Australian Journal of Psychology

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Working for a better future: Social mobility beliefs

and expectations of Filipino migrant workers in
Macau

Allan B. I. Bernardo, Jose Antonio R. Clemente & Tulips Yiwen Wang

To cite this article: Allan B. I. Bernardo, Jose Antonio R. Clemente & Tulips Yiwen Wang (2018)
Working for a better future: Social mobility beliefs and expectations of Filipino migrant workers in
Macau, Australian Journal of Psychology, 70:4, 350-360, DOI: 10.1111/ajpy.12209

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12209

Published online: 20 Nov 2020.

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Australian Journal of Psychology 2018; 70: 350–360
doi: 10.1111/ajpy.12209

Working for a better future: Social mobility beliefs and

expectations of Filipino migrant workers in Macau

Allan B. I. Bernardo ,1 Jose Antonio R. Clemente ,1,2 and Tulips Yiwen Wang1
1
Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau and 2University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon
City, Philippines

Abstract

Objective: Household theory of labour migration assumes that the decision to work in another country is a family’s strategy to
improve prospects of socio-economic mobility. We inquired into the social cognitive processes associated with this goal by
applying model of pathways to socio-economic mobility, but extending the types of causal conceptions related to social mobility
that are considered important in the Philippine context. Method: We surveyed 246 Filipino migrant workers in Macau, who
answered questions about perceptions of the socio-economic status of their family (before they worked abroad, presently, and
10 years after), socio-economic mobility causal conceptions (merit, luck, faith in God, social networks), and goal-attainment
strategies (goal engagement, goal disengagement). Results: Migrant workers expect improved socio-economic status of their
families compared to before, and they expect further improvement after 10 years. They endorsed faith in God and meritocracy as
important causal factors to mobility. Path analysis indicated two pathways to socio-economic mobility expectations: (1) engage-
ment-promoting pathway—involving faith in God and meritocracy as causal conceptions related to goal engagement, and higher
socio-economic mobility expectations and (2) disengagement-promoting pathway—involving luck as causal conception related
to goal disengagement, and lower socio-economic mobility expectations. Conclusion: Although working abroad is fraught with
uncertainties, Filipino migrant workers aspire for upward socio-economic mobility for their families, which they seek to attain
by working hard and persistence, which in turn relate to causal conceptions of mobility that involve controllable factors.

Key words: causal conceptions, goal-attainment strategies, migrant workers, socio-economic mobility, subjective social class

What is already known about the What this topic adds?

topic?
• Economic theories assume that migrant labour deci-
sions are family strategies to improve prospects of
social mobility.
• A general social cognitive model suggests engagement-
promoting and disengagement-promoting pathways
to social mobility expectations that involve causal con-
ceptions and goal attainment strategies.
• Although there is research on mental health concerns
of migrant workers, not much is known about their
psychological processes associated with their social
mobility expectations.
• The results provide evidence for the applicability of
the general social cognitive model to the case of
migrant workers.
• The results suggest the Filipino migrant workers who
believe in meritocracy and faith in God as causes of
socio-economic mobility tend to engage and persist in
their goals, and to hold higher socio-economic mobil-
ity expectations—indicating an engagement-
promoting pathway.
• The results provide evidence for social cognitive pro-
cesses that may support the assumptions of econo-
mists’ household theory of migrant labour.

Most recent estimates by the International Labour Orga-

Correspondence: Allan B. I. Bernardo, Department of Psychology,
University of Macau, E21-3060, Humanities and Social Sciences
Building, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau.
Email: allanbibernardo@umac.mo
Received 24 June 2017. Accepted for publication 20
February 2018.
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society
nisation (ILO, 2015) suggest that there are about 150.3 mil-
lion migrant workers in different parts of the world.
Household theory of labour migration (Massey, 1994; Stark,
1984) assumes that the decision to migrate is actually a
strategy adopted by families or the household unit to
increase the flow of income. This theory has been applied to
understand Filipino labour migration, which has steadily
increased since the 1970s. The most recent government

