Ser. Sci. & Med.. Vol. 10. pp. ,297 to 306. Pereamon Press 1976. Rmtcd in Great Britain.

THEORIES OF MIGRATION AND MENTAL HEALTH:

AN EMPIRICAL TESTING ON
CHINESE-AMERICANS*
WEN Kuo
Department of Sociology, University of Utah, U.S.A.

Abstract-This investigation tested the applicability of four migratory theories in specifying the most
stressful life changes among immigrants and the impact of these stresses on their merital health. The
four theoretical notions-social isolation, cultural shock. goal-striving stress, and cultural change-were
explicated and tested against a data set on Chinese immigrants. The empirical evidence showed that
the four theories accounted for less than a quarter of the variance of the mental impairment scores.
These theories differed in explanatory utility and in some instances predicted contradictory directions
for relationships between mental illness and immigration experience. The results of the study suggest
the need for further cross-cultural and comoarative investigations dealing with the applicability of
the existing migratory theories to mental illn’ess.

INTRODUCTION There are conditions, nevertheless, under which there

Although the relationship between migration and
mental health has been widely discussed in the social
science literature Cl], no empirical comparison has
been made of the various migratory theories which
propose to exljlain the actual influence of migration
on mental health. The lack of comparative research
prevents an assessment of the relative merits of com-
peting theories and hinders a synthesization of em-
pirical data pertinent to those aspects of migration
most responsible for the increasing mental health
problem among immigrants.
In order to make a beginning toward correcting
the gap in comparative research, this study tested
several migratory theories against a set of Chinese-
American data collected in Washington, D.C. These
data indicated that some of these theories actually
contradicted each other and that all the theories were
relatively limited in their explanatory utility, whether
examined individually or jointly. The data showed,
for example, that less than one quarter of the total
amount of variance in Chinese-Americans’ mental ill-
ness indicators was explained by the theories investi-
gated in this study. This low predictive value implies
that migratory theories derived from observations of
western and internal migrant groups (e.g. European
immigrants and Southern Black migrants) need
further testing to determine their cross-cultural vali-
dity, especially with regard to the comprehensiveness,
restrictiveness and generality of their scope condi-
tions [Z].
My position is similar to Kantor’s: “Migration, in
and of itself, does not precipitate the development
of mental illness. Migration, however, does involve
changes in environment which imply adjustments on
the part of the migrant. These adjustments may be
reflected in improved or worsened mental health.
* The research reported here was supported by a grant
from the Ford Foundation. The original research design
of this Chinese-American study was also contributed by
Prof. Nan Lin. SUNY at Albany. who was the coinvestiga-
tar.
291
is an increased risk of the development of emotional
disturbance among migrant groups. These conditions
can be specified in terms of characteristics of the send-
ing and receiving communities, characteristics of
migrants, and circumstances under which the mig-
ration occurs” [3]. By viewing the relationship
between migration and mental health in this way, the
four theoretical formulations investigated here-
social isolation, cultural shock, goal-striving stress,
and cultural chang-an be characterized as frame-
works which seek to identify the most stress-produc-
ing life changes experienced by the migrant and their
potential impact on his mental health. All four
theories assume that the process of settling in a new
society is stressful and that the tension produced by
attempts at adjustment begins immediately upon the
immigrant’s arrival. The theories suggest that stress
factors such as social isolation and others may lead
to the onset of psychiatric symptoms, which may
grow more severe if conditions remain difficult. Each
theory, however, selects different kinds of life changes
as most problematic. Hence, each reaches different
conclusions about the methods by .which migration
precipitates mental disorder.
Social isolation
The theory of social isolation postulates that mig-
ration involves not only physical separation from the
homeland, but also separation from one’s orienting
set of mutual rights, obligations, and networks of
social interaction, thereby causing the most tumul-
tuous and destructive experiences associated with im-
migration. The migrant must sever both personal and
social ties and enter a new social network whose tiny
size becomes a barrier to social betterment. Migrants
often experience strong feelings of loneliness, aliena-
tion [4] and desocialization [S], low self-esteem, and
an inability to cultivate or sustain social relation-
ships [6]. Jaco [7] documented the negative impact
of social isolation in Austin, Texas, where he found
that residents of an area with the highest rates of
schizophrenia also suffered a greater degree of social
298 WENKuo
isolation as measured by indices such as knowledge
of neighbor, number of friends, and memberships in
lodges or fraternal organizations. Lowenthal [S],
however, found that isolation per se was neither deci-
sive nor signiticant in the onset of mental illness
among the aged group. Weinberg [9] later integrated
both views by suggesting that situational isolation
precipitates mental illness and that one’s subjective
interpretation of isolation may predispose him to
mental illness. Thus, the theory of social isolation sug-
gests that a severe limitation of contact and com-
munication with the larger society causes the immi-
grant great stress in the performance of social roles
that he does play and might directly or indirectly con-
tribute to the onset of mental illness.
Cultural shock
Although the second theory contends that the im-
migrant’s most severe adjustment problem is caused
by cultural shock, the concept has never been adequa-
tely defined. For instance Handlin [lo] believed that
immigrants experience shock because of severe feel-
ings of personal inefficacy, normlessness, role instabi-
lity and role displacement. Eisenstadt [ll], on the
other hand, suggested that immigrants are disturbed
by the experience of living in an unstructured, incom-
pletely defined field. Oberg [12] pointed out that
since value conflicts cause an immigrant to misinter-
pret cues of social interaction, daily life cannot be
taken for granted, and it becomes instead a host of
insurmountable problems. But regardless’ of different
emphases, the cultural shock theory posits that those
immigrants entering a society extremely different from
their native community will find it more difficult to
adjust than will immigrants with a similar cultural
background. The theory also suggests that the shorter
the immigration period, the greater the shock, making
mental distress more likely, but that as the immigrant
becomes acculturized, his propensity toward mental
illness is reduced.
Goal-striving stress
The theory of goal-striving stress delineates a un-
ique aspect of the immigrant’s adjustment problem,
that of unfulfilled aspiration. Defined as the discre-
pancy between an immigrant’s aspiration and his
actual achievement, this perspective contrasts with the
above theories in that it does not insist that urban
immigrants have higher rates of mental disorder than
do natives. Parker, Kleiner and Needelman [13]
argued that psychological stress due to cultural shock
may indeed be balanced by a lower degree of goal-
striving stress, which has been found to be directly
related to mental disorder. In a study of Black
migrants to Philadelphia, Parker and Kleiner [14]
reported that those coming from an urban back-
ground possessed a higher level of goal-striving stress
than those from the rural South. Furthermore, both
groups displayed smaller degrees of goal-striving
stress than did the native Northern Blacks, which
Parker and Kleiner believed resulted from the fact
that “the urban environment consists of more hetero-
