailty levels.

Towards a transdimensional home: home-making in the narrations of Norwegians of Turkish descent

Building on current scholarship and empirical evidence from the research conducted by the author on Norwegian Turkish communities in the city of Drammen, Norway, this paper discusses the process of home-making by the descendants of Turkish immigrants in Norway, the so-called second- and third-generation. By doing so it develops a model of a transdimensional home that attempts to embrace the multiple and seemingly contradictory meanings and reflections of home involving eight dimensions identified in the narrations of the respondents: spatial, material, relational, home as routines and protection, home as origin, sensorial home, gendered relationships at home, and rejection from home. The model of a transdimensional home highlights people’s emotional and practical balancing acts between the ancestral country of origin and the place they live in. It aims at grasping the dynamics between these dimensions, approaching home as occurring at their intersection. It also underlines the processual character of the making of home in relation to the surrounding circumstances.