estimates (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2017) indicate
that 2.2 million Filipinos (more than 2% of the national
population) are working overseas, and studies indicate that
the decision to migrate is a family strategy to improve their
financial status (Lauby & Stark, 1988). In particular, for
labour migrants from low-income families, migration was
done in the hopes of providing for subsistence of their rela-
tives, but more generally for most other labour migrants,
migration is undertaken in the hopes of increasing the
family’s social mobility (Tacoli, 1996). But how do Filipino
migrant workers think about the pathways towards their
families’ better socio-economic future? In this study, we
inquire into Filipino migrant workers’ beliefs and expecta-
tions related to their families’ socio-economic mobility. In
particular, we surveyed a sample of Filipino migrant
workers in Macau to examine how their beliefs about the
causes of social mobility relate to either goal engagement or
disengagement and their socio-economic mobility expecta-
tions for their families.
PATHWAYS TO UPWARD SOCIO-ECONOMIC MOBILITY
Economists have suggested that there is evidence that working
overseas does lead to upward socio-economic mobility for the
Filipino workers’ families. Studies indicate that there are
observable improvements in the standard of living of families of
Filipino migrant workers (Semyonov & Gorodzeisky, 2008)
and also reduction in the incidences of poverty among these
families (Orbeta, Jr., 2008). There are also indications that fami-
lies of Filipino migrant workers spend more on education of
children, engage in more hours of self-employment, and are
more likely to start small businesses (Yang, 2008)—all indica-
tors of future social mobility. But some studies show that
increased income flow to families of Filipino migrant workers
does not have an impact on overall poverty gap, and might
actually contribute to further income inequality (Ravanilla &
De Pano Robleza, 2005; Rodriguez, 1998). That is, the
improved socio-economic status of families of Filipino migrant
workers is limited to those families in the higher income range;
those from lower income ranges remain poor. A Filipino decid-
ing to work abroad is likely to know these uncertainties related
to gaining social mobility by working abroad.
Though not specifically referring to migrant workers,
Shane & Heckhausen (2013) propose two pathways to
achieve the goal of upward socio-economic mobility: the
goal engagement-promoting pathway and the goal
disengagement-promoting pathway. Their model derives pri-
marily from attribution theory and underscores the roles of
(1) perceptions of current socio-economic status (SES),
(2) causal conceptions of SES attainment, and (3) goal attain-
ment strategies. Perception of current SES refers to an individ-
ual’s self-definition or personal judgement of his/her status
relative to others; a person may have lower subjective social
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society
Aust J Psychol 351
status in the sense that they perceive to have less-wealth, less-
advanced education, and/or hold less-prestigious jobs com-
pared to others (Côté, 2011). Shane and Heckhausen’s model
assumes that it is the subjective social status that is important
in the pathways towards socio-economic mobility, primarily
because the extent to which people perceive themselves to be
of lower or higher social status influences their willingness to
engage in causal belief systems that either emphasise their
own control or lack thereof in social mobility. These causal
systems refer to causal conceptions of SES attainment that are
“beliefs in the importance of causal factors for status attain-
ment in general, and how influential they feel these causal
factors are for them personally” (Shane & Heckhausen, 2013,
p. 13). They distinguish between meritocratic- and luck-
oriented beliefs that differ in terms of the degree to which the
person has control over the causal factors. Persons who
endorse meritocracy believe that their social class standing is
primarily determined by their personal skills, qualities and
abilities, which are within their control. On the other hand,
luck-oriented beliefs attribute SES attainment to factors such
as fate and bad luck, which are not within their control.
Finally, goal pursuit strategies refer to the types of control
striving processes that an individual engages in during goal
attainment (Heckhausen, Wrosch, & Schulz, 2010). Goal
engagement strategies attempt to change the world so that it
fits one’s needs and desires (e.g., persistence in goal striving),
and these attempts may involve thoughts and actions of the
individual (i.e., selective primary and secondary control) and
seeking out help from others or other unusual means
(i.e., compensatory primary control) to attain one’s goals. In
contrast, goal disengagement strategies attempt to change
the individual’s inner world, emotion, motivations, and
thoughts (i.e., compensatory secondary control; e.g., lowering
expectations).
The relationships among the three factors described above
determine the type of pathway to upward mobility, and
both pathways are influenced by individuals’ perceptions of
their current status. An engagement-promoting pathway is
a more proactive strategy towards upward mobility wherein
meritocratic-oriented beliefs associated with increased goal
engagement tendencies are linked to higher expected sub-
jective social status. The assumption is that individuals who
perceive themselves to have good or high social status are
more likely to endorse meritocracy and to believe that
upward mobility is within their control, and this belief posi-
tively motivates their own social mobility attitudes and
expectations and they proceed accordingly by modifying the
external world to suit their purposes (Shane & Heckhausen,
2017). In contrast, in a disengagement-promoting pathway,
individuals who perceive themselves to have lower social