geneous and differentiated groupings than is generally
true for communities in the rural South. This greater
heterogeneity extends not only to groups at the same
status level, but also includes a fuller range of grada-
tions with different status hierarchies (e.g. based on
occupation, education. and income). The existence of
a more differential status hierarchy. as well as ‘success
ethos’. creates an environment in which new reference
groups emerge. stimulating higher levels of aspiration
and stress associated with goal striving” [ 151. With
this in mind, we may generalize that among foreign
immigrants from less urbanized and industrialized
societies, the first generation will experience lower
goal-striving stress than their descendents. The newi!
arrived immigrants hold a reasonable level of aspi-
ration while they strive hard for achievement. In con-
trast, their descendants may continue to strive as hard
as their parents but suffer a setback: a much higher
level of aspiration due to the socialization experience
in the new society. The descendants believe that they
possess opportunities for success equal to those of
the dominant group members but in fact cannot over-
come the consequences of segregation and other
forms of defacto discrimination. In other words. the
difficulty of becoming upwardly mobile produces
higher degrees of goal-striving stress, which will
appear on the indicators of mental illness.
Cultural change
The fourth theory hypothesizes that cultural change
has a disrupting effect on the psychological orien-
tation of the American ethnic migrant undergoing
acculturation. Studies by Hallowell [16], Abel and
Hsu [17], and Vogt [18] documented personality dis-
turbances among American natives and some ethnic
groups on the Rorschach test. And in the recent study
on subgroup differences among second-generation
American Greeks, Papajohn and Speigel [ 191 showed
that the impact of acculturation on mental distress
was a joint function of sex and social class, but that
the position of a subgroup on the acculturation con-
tinuum alone was not related to the degree of stress.
It was, rather, the degree to which American value
orientations were internalized that counted for the
psychological stress. Overall, proponents of the cul-
tural change theory contend that the adoption of
American core cultural values involves a fundamental
disruption of and shift in the cognitive, affective and
evaluative modes of behavior which were patterned
by the immigrant’s native culture. Such changes are
believed to be particularly stressful and disturbing
because the worth of the immigrant’s native cultural
orientation, which has long served as a behavioral
guide, is now seriously challenged and perhaps even
devalued by the competing American values. Seward
[20] observed .that such cultural change promoted
family disorganization and adversely affected the per-
sonality of family members. Furthermore, Derby-
shine [21] indicated that Chicano youths tended to
over-identify with their own culture under the pres-
sure of adopting the dominant American culture. The
cultural change theory, which posits that the greater
the acculturation the greater the psychological dis-
tress, directly conflicts with the cultural shock
hypothesis.
Discussion
To recapitulate. the theoretical formulations dis-
cussed above emphasize different factors or mech-
anisms of the immigrant experience which influence
 Theories of migration and mental health
mental illness. First, while three of the theories sug-
gest higher mental illness rates for immigrants, the
theory of goal-striving stress contends that immi-
gration and mental health problems are inversely
related; it is speculated that the major intervening
variable in this theory is the goal-striving stress itself.
i.e. the magnitude of discrepancy between achieve-
ment and aspiration. Sedbnd. the theory of cultural
change posits that acculturation varies directly with
psychological stress, and the cultural shock theory
predicts an inverse relationship. Third, each of the
four theories focuses on a particular aspect of the
immigrant’s adjustment of life change and contends
that the aspect of life change so identified exerts the
greatest influence on the immigrant’s mental health.
In the following analysis, the relative accuracy of
these conflicting claims is examined by employing
Chinese-American mental health data. Aside from the
need for evaluation of the cross-cultural validity of
these four theories of migration, there is also an insuf-
ficient understanding of Chinese-American mental
health problems. Berk and Hirata [22] recently
showed the invalidity of the commonly held belief
. that there is an extremely low rate of mental disorder
among Chinese-Americans [23]. They discovered that
since the 193Os, the hospitalization rates of mentally
ill Chinese-Americans in California had reached the
same high levels as those of the .general population.
Faced by this upsurge in mental health problems
among Chinese-Americans, I explored the effects of
migratory experiences on these rates, a focus which
has not been widely adopted even though the 1970
census reported that 47% of the Chinese in this nation
are foreign born [24,25].
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The sample
The data for the present investigation were derived
from interviews conducted during the summer of 1972
with 170 Chine-Americans residing in the District
of Columbia. The sample was systematically drawn
from a non-repeated, alphabetically-ordered master
list of Chinese-American households. This list was
.compiled from Chinese community, merchant, and
surname associations, from the local telephone direc-
tory, and from the Chinese respondents who men-
tioned the names of other possible respondents for
this survey. In my opinion. this sampling frame
(h’ = 550 Chinese-American households) was fairly
complete, and the sample adequately represented the
Chinese population of Washington, DC. [26]. To
facilitate the study, the interviewers were instructed
to conduct the interview of the head of each house-
hold sampled in that person’s native language or dia-
lect.
The present sample iicluded 121 males and 49
females. their median age was 38, and 58% were
married. Twenty-four per cent of the sample were
American-born. 387; born in Hong Kong or Canton,
9Y’,in Taiwan. and 289, either in other Chinese pro-
vinces or other countries. Among the American-born
Chinese. 70:, reported that their families had lived
in this country for only two generations. The largest
linguistic group in the sample (measured by the dia-
lect or language most often used at home) was Can-
299
tonese and Taisanese (41x), followed by English
(24.7%). Mandarin (24.7%). and others (21.8%). This
heterogeneity, however. did not create serious com-
munication problems among Chinese-Americans,
since 88% of them reported also that they could speak
two or more languages fluently [27]. About 34% of
the sample were professionals and 53% had family
incomes higher than $lO,ooO. The overall sample was
characterized by a high socio-economic status, which
is not surprising. since 48% of the Chinese families
in Washington, D.C., reported incomes of 515,000 or
over [28,29].
Measurement of concepts
Ideally, the rigorous empirical testing of any scien-
tific theory requires precise, reliable measurement of
theoretical concepts. In practice, however, the theor-
ist’s difficulty in avoiding ambiguity in defining and
explicating concepts and the researcher’s constraints
in employing methodology can create circumstances
which actually provoke measurement errors. In health
research this problem is especially severe. For
example recent criticism by Seiler [30] on the Mid-
town 22-item scale illustrated that even a widely-used,
standardized inventory of mental illness such as this
still has problems of validity. The reader should be
warned that most of the measurements used in this
analysis are no more exact. However, I have pooled
most of the indicators used by previous studies, and
I believe that the theoretical concepts have been
approximated in a reasonable way. Furthermore, the
use of the cross-sectional data to test causal relation-
ships in the later analysis section has its constraints.