status may be more likely to endorse luck-oriented causal
beliefs are associated with enhanced goal disengagement
tendencies linked to decreased expected subjective social
352 A.B.I. Bernardo et al.
status. The individual believes that uncontrollable external
forces are at play in one’s goal pursuit and this leads the
person to renegotiate expectations so as to minimise failure.
The general assumption is that the attainment of higher
social status is a function of one’s goal-pursuit and per-
ceived control over the goal process (Shane & Heckhau-
sen, 2013).
SOCIAL MOBILITY PATHWAYS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Shane and Heckhausen’s (2013) model could be used to
study Filipino migrant workers’ socio-economic mobility
expectations. Indeed, quantitative (Bernardo, 2013) and
qualitative studies (Clemente, Daganzo, Bernardo, & Pan-
gan, 2017; Tuason, 2008) on Filipino’s conceptions of
causes of poverty, wealth, and socio-economic mobility
affirm the factors related to meritocracy and luck. But the
two qualitative studies suggest other causal factors that may
need to be considered in applying the Shane and Heckhau-
sen’s model. For example, faith in God was a typical
response of Filipinos who were born poor, when asked
about ways of coping with their indigence (Tuason, 2008);
faith in God was also a common response in a sample of
adolescents’ responses related to questions about socio-
economic mobility (Clemente et al., 2017). Some might
think that faith in God indicates a causal belief that relates
to some uncontrollable factor, and as such, represents sec-
ondary control strivings. However, the qualitative studies
suggest that the act of believing may be seen as a controlla-
ble factor, as the researchers suggest that “…some responses
indicate that it is the act of believing and trusting in God’s
will that would move one up the socioeconomic ladder”
(Clemente et al., 2017; p. 137). This causal belief could be
interpreted as indicating that an individual’s own resources
are not adequate to attain the socio-economic mobility
goals, and that one has to take on external resources
(i.e., God’s help) to attain the goal. As such, faith in God
could be seen as a causal belief that indicates a form of com-
pensatory primary control (i.e., seeking out help from a
powerful supernatural force) in this particular cultural con-
text where people put a very high level of trust on God’s
capacity to fulfil one’s goals. In this cultural context, faith in
God is seen as complementing one’s own goal-directed
efforts and not a sign of giving up on one’s agency and
efforts; and this perspective is expressed in a very common
Filipino saying, “Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa,”
which translate into English as “God gives mercy to those
who help themselves.”
Another causal factor that seems to indicate compensa-
tory primary control relates to asking help from others and
also giving help to others to cope with their indigence,
which is mentioned in the qualitative studies of Filipinos
who were born poor (Tuason, 2008). Asking for help to lift
one’s socio-economic status aligns with discourses related to
social networks as a specific form of social resources that
poor families use to cope (Hill, Jobling, Pollet, & Nettle,
2014; Reyes & Yujuico, 2014). Again, there seems to be an
acknowledgement that one’s personal resources are not suf-
ficient to move oneself towards higher social mobility, and
help from other people could be recruited for this purpose.
Working with such social networks to improve one’s
family’s social resources reflects a primary compensatory
control of the social mobility goals.
We wish to underscore, however, that the two causal fac-
tors could also represent secondary control strivings in other
contexts. That is, the causal roles of social networks and
belief in God could be seen as uncontrollable, and as such,
belief in these factors might promote compensatory second-
ary control (Heckhausen et al., 2010). Our assumption that
both causal factors involve primary compensatory control is
based on the notion that these two beliefs are premised on
the acknowledgement of the insufficiency of one’s personal
resources. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to assume that Fili-
pino migrant workers would perceive that their personal
resources towards social mobility are insufficient. The deci-
sion that they and their families made about working in a
foreign land indicates that they sense that their social mobil-
ity goals are not within reach in the Philippines if they sim-
ply rely on their current personal resources. Thus, causal
conceptions that faith in God and social networks help
towards upward social mobility represent primary control
beliefs that involve a compensatory strategy on their part.
Interestingly, both social-oriented coping and belief in God
are important factors in how Filipino migrant workers deal
with stress (van der Ham, Ujano-Batangan, Ignacio, & Wolf-
fers, 2014), suggesting that the factors are salient in the
minds of Filipino migrant workers.
THE CURRENT STUDY
In this study, we adopt and extend Shane and Heckhausen’s
(2013) model of socio-economic mobility expectations to
study Filipino migrant workers’ beliefs, strategies and
expectations. We study a sample of Filipino migrant
workers in Macau, comprised mainly of low-skilled
workers. Consistent with assumptions of household theory
of labour migration (Massey, 1994) we first hypothesize
that the migrant workers would expect upward social
mobility for their families in the Philippines. That is, we
assume that the decision to work abroad represents the
migrant worker’s family’s strategy to improve prospects of
socio-economic mobility, and thus, the migrant worker
would expect that their work abroad would result in
upward social mobility after a period of time. We operatio-
nalise this hypothesis as follows:
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society