I wish I had had data which precisely dated the onset
of social stressors and the onset of psychiatric symp
toms. In this investigation, which is less than perfect,
I have had to depend on earlier investigations in
order to infer and determine the time orders among
the variables.
The dependent variable in this study was called
“symptoms of psychological distress” and was
measured by three sets of inventories. The tist set
consisted of a single question dealing with the respon-
dent’s general happiness, a question used previously
by Gutin et al. [31], Bradbum [32] and others. Brad-
bum reported that happiness or psychological well-
being is a balanced state of positive and negative feel-
ings, and unhappiness is directly related to the occur-
rence of unpleasant, stressful life events. The second
inventory set consisted of 13 items selected from the
Midtown Psychiatric Impairment Index. Crande.11and
Dohrenwend [33] subdivided the Midtown 22 items
into four subscales:.psychophysiological symptom in-
dex,. psychological index, physiological index and
ambiguous index. I purposely excluded all the items
belonging to the last two subscales in the question-
naire except one scale item dealing with acid stomach,
since I wanted to focus on the respondent’s psycho-
logical state. The third measure of Chinese-Ameri-
cans’ psychological distress was the CES-D scale,
which stands for depression scale, Center of Epide-
miological Studies, NIMH. This scale was based on
Beck’s [34] and Zung’s [35] depressive inventories
and was recently used by the Kansas City Epidemio-
logical field Station in a large-scale community men-
tal health survey. Schwab et al. [36] noted that these
300 WEN
instruments for measuring depression performed bet-
ter for the American lower class than the upper class.
We applied it to Chinese-Americans in the present
investigation with the understanding that the scale’s
cross-cultural validity must be further explored [373.
Fortunately, the relationships between the above
three scales are consistent, and their inter-correlations
are statistically signiticant. The correlation coefficient
between the Midtown scale and the CES-D is 0.72,
0.33 between unhappiness and the Midtown Psychia-
tric Impairment Index, and 0.39 between unhappiness
and the CES-D. Based on these relationships, we can
assume that the scales measure a similar concept: psy-
chiatric distress.
The independent variables in this investigation in-
cluded the four global factors discussed above. The
first factor, social isolation, was measured by ques-
tionnaire items dealing with spatial mobility in the
United States (number of places lived in before
migrating to the city and length of residence in the
present dwelling), frequency of interaction with neigh-
bors, relatives and friends, remoteness of relatives,
and membership in (Chinese) community organiza-
tions. All these indicators of social isolation can be
found in Jaco’s [38] study, where he found that on
the aggregate level these indicators could differentiate
between high and low schizophrenic areas. In the
present analysis, however, the measures were applied
on the individual level.
As mentioned before, it was difficult to operationa-
lize the concept of cultural shock because of previous
theorists’ ambiguous definitions. Therefore
approached the problem from two directions. The
first measure was an item on the respondent’s length
of residence in this country, with an underlying
assumption that cultural shock varies positively with
new residency. The second measure was a composite
index on the respondent’s adjustment problems
stemming from finding a job and a place to live,
learning to speak English, making friends, keeping up
with the American standard of living, getting used
to the American way of life, and obtaining an accept-
able social status. Each adjustment problem was
scored from 1 to 3 (a serious problem to no problem)
and then summated to make up an index of cultural
shock.
My method of operationalizing the third theoretical
concept, goal-striving stress, was different from that
of Parker, Kleiner, and Needelman [39], who used
a ten-step striving -scale representing the “best” and
“worst” ways of life and asked the respondent to iden-
tify subjectively the step corresponding to his present
position and to his aspired level. Parker and Kleiner
used the difference between these two step positions
to measure the aspiration-achievement discrepancy.
My method was to obtain a balanced score between
the subject’s level of aspiration, given the opportunity
he saw in American society, and the actual social pos-
ition he achieved. To obtain this score, each respon-
dent’s summated scores on both the aspiration and
achievement questionnaire categories were first calcu-
lated and then standardized. and finally the differ-
ences calculated to reflect the degree of goal-striving
stress. Each of the two categories consisted of eight
items. In the aspiration category, the respondent’s
feelings were elicited about his opportunities in Amer-
Kuo
ica in general and his perception of his chances of
obtaining a well-paying job, a college education. good
housing, and unemployment insurance as compared
with American whites. In the actual achievement cate-
gory, family incomes, occupations, and educational
levels were investigated.
Kluckhohn [40] contended that value orientation
in a culture could be categorized by four modalities
of experience: activity (A), relational (R). time (T). and
man-nature relationship (M-N). In a brief compari-
son of Chinese and American culture. it might be
argued that the activity dimension of American cul-
ture is more other-directed and achievement-oriented
than that of the traditional Chinese culture [41]. In
relational experience, the American orientation tends
to be individualistic. whereas the Chinese leans
towards collateralism-individuals subordinated to
group goals. In time experience, the American tem-
poral focus on the future and on planning differs from
the Chinese cultural focus on the traditional past.
And in the man-nature relationship, American cul-
ture has traditionally emphasized man’s mastery of
nature while Chinese culture advocated man’s har-
mony with nature. In this way, Kluckhohn’s com-
parative framework provided a base for measuring
the fourth theoretical concept, the Chinese-Ameri-
can’s acculturation or changes in value orientation.
I used the following items to measure the four moda-
lities of experience: (1) there is hardly anything lower
than a person who does not feel a great love, grati-
tude, and respect for his parents (R); (2) people should
I discipline their children and encourage them to re-
spect authority (R); (3) one should not depend on
other persons or things-the center of life should be
found inside oneself (A); (4) I would rather decide
things when they come up than try to plan ahead
(T); (5) many of the unhappy things in people’s lives
are partly due to bad luck (MN); (6) most of the
time people are mostly just looking out for themselves
(R); (7) I have always felt pretty sure my life would
work out the way I want (M-N). These scale items
are graded in the direction of Americanization (1 to
4 points) and were summed to form a composite in-
dex of acculturation.
RESULTS
Intrinsic to the theories discussed above is the
assumption that immigrants possess distinguishable
characteristics because of the uprooting process.
Table 1, which presents the results of the native-for-
eign born comparison of Chinese-Americans in
Washington, D.C., reveals that with respect to social
contacts (interaction with neighbors and relatives and
membership in Chinese community organizations) the
foreign-born passes the same degree of social relation-
ships and social participation as do the native-born.
But with respect to levels of acculturation, adjust-
ment, and aspiration, differences do exist between the
two groups. In other words. the foreign-born Chinese
are less mobile, have more Chinese as best friends.
occupy a lower socio-economical status. are less
Americanized, and are relatively less well-adjusted to
this society than the American-born Chinese. These
differences suggest that the life changes accompanying
migration lead to an inferior social position.
 Theories of migration and mental health 301

Table 1. Mean scores of selected characteristics of Chinese-American samples in Washington. D.C.

FOXlg” American 7 Yaluc Rang? of

born born 0r mean rcalu
(N = 129) (N = 41) diRereta SCO,LII

1. Interaction with neighbors 4.713 4.513 0.53 I INeverl to 7 lnlmosl cvcrydxy)

2. Interaction with relatwes 3.521 3.4xx 0. I 3 I (Never) 1” h Ialmost cvcrydayl
3. Membership in Chinese associations 1.349 1.244 1.24 I (No). 2 (Yes)
4. Adjustment problem 12.419 IO.415 3.39t x to 24
5. Aspiration -0.162 0.5 I6 3.94t Normnlvcd
6. Numixr of cities lived m 1.X76 2.390 2.In 1to I?
1. Same nationality as three best lriends 3.669 2.683 5.39t I (No Chmcacl to 4 IAll C‘h,ncscl
8. Social economic status - 0.095 0.297 2.2 It Normalucd
9. Acculturation 14.674 15.024 1.35’ I to 24

* Significant at 0.10 level, one-tailed test.

t Significant at 0.05 level, one-tailed test.

The extent to which the changes caused by the im-
migration process influence the mental health of for-
eign-born Chin~Americans is indicated in the first
panels of Table 2 and Table 3, which present test
results having a direct bearing on the confirmatory
status of the four theories. Table 2 and Table 4 also
present the results of the regression analysis on
American-born Chinese. However, these data could
be regarded as auxiliary information, since data on
the American-born is theoretically inappropriate to
test the impact of the immigration process. Hence,
the following discussion will focus on the foreign-
born. All the tables contain standardized regression
coefficients between measures of poor mental health
and the independent variables. The standardized
regression coefficient (/J weight) denotes the effect of
a single independent variable while the effects of other
variables are held constant.
Social isolation
As indicated above, the social isolation theory
posits that either situational isolation or subjective
counterparts of situational isolation precipitates men-
tal illness. By scanning the zero-order correlation
columns and beta columns of the foreign-born in
Table 2, one can see that, except in a few instances,
the relationships between social isolation measures
and symptoms of psychological distress are in the pre-
dicted direction. The indicators of mental illness vary
negatively with social participation (items 4 and 5).
interaction with close friends and neighbors (items 2
and 3), length of residence in the present abode. and
positively with frequency of intercity residential mobi-
lity. Hence, these data suggest that isolation indi-
cators have a slight tendency to increase psychiatric
symptoms, depression, and unhappiness, but their in-
dependent effects (measured by b coefficients) are
weak, though three /I are statistically significant (see
rows 1 and 8, Table 2). Table 2 also shows that correla-
tions between the number of relatives living in the
same neighborhood, frequency of contact with rela-
tives, and the three measures of psychological distress
are positive, a finding in keeping with Jaco’s [43] in-
vestigation, which reported a strong association
between the area of high schizophrenic rates and a
proportion of the population in an area who did not
have friends in remote areas of the city. Jaco inter-
preted this correlation as suggesting that a lack of
friendships in distant areas of a city reduced the range
or horizon of a person’s intimate and primary associ-
ations. In the present investigation, this finding could
be interpreted in a similar fashion. And it is interest-
ing to note that this relationship holds both for the
foreign-born and the American-born. Exclusiveness of

Table 2. Zero-order correlations and standardized regression coefficients (h*) between social isolation wriables and
three indices of psychological distress by nativity

Foreign-born (N = 129) American-born I.& = 411

Psychiatric CES-D Psychiatric CES-D

impairment depression impairment depression
SC& scale Unhappiness SC& scale Unhappmesr

Social isolation variables r h* r h* I h’ r h- I h* , h*

I Frequency or intercity mobility 0.20’ 0.26’ 0.09 0.14 0.0x 0.08 0.02 0.19 0.0x 0.3 - 0.20 -0.10
2. Fresuencv of talkina to neinhbors -0.12 - 0.04 0.01 0.12 -0.11 -0.00 -0.09 -0.09 -0.20 - 0.25 -0.33. - 0.32
3 Fre&nc~ or gettin; togethir with
close friends -0.19. -0.13 -0.20’ -0.13 -0.239 -0.19 003 -0.01 UO6 U.I? 0.05 018
4 Paniclpatmn in the soctal activities
sponsored by Chinese organuationr -0.01 0.08 -0.14 -0.12 -0.15 -0.08 0. I 8 -002 0.01 - 0.25 UOh -0.19
5. Membership in Chinese organization - 0.02 -0.1 I - 0.03 -0.00 -0.06 0.00 0.10 0 u3 O.O? - 0 UI 0 Oh 0.07
6 Number or relatwes hvrng in the
same neighborhood 023* 0.24’ 014 on9 0.09 0. I 5 0.31* 0.30 I,.?- ,I 1; 0.22 0.1’
7. Frequency of contact wth relat,ves 0.13 006 0.15 U.I? - U.06 -0.14 0.31’ U.2Y U.‘? U 34’ ,I IO 0.10
x. Length or residency I” the
present abode -w2* -0 19’ -0.21. -0.20’ -0.20. -0.16 0.29 0.3 I 036 0.23 0. I &

R’ 0 19 0.13 0.12 0.26 0.3U U.22

* Significant at 0.05 level.