Hypothesis 1: Expected SES ratings 10 years later would
be higher than SES rating for the present time and for the
time before they started working abroad.
We also hypothesised that the migrant workers would be
more likely to believe that the causes of social mobility relate
to factors within their control, and these refer to meritocracy
(selective primary control), social networks and faith in God
(both compensatory primary control). We base this hypothe-
sis on the assumption that the strategic decision to work
abroad to help improve the socio-economic status of their
families (Lauby & Stark, 1988) reflects a belief that that goal
is controllable and within their reach. Thus we expect that:
Hypothesis 2: Agreement on the causal role of meritoc-
racy, social network, and faith in God would be higher
than agreement on the causal role of luck.
Finally, and consistent with Shane and Heckhausen’s
(2013) model, we hypothesised that subjective social status,
causal conceptions of SES attainment and goal pursuit strat-
egies predict expectations of upward socio-economic mobil-
ity. As their model indicates, causal beliefs and goal pursuit
strategies are all influenced by the individuals’ perceived
status, as perceived status affects perceptions of the adap-
tiveness of the beliefs and strategies. As such the distal pre-
dictors in the model are the individuals’ past and current
subjective social class. As explained earlier, the model then
highlights how the control-related causal beliefs about social
mobility are closely tied to goal engagement and disengage-
ment, and as such these links between beliefs and goal pur-
suit strategies are the more proximal predictors of expected
social mobility. However, we contextualised this model by
extending the causal conceptions of SES attainment to
reflect more culturally relevant causal conceptions of socio-
economic mobility by adding two other causal factors: social
networks and faith in God. We propose that social networks
and faith in God both represent compensatory primary con-
trol processes, and hypothesize that both would be part of
the engagement-promoting pathways. That is, the two fac-
tors relate to goal engagement strategies, and indirectly to
Figure 1 Pathways relating subjective
social class perceptions, causal concep-
tions of socio-economic mobility, and
goal-pursuit strategies
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society
Aust J Psychol 353
socio-economic mobility expectations. The extended model
we test is summarised in Figure 1, and we summarise the
specific hypotheses related to the model as follows:
Hypothesis 3: The Filipino migrant workers’ past and cur-
rent subjective social class, causal conceptions of SES attain-
ment, and goal pursuit strategies predict their expected SES
for their families in the future; and in particular:
Hypothesis 3a: The relationship between past family SES
(prior to doing migrant work) and expected future family
SES will be mediated by current family SES, causal con-
ceptions of SES attainment, and goal pursuit strategies;
Hypothesis 3b: The relationship between current family
SES and expected future family SES will be mediated by
causal conceptions of SES attainment and goal pursuit
strategies;
Hypothesis 3c: Consistent with an engagement-promoting
pathway, the relationship between meritocracy, social
networks, and faith in God as causal conceptions of SES
attainment and expected future family SES will be medi-
ated by goal engagement;
Hypothesis 3d: Consistent with a disengagement-
promoting pathway, the relationship between luck as a
causal conception of SES attainment and expected future
family SES will be mediated by goal disengagement.
METHOD
Sample and participant selection
The sample comprised of 246 Filipino migrant workers in
Macau (61% females) who were recruited through snow-
ball sampling. Data from another six participants were
excluded because they did not provided complete data on
the key variables, thus ensuring that the statistical analysis
354 A.B.I. Bernardo et al.
involved no missing data. The participants were approached
in their places of work, residence, or worship. Researchers
and their assistants informed them about the nature and
scope of the study, and assured them of full confidentiality.
Only those who gave their informed consent were given
the questionnaire and answered the survey during their free
time and, whenever possible, in the presence of the
research assistants. Respondents received a supermarket
voucher as a token for their participation.
We inquired about some personal information, but pro-
viding these details was made optional because of privacy
concerns on the part of some participants. As such, the
description of our sample is based on only on whatever data
were supplied. Among those who indicated their age, the
average was 35.4 years (standard deviation (SD) = 8.8). Of