JO2 WEN Kuo

Table 3. Standardized regression coefficients between age, sex, length of residence in U.S.. acculturation. SES. social
isolation. and three indices of psychoiogicdl distress for foreign-born Chinese-Americans (,V = 1’9)

Deoendent variables

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5a) l5b) (5Cl

Psychiatnc CES-D
Social Adjustment ~mpairmenr depression
Independent variables Acculturation SES isolation problem Index scale Unhappmess

Age - 0.25* -0.38’ 0.01 -0.10 -0.10 -0.0x - 0.09

Sex -0.18* -0.02 0.03 -0.13t -0.01 0.03 001
Length of restdcnce in U.S. - 0.08 0.52’ 0.2Ot -0.329 -0.01 0.04 001
Acculturation 0.34t -0.17t -0.15t -0.16t - 0.05 0.04
SES 0.33t -0.36t -0.26’ -0.26’ -0.1x
Social isolation
(intercity mobility) 0.04 0.31* -021 0.17’
Adjustment problem 0.15 0 28’ 0.17
Goal-striving stress: (0. I31 (0.07) (-0081

R 0.31 0.53 0.43 0.55 0.47 047 0.30

* Significant at 0.05 level.

t Significant at 0.10 level.
$ Partial standardized regression coefficients for the goal-striving stress were calculated from a multiple regression
which includes ,a11the independent variables except SES.

interaction with one’s relatives fosters social isolation
be-cause it both deprives contact with the larger
society and increases overdependence on a small cir-
cle of ethnic friends and relatives in dealing with
adjustment problems. Finally, the last row of Table
2 shows that measurement of social isolation as a
whole is a better explanatory variable of the sympto-
matology of American-born Chinese than that of for-
eign-born Chinese. Social isolation explained 22-30%
variance of the three measures of psychiatric distress
of the American-born while it explained only 12-19%
variance for the foreign-born. These figures indicate
two things. First, that the isolation from the larger
society exerts greater adverse effects on the American-
born than on the recent immigrant. This suggests the
possibility that those American-born Chinese suffer-
ing from mental distress are unable to reach out to
the larger society in establishing their social network,
and therefore, have to depend more heavily on exclus-
ively coethnic interaction and on support from the
ethnic community. Secondly, the last row of Table
2 also suggests the need for a further search for social
isolation variables that will more fully explain the
symptomatology of the foreign-born Chinese Ameri-
can.
Cultural shock
In order to determine whether the cultural shock
hypothesis was supported by the Chinese-American
data, I fist compared the cultural shock’s impact on
Chinese-Americans’ psychiatric symptoms with other
variables. The path analysis model in Fig.’ 1 was
adopted not only to represent the links between the
migration theories examined in this investigation but
also three basic variables of mental health research:
sex, age, and socio-economic status [43,44-j. Beginning
from the left-hand side of the path diagram, the model
assumes that socio-economic status is a function of
age, sex, length of residence, and degree of accultu-
ration. This assumption was suggested by previous
investigations of occupational attainment [45,46] and
assimilation [47]. In the present investigation, the
socio-economic status [48] was found to be slightly
inlIuenced by sex (0 male; 1 female), and to be

Table 4. Standardized regression coefficients between age, sex. length of residence in U.S., acculturation, SES. social
isolation. and three indices of psychological distress for American-born Chinese-Americans (N = 41)

Dependent variables

(1) (?I (3) (4) (5N (5b) (5Cl

Psychmtnc CES-D
Social Adjustment impairment depression
Independent variables Acculturation SES wdation problem Index scale Unhappmess

AIW -0.25 0.26t 0.47. I

- 0. 7 -0.10 I
0. 5 0.10
SCG - 0.20 -0.33 0.20 0.05 0.05 0.1s - 0.06
Acculturation -0.0x 0.28t 0.13 -0.0x -0.01 - 0.04
SES 0.11 0.011 -0.13 - 0. I2 -0.19
Social isolatton
(interaty mobility) -0.27 0.21 0.12 0.1s
Adjustment problem 0.3 I 0.27 0.12
Goal-striving stress: (0.16) (0.24) (0.17)

R 0.3 I 0.45 0.54 0.3x 0.35 0.36 0.28

* Significant at 0.05 level.

t Significant at 0.10 level.
$ (Same as Table 3).
 Theories of migration and mental health 303

usiment prablun (X, 1

Symptoms of psychalagicol
distress (X,1

residence in U.

Social isolation CX,)

- EmpiricoIly confirmed direct paths

----- Negligible direct paths

Fig. 1. Path diagram for selected independent variables and dependent variables.