those who indicated their highest educational attainment,
26.9% had secondary education or less, and 73.1% had
some post-secondary (vocational, university) education. Of
those who indicated their civil status; 33.8% were single,
52.6% married, 9.4% separated, and 4.3% widowed.
We also inquired about the participants’ work experience,
including the number of years they have been working
overseas. Eight did not provide a response, but of those
who did, 16.1% have been working for 1 year or less,
48.3% for over 1–6 years, 19.5% for 7–11 years, and
16.1% for more than 12 years. Seven did not indicate their
current work, and one was currently unemployed (waiting
for the next job); of those who indicated their work, 53.0%
were employed as domestic helpers, 15.3% restaurant
workers, 12.3% security guards, 11.9% store assistants, and
the rest had various jobs like car washer, dog groomer, and
so on. All participants possessed a “Non-resident Worker’s
Identification Card” (also called, blue card) and were
authorised to stay in Macau as long as they were working.
Measures
All the scales used in this study were presented in Filipino,
the national language of the Philippines. To ensure concep-
tual equivalence with the original English items, the instru-
ments underwent translation and back-translation
procedures (Brislin, 1970). The original English scales were
translated into conversational Filipino by a Filipino-English
bilingual graduate student who had an understanding of per-
tinent constructs and scales. Another Filipino-English bilin-
gual graduate student was asked to translate the Filipino
translation into English. The two then met to discuss any
divergences in the back translation, and made minor adjust-
ments in the Filipino items when deemed necessary. A third
Filipino-English bilingual research reviewed the Filipino
translations in comparison the original English versions. In
addition to the scales described below, the participants also
answered scales on hope, acculturative stress, social support,
and life satisfaction, but these were not analysed in the cur-
rent study as they were not pertinent to the specific model
being tested (i.e., the other scale data are part of a larger
database that would be used for future studies).
Socio-economic mobility expectations
Subjective social class standing was assessed using a modi-
fied version of the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Sta-
tus (Adler, Epel, Castellazzo, & Ickovics, 2000), a pictorial
measure that represents social class as a ladder. Participants
were asked to choose a rung based on where they stand
compared to other Filipino families in terms of education,
income, and occupation. They answered the measure thrice,
indicating their perceptions of their families’ past
(i.e., before they left the Philippines to work abroad), cur-
rent (i.e., at the time of the survey), and future (i.e., after
10 years) social class standing.
Causal conceptions of SES attainment
Participants’ beliefs about the causal factors that determine
one’s position in the social class hierarchy were measured
using a 12-item scale consisting of four subscales: meritoc-
racy, luck, faith, and social network. The social class ladder
was used as a reference in the items; each item started with
the clause “where I end up on the ladder will be largely
because of…” The meritocracy and luck subscales were
adopted from Shane and Heckhausen’s (2013) causal con-
ceptions about SES; however, in the current study, each
subscale had three items, whereas, Shane and Heckhausen’s
meritocracy and luck subscales had four and two items,
respectively. Meritocracy underscored the role of personal
ability and effort as determinants of social class standing
(e.g., “…how good I am at work”), while luck focused on
external and uncontrollable causes (e.g., “…my destiny in
life”). New items were for the faith and social network
causal factors were generated by the researchers based on
responses given in an earlier study on Filipino’s social
mobility beliefs (Clemente et al., 2017). Faith items attrib-
uted social class attainment to belief in a supreme being
(e.g., “…my trusting in God.”); social network items empha-
sised social connections that benefit the self (e.g., “…the
influential and powerful people I know”). Participants
responded from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The
internal consistency of the subscales (computed from the
current sample’s data) were mostly adequate: meritocracy,
α = .75; faith, α = .77, and social network, α = .67. The luck
subscale had lower internal consistency (α = .56) but was
still included in the analysis for completeness.
Goal engagement and disengagement
Goal engagement and goal disengagement subscales
assessed general goal attainment strategies that represent
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society
 Aust J Psychol 355