deprived substantially by age and moved significantly toms is mediated by factors such as SES, accultu-
by length of residence and acculturation (Column 2, ration, social isolation, and adjustment problem (e.g.
Table 3). In other words, being male, holding longer there are indirect paths via X4, X5, X7, Xs in Fig.
residence in American society, and having a greater 1). The following regression equations, (1) to (5), serve
degree of assimilation with American culture all facili- to explicate the model assumptions. Briefly, these
tated the attainment of a higher social status-except regression equations constitute a recursive system,
that as the Chinese immigrant grew older, the age where no feedback relationships or reciprocal causa-
factor became a liability to social status. As for the tion between two or more variables is permitted. This
American-born Chinese, Table 4 shows that accultu- one-way causation assumes that variables with a
ration has no effect on SES and that age has a posi- higher order of subscripts are a linear function of the
tive effect. These two findings differ for the foreign- variables with a lower number of subscripts, except
born but do not surprise us since we did not expect for the three variables. X,, X2, X,, the latter three
that the American-born experience great variations being exogenous variables.
in degree of acculturation. The American-born
X4 = P4,XI + P42X2 + P43X3 (1)
Chinese are much more Americanized than the immi-
grant Chinese. Furthermore, the present sample of x5 = Ps,X, + P52X2 + Ps3X3 + P54X4 (2)
American-born are relatively younger. SES needs a
x6 = P,,x, + p62x2 + p63x3
period of initiation, which explains why the relation-
ship between SES and age is positive among the + P&4 + P,sXs (3)
American-born. x, = P,,X, + P,2X2 + P73X3 + P74X4
Figure 1 includes two measures of cultural shock:
+ Pd; + PnJh (4)
length of residence in the United States and adjust-
ment problems. It can be seen that after the time x, = PB,X, + P62X2 + P,,X3 + P6OX4
order of the variables in the model is taken into con-
+ PSSXS + PsaX, + Pd7 (5)
sideration, the two variables of cultural shock can
be hypothesized to influence psychological distress where X1 = age, X2 = sex, X3 = length of residence,
through different mechanisms. In the case of adjust- X4 = acculturation, X5 = SES, X, = social isolation,
ment problems, the model indicates that the extent X7 = adjustment problem, Xs = symptoms of psy-
to which these problems are faced by Chinese-Ameri- chological distress.
cans is influenced by social status, degree of accultu- Table 3 shows the results of this series of regression
ration. and severity of social isolation. Following analyses. It may be instructive to note that the stan-
these assumptions, the adjustment problem should dardized regression coefficients are path coefficients.
only have an immediate direct effect (or direct path) Column 1 of Table 3 shows the data pertinent to
on symptoms of psychological distress because cau- equation (l), indicating that both age and sex have
sally it is preceded by all the other independent vari- a substantial negative effect on the Chinese-Ameri-
ables in the model. In the case of length of residence, can’s acculturation but not his length of residence.
the model specifies two channels to which the length Column 2 presents the data related to equation (2),
of residence could exert an influence on psychiatric which was discussed earlier. Column 3 reveals that
symptoms. One channel assumes that length of resi- when social isolation is measured by frequency of in-
dence itself has a direct independent effect on psychia- tercity mobility [49], those Chinese-Americans who
tric symptoms. and the other channel assumes that have lived here longer. those who have a higher social
the effect of length of residence on psychiatric symp- status. and those who are older are more likely to
 304 WEN Kuo
have had greater geographical mobility. The data in
Column 4 of Table 3 indicate that adjustment prob-
lems are sex related. social status related, and in-
fluenced by acculturation and length of residence in
the United States. Obviously, those who occupy a
lower social status, are less Americanized. and experi-
ence greater a severity of problems in adjustment. The
latter finding agrees with the cultural shock argument.
The most important evidence relating to the cul-
tural shock hypothesis is provided in Columns 5 (a),
lb), (c) of Table 3. The data indicates, first, that socio-
economic status has a significant independent effect
on the foreign-born Chinese-American’s psychologi-
cal distress, while the age and sex effects are neglig-
ible. Secondly, the data show that the two measures
of cultural shock show inconsistent relationships with
the symptoms of psychological distress. Thus, this
result does not allow us either to reject or accept
the cultural shock hypothesis. On the one hand, when
we used the adjustment problem to measure the
degree of cultural shock, it was found to have a siz-
able adverse effect on the Chinese-American’s mental
health (/? and 0.15, 0.28, and 0.15, respectively, on
the three measures of psychological distress). But on
the other hand, when the length of residence was
regarded as a measure of cultural shock, the length
of residence in the United States was found to have.
zero effect on symptoms of psychological distress.
Cultural change
If it is assumed that the notion of cultural shock
implies value and cultural conflicts, it can be inferred
that a greater degree of assimilation into American
society would decrease the severity of psychological
stress. But this hypothesis conflicts with a hypothesis
postulated by the cultural change theory. The latter
suggests that disruption of earlier learned patterns of
behavior (e.g. value orientation or cultural commit-
ment) inhibits psychological security and produces
cognitive or evaluative disturbances in basic persona-
lity structures. Table 3 (column 5 a,b,c) allows us to
compare the relative merits of these two competing
claims. So far, we have learned that acculturation
tends to exert an indirect effect on psychiatric symp-
toms via one’s social status, social isolation. and
adjustment problems (see Fig. I). Table 3 (column
5 a,b,c) also shows that acculturation’s direct effects
on two of the three measures of psychological distress
are low. Moreover, the one which reaches significance
at the 0.05 level, i.e. acculturation on the Midtown
scale, is a negative relationship between acculturation
and psychological distress. This indicates that accul-
turation reduces mental illness and psychological dis-
tress instead of increasing them. Thus, the data sup-
port the rationale of the cultural shock theory better
than the cultural change theory, but the magnitudes
of the path coefficients are too low to furnish conclu-
sive support for the cultural shock hypothesis[50].
Goal-striving stress
The theory remaining to be discussed, that of goal-
striving stress, postulates that: (1) American-born
Chinese are more likely to have a higher degree of
goal-striving stress than the foreign-born, and (2)
goal-striving stress exerts substantial impact on
psychological distress. My data on Chinese-Ameri-
cans in Washington, D.C.. revealed that the first
hypothesis should be abandoned and that the. second
hypothesis was tentatively supported. I found that the
mean goal-striving stress of American-born Chinese
was 0.22 in contrast to the Chinese immigrants’
-0.07. This group difference indicated that the Amer-
ican-born Chinese on the average experienced a
greater gap between their social status aspirations and
actual achievements than did the foreign-born. but
the amount of difference did not reach the 0.05 level
of statistical significance (r = 1.27). As for the second
hypothesis, I predicted that goal-striving stress would
have a more serious adverse effect on the American-
born than the foreign-born. since the former group’s
socialization experience in this country intensifies
their stress. The data of Table 3 and 4 confirm this
contention. The goal-striving stress had a positive
effect on measures of psychiatric distress of the Amer-
ican-born, while its effect on the foreign-born was
generally slighter and was in the right direction qn
two of the three psychiatric distress indices. The data
on the foreign-born shown in column 5 of Table 3
reveal that goal-striving stress has standardized
regression coefficients of 0.13 and 0.07 for the Mid-
town Psychiatric Impairment Index and the CES-D
depression scale, respectively [Sl].
Parker, Kleiner and Needelman [51] asserted that
goal-striving stress, the socio-psychological variable,
possessed greater explanatory utility in regard to
mental disorder than did the cultural shock concept.
Unfortunately, they did not provide data which di-
rectly measured the impact of the cultural shock vari-
able on mental health. However, it seems that our
data does shed light on this issue. Table 3 shows that
the impact of goal-striving stress on the three
measures of psychological distress is lqwer than that
of cultural shock (adjustment problem) and social
isolation (frequency of intercity mobility). So in con-
trast to the study done by Parker rf al.. our investiga-
tion indicates that the cultural shock theory does in-
deed have greater explanatory utility than the goal-
striving stress theory on the mental health problems
of Chinese-Americans. The present evidence suggests
that the theories of cultural shock. social isolation.
and goal-striving stress should all be considered as
complementary explanations, because a combination
of the three would definitely improve our ability to
explain the psychological distress of Chinese-Ameri-
cans. In the present study, we found that all the inde-
pendent variables considered in this investigation
explain merely a 22% variance of the Midtown Psy-
chiatric Impairment Index. 220;, of the CES-D depres-
sion scale, and only 9X of unhappiness. This low pre-
dictive utility of the migratory theories on mental ill-
ness suggests three possible interpretations. First, a
model of mental illness couched purely in social terms
might be bound to predict only a small proportion
of variance. There is ample evidence that genetic and
constitutional factors play an important role in the
etiology of mental illness. Stress caused by the im-
migration process might precipitate illness in consti-
tutionally vulnerable individuals. but stress can only
rarely be of itself the only causal factor [53].
Secondly, the reason why the present model has pre-
dicted only a small part of the variance in mental
health scores may be due to the fact that the instru-
 Theories of migration and mental health
ments used to measure mental health are somewhat
culturally bounded. yet we had to apply them to cul-
turally distinct immigrant groups. And finally, this
low predictive power of the existing migratory
theories on mental illness reflects the reality of its
present state of explanatory utility. suggesting that
a continuous explication, testing, or searching for
other powerful explanatory systems is an important
task for researchers. In a word, as long as the condi-
tions of the last two interpretations exist, additional
efforts to remedy these deficiencies should help us im-
prove knowledge about the migration process and its
mechanisms of causing mental illness.
SUMMARY
Four major theoretical perspectives seeking to
identify the immigrant’s most problematic psychologi-
cal adjustments to American society were tested
against Chinese-American data collected in Washing-
ton, D.C. It was found that social isolation indices
and cultural shock indices vary positively with three
measures of poor mental health (Midtown Psychiatric
Impairment Index, Depression scale and Unhappiness
scale), indicating that these theories explain Chinese-
Americans’ mental health better than those of social
change and goal-striving stress. However, some of the
predictions of the social isolation and cultural shock
theories were directly contradicted by the data, lend-
ing support to prevailing criticisms on the limited
explanatory value of existing theories of migration on
mental health. This investigation indicates the need
for further explication if these theories are to achieve
greater predictive utility [54].
Several sociological factors relating to Chinese-
Americans’ immigration and adjustment problems
were found to be important determinants of their
mental health. In contrast to earlier studies, which
overlooked these factors, this study determined that
Chinese-Americans’ adaptation to American society
and their frequency of intercity mobility, are impor-
tant sociological variables. The salient findings are
as follows: (1) The Chinese-American’s mental health
varies positively with his social status. (2) Although
the Chinese-American’s adjustment problems in
American society usually co-vary with social class, the
stresses of adjusting and adapting alone exert sub-
stantial negative effects on mental health. -l-he inde-
pendent effect due to adjustment problems suggests
that within each social stratum, the individual’s sever-
ity of adjustment is a good predictor of mental health.
(3) Geographical mobility as measured by frequency
of intercity mobility correlates with poor mental
health. It appears that anonymity, social isolation,
and tensions among Chinese-American family
members to adjust to new places increase the propen-
sity toward mental distress. (4) Goal-striving stress
tends to increase symptomatology of psychiatric dis-
tress. and its adverse effects are more severe among
the American-born than the foreign-born. (5) Accul-
turation or “Americanization” seems to improve the
foreign-born Chinese-American’s mental health. but
its impact is too small to warrant a definite conclu-
sion.
305
REFERENCES
I. gee for the literature Brody E. (Editor) Behaoior in New
Environments: Adapturion of -Migration Populations.
Sage, Beverly Hills, 1970.
2. For definitions of these terms see Shaw M. and Cos-
tano P. Theories o/Social Psychology, p. 16. McGraw-
Hill, New York, 1970.
3. Kantor M. internal migration and mental illness. In
Changing Perspectives in Mental Illness (Edited by
Plog S. and Edgerton R.). Holt, Rinehart & Winston,
New York, 1969.
4. Handlin 0. The Uprooted. Grossett & Dunlop, New
York, 1951.
5. Jaco E. G. Mental illness in response to stress. In
Social Stress (Edited by Levine S. and Scotch N.),
Aldine. Chicago, 1970.
6. Weinberg S. K. The relevance of the forms of isolation
to schizophrenia. Int. J. Sot. Psychiat. 13, 33, 1966:
7. Jaco E. G. The social isolation hvnothesis and schizo-
phrenia. Am. Social. Rev. 19, 567;‘1954.
8. Lowenthal M Social isolation and mental illness in-
old age. Am. Social. Rev. 29, 54, 1964.
9. Weinberg S. K. op. cit.
10. Handlin 0. op. cit.
11. Eisenstadt S. N. The Absorption of Immigrants. Free
Press, Glencoe, 1954.
12. Oberg K. Cultural shock: adjustment to new cultural
environments. Practical Anthrou. 1. 177, 1960.
13. Parker S., Kleiner R. J. and Nkedelman B. Migration
and Mental illness. Sot. Sci. & Med. 3, 1, 1969.
14. Parker S. and Kleiner R. J. Mental Illness in the Urban
Negro Community. Free Press, Glencoe, 1966.
15. Parker S., Kleiner R. J. and Needelman B. op. cit.
16. Hallowell A. I. Acculturation processes and personality
changes as indicated in the Rorschach technique. Rors-
chach Res. Exchange 6, 42, 1942.
17. Abel T. M. and Hsu F. Some aspects of personality
of Chinese as revealed in the Rorschach test. J. Proj.
Tech. 13, 285, 1949.
18. Vogt E. Z. Navaho veterans: a study in changing value.
Peabody Museum Harvard Uniu papers. 41, 1951.
19. Papajohn J. and Spiegal J. The relationship of culture
value orientation change and Rorschach indices of
psychological development J. Cross-rtrltrrrol P.s~cho/..
2. 257. 1971.
20. Seward G. Sex identity and the social order. .I. Nerv;
Ment. Dis. 139, 126, 1964.
21. Derbyshine R. Adaptation of adolescent Mexican,
Americans to United States society. In Behaoior in
New Environments (Edited by Brody E.). Sage, Beverly,
Hills, 1969.
22. Berk B. and Hirata L. Mental illness among the
Chinese: myth or reality .I. Sot. Issues 29, 149, 1973.
23. Jew C. and Brody S. Mental illness among the.
Chinese: hospitalization rates of the past century.
Comprehensive Psychiat. 8, 129, 1967.
24. U.S. Bureau of the Census. Census of population: 1970
subject reports final report pc (2)-l Gr, Japanese,
Chinese and Filipinos in the United States. U.S.
Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C., 1973.
25. Mental health research on Chinese-Americans has
been scanty. Some recent studies include Jew C. and
Brody S. oi cir.; Berk B. and Hirata L. op cit.; Kitano
H. Race Relations. Prentice-Hall, Enalewood Cliffs.
1974: Sue S. and Sue D. W., Chinese-American per:.
sonality and mental health. Amerasia J. 1, 36, 1971;
Kuo W., Gray R. and Lin N. Locus of control and
symptoms of psychological distress among Chinese-
Americans, Paper presented at the annual meeting of
the Society for the Study of Social Problems,. San
Francisco, 1975.
26. The 1970 Census listed 2532 Chinese in Washington,
D.C., with 4.33 as the. size of the average Chinese
306 WEN Kuo
household. Multiplication of this average with our
sample frame (N = 550 households) yields 2382, a
figure close to the actual population, since Chinese col-
lege students were excluded from our list.
21. In a study of suicide in Singapore. Murphy (Mental
health of Singapore. Med. of Malaysia 9. 1. 1954) sug-
gested that social isolation from one’s linguistic group
may lead to severe mental health problems. To what
extent this finding can be generalized to Chinese-
Americans in Washington, DC., needs future investi-
gation. In the present study, the construction of our
questionnaire items did not allow measurement of the
degree of an individual’s isolation from his linguistic
group. However, a large proportion of the Chinese-
Americans in the linguistic minority (i.e. those not
using Cantonese or Taisanese at home), are able to
speak Mandarin, a common Chinese language, if they
are foreign born. This fact may suggest that isolation
from one’s linguistic group is less destinctive than the
situation in Singapore 20 years ago. The new more
popular official Chinese language is removing com-
munication barriers and helping to establish social
contact and friendship among these members of
linguistic minorities.
28. U.S. Bureau of the Census op. cit.
29. The Chinese community in Washington, DC., is atypi-
cal in comparison with the New York City and San
Francisco communities. The Washington population
includes a higher proportion of professionals, govern-.
ment employees and white-collar workers, all’ possess-
ing a higher-than-average education. Similar character-
istics are found among the Chinese in medium-sized
cities.
30. Seiler L. The 22-item scale used in field studies of men-
tal illness: a question of method, a question of sub-
stance and a question of theory. J. Hlth Sot. Behav.
14, 252, 1973.
31. Gurin G., Veroff J. and Feld S. American View their
Mental Health. Basic Books, New York, 1960.
32. Bradbum N. The Structure of Psychological Well-
Being. Aldine, Chicago, 1969.
33. Crandell D. and Dohrenwend B. Some relations
among psychiatric symptoms, organic illness, and
social class. Am. J. Psych& 123, 1527, 1967.
34. Beck A. T. et al. An inventory for measuring depres-
sion. Archs Gen. Psychiat. 4, 561. 1961.
35. Zung W. A self-rating depression-scale. Archs Gen.
Psychiat. 12, 63, 1965.
36. Schwab J. et al., Sociocultural aspects of depression
in medical inoatients. Archs Gen. Psvchiat. 17. 533.
1967. - which directly influence the migrant’s mental health
37. Zung’s Self-Rating Depression scale had been tested
cross-culturally. See Zung W. A cross-cultural survey
of symptoms in depression. Am. J. Psychiat. 126, 154,
1969.
38. Jaco G. op. cit., 1954.
39. Parker S., Kleiner R. J. and Needelman B. op. cit.
40. Kluckhohn F. R. and Strodtbeck F. Variations in
Value Orientations. Row, Peterson, Evanston, 1961.
41. Hsu F. Americans and Chinese: Two Ways of Lge.
Henry Schuman. New York, 1953.
42. Jaco G. op. cit.. 1954.
43. Hollingshead A. B. and Redlich F. C. Social Class &
Mental Illness. Wiley, New York. 1958.
44 Dohrenwend B. and_Dohrenwend B. Socia/ Srat~rs trrld
Psvcholoaical Disorder. Wilev. New York. 1969.
45. Blau P. and Duncan 0. Tit; American Occuparior~~rl
Structure. Wiley, New York, 1967.
46. Treiman D. and Terre11 K. Sex and the process of
status attainment: a comparison of working women
and men. Am. Social. Rec.,40, 174. 1975.
47. Gordon M. Assimilation in American Lift. Oxford Uni-
versity Press, New York, 1964.
48. Socio-economic status was measured by a composite
index based on occupation. education. and income.
each of these variables having six categories (scored
1 to 6). I summed the respondent’s scores on these
three variables to reflect his socio-economic status.
49. Other indicators of social isolation which were speci-
fied in Table 2 did not show any substantial effect
on psychiatric distress indices when the independent
variables such as sex, age, SES, adjustment problem.
and acculturation were simultaneously included in the
regression. Hence, they were dropped from further
analysis. I took this approach since Jaco did not treat
questions about social isolation as components of a
single dimension scale. The present data support this
view. My scalability analysis on these items showed
that a summated overall index of social isolation items
did not account for more variances of the dependent
variables than the intercity mobility variable.
50. The discrepancy between the present findings and ear-
lier findings reported by Hollowell, Abel and Hsu, and
Vogt might be attributed to the employment of differ-
ent’ research instruments. Previous investigations used
the Rorschach test to measure cognitive and evalua-
tive personality disturbances, whereas the present in-
vestigation was based on self-reported psychiatric
symptoms. While the former method possesses a
greater degree of subjective bias in interpreting test
results, the latter is handicapped by its narrow focus
and symptoms relating to mental disorder.
51. Goal-striving stress -is highly correlated to SES
C
\ -0.551 To avoid the multicollinearitv oroblem. SES
I - .
and goal-striving stress are not included in the same
regression equation. The data in row 8 of Table 3 and
4 show the regression result which excludes SES.
53 Parker S., Kleiner R. J. and Needelman B.. op cit.
__.
53. I am indebted to a reviewer for this point.
54. A possible direction for inquiry would be to delineate
the most crucial changes occurring during migration
as illustrated in this study. Kantor’s [S] suggestions
are provocative, but they are too broad and too static.
For instance her three categories of the migrant’s life
condition-the characteristics of the sending and
receiving countries, characteristics of migrants and the
circumstances under which the migration occurs-
should be scaled down. We definitely need more theor-
etical propositions which deal with the correlations
between the three categories of characteristics.