primary and secondary control striving, respectively

(Shane & Heckhausen, 2013) and did not refer specifically
to strivings towards socio-economic mobility. An example
of goal engagement was persistence in goal striving
(e.g., “When I encounter problems, I don’t give up until I
solve them”); goal disengagement includes lowering aspira-
tions (e.g., “To avoid disappointments, I don’t set my goals
too high”). Each subscale consisted of five items that were
rated on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
The internal consistency of the scales (computed using the
current sample’s data) were both adequate (engagement,
α = .79; disengagement, α = .72).

Data analysis
To test the first hypothesis (H1) regarding upward social
mobility expectations, we compared past, present and
future SES perceptions using paired sample t-tests. To test
the second hypothesis (H2) regarding the four causal con-
ceptions of socio-economic mobility, we conducted a
repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test the
differences among the causal conceptions, and then fol-
lowed this with a post hoc pairwise comparison of means
tests using Bonferroni correction. To test the third hypothe-
sis (H3, see Figure 1), we conducted path analysis using
AMOS (for SPSS 24). In specifying the model to be tested,
the error terms of the four causal conceptions were allowed
to covary with each other, and the errors terms of the two
strategies were also allowed to covary.
RESULTS
The descriptive statistics and the correlations among the
main variables (socio-economic status ranks, causal concep-
tions of social mobility, and strategies) are summarised in
Figure 2 Mean subjective socio-economic status ratings for three
time points
Table 1. The results pertaining to the three hypotheses are
presented in the following subsections.
Social mobility expectations
Do the participants expect upward social mobility for their
families back home? The results summarised in Figure 2
support the first hypothesis: the migrant workers’ expected
SES of their families in the future was significantly higher
than their perceptions of their families’ SES before they left
the country to work abroad, t(242) = 22.50, p < .001,
Cohen’s d = 1.44. Participants also report significant
improvements in their families’ current social class standing
compared to their condition before they started working
abroad. Their current SES perceptions of their families were
also higher than their past SES, t(243) = −11.70, p < .001,
Cohen’s d = 0.75, and their expected subjective social status

Table 1 Descriptive statistics of SES ratings, causal conceptions, and strategies

Correlations (r)
SES ratings M SD (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
1. Expected SES 7.93 1.85 .31** .66** .12 .22** .16* .02 .08 −.21**
2. SES before 4.80 1.83 .64** .05 .12 −.05 .03 −.08 −.09
3. SES now 5.93 1.75 .12 .17** .05 .04 .02 −.13*
Causal conceptions
4. Meritocracy 4.21 0.76 .35** .29** .33** .58** .22**
5. Social network 3.10 0.88 .09 .45** .15* .10
6. Faith 4.52 0.73 .28** .34** .19**
7. Luck 2.93 0.82 .18** .38**
Strategies
8. Goal engagement 4.32 0.65 .36**
9. Goal disengagement 3.17 0.80

*p < .05, **p < .01.

© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society

356 A.B.I. Bernardo et al.
Figure 3 Mean agreement for four causal conceptions of socio-
economic mobility
in the future was also higher than their current SES, t
(242) = 21.09, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 1.35. These results
suggest that the participants already perceive improvements
in their family’s SES and continue to expect further upward
socio-economic mobility.
Causal conceptions of social mobility
Which among the four causal conceptions of SES attain-
ment did the participants endorse more strongly? The
means for the causal beliefs are summarised in Figure 2.
The Mauchly’s test in the ANOVA indicated that the
assumption of sphericity was violated, χ2(5) = 27.78,
p < .001, therefore degrees of freedom were corrected using
Huynh-Feldt estimates of sphericity (ε = .94). The results
show that particular causal beliefs of SES attainment
were more highly endorsed than others, F(2.82,
687.64) = 353.97, p < .001, ηp2 = .59 (see Figure 3). Post
hoc comparisons revealed that causal conceptions related to
faith in God were endorsed the highest, followed by meri-
tocracy, social network, and luck. All pairwise comparison
differences were significant at p < .001, except for the differ-
ence between social network and luck, which were signifi-
cant at p = .022.
Pathways to expected social mobility
The initial path analysis indicated a bad fit between the data
and the model: χ2(16) = 172.43, p < .0001, χ2/df = 10.78,
CFI = .74, TLI = .42, RMSEA = .20 (90%CI:.17, .23). But the
modification indexes on the original model suggested that
including a direct path from current family SES and expected
family SES would improve the model, so this path was
added. The results of the analysis in the revised model are
summarised in Figure 4, and there was an adequate fit with
the data: χ2(15) = 36.00, p = .002, χ2/df = 2.40, CFI = .97,
TLI = .92, and RMSEA = .08 (90%CI:.04, .11). A χ2-
difference test was conducted to compare the two models,
and the results indicate that the more constrained model is
better: χ2diff(1) = 136.42, p < .0001. For good measure we
also tested a model that included direct paths from past fam-
ily SES to causal beliefs, among others. The path analysis of
this full model indicated a poor fit with the data:
χ2(14) = 150.45, p < .0001, χ2/df = 10.75, CFI = .77, TLI =
.42, and RMSEA = .20 (90%CI:.17, .23). A χ2-difference test
was conducted to compare the full model and the retained
model, and the results indicate that the more retained model
shown in Figure 4 is better: χ2diff(1) = 114.45, p < .0001.
As shown in Figure 4, the path linking perceived current
SES with meritocracy was marginally significant, but the
link with luck was not significant; these results are generally
consistent with Shane and Heckhausen’s (2013) model.
Also consistent, there was a goal engagement-promoting
pathway linking meritocracy, engagement, and expected
family SES, and a goal disengagement-promoting pathway
linking luck, disengagement, and negatively with expected
Figure 4 Results of path analysis,
with unstandardised coefficients and
standard errors presented for each
pathway. Solid lines and bolded coeffi-
cients represent significant pathways at
p < .05; except for ap = .060. Dashed
lines and un-bolded coefficients repre-
sent non-significant pathways. Covari-
ances are not presented. Note:
SES = socio-economic status
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society

family SES. As regards the two additional causal factors
added in the current study, current family SES was posi-
tively associated with belief in social network as a causal
factor in socio-economic mobility, but social network was
not related to either engagement or disengagement. On the
other hand, faith in God was not associated with current
family SES, but was positively associated with goal
engagement.
The indirect effects were tested using 10,000 bootstrapped
samples. Collectively, current family SES, causal beliefs of
socio-economic mobility, and goal attainment strategies
mediated the relationship between family SES before doing
migrant work and expected family SES, standardised indi-
rect effect = .42 (95%CI:.34, .50). Collectively, causal beliefs
of socio-economic mobility, and goal attainment strategies
mediated the relationship between current family SES and
expected family SES, standardised indirect effect = .03
(95%CI:.002, .06); but we should note that there was also a
large direct effect of current family SES on expected family
SES, standardised direct effect = .64 (95%CI:.56, .71). The
relationship between meritocracy and expected family SES
was mediated by engagement strategies (fitting the
engagement-promoting pathway), standardised indirect
effect = .07 (95%CI:.01, .14). The same was true with the
relationship between luck and expected family SES medi-
ated by disengagement strategies (fitting the
disengagement-promoting pathway), standardised indirect
effect = −.07 (95%CI:−.12, −.03]. Regarding the two new
causal conceptions we tested in the model the results were
mixed. The relationship between faith in God and expected
family SES was mediated by engagement strategies, standar-
dised indirect effect = .02 (95%CI: .002, .07), but the rela-
tionship between social networks and expected family SES
was not, standardised indirect effect = −.004 (95%CI:
−.03, .01).
Although not part of the hypotheses, it was conceivable
that social mobility expectations are associated with demo-
graphic or background characteristics of the participants.
Unfortunately because the provision of personal back-
ground information was made optional because of partici-
pants’ privacy concerns, we did not have complete data on
these demographic variables, and as such, we could not
include demographic variables in the path analysis. How-
ever, we explored the correlations between several demo-
graphic variables and the main variables (causal beliefs,
motivational strategies, and subjective social status ranks),
excluding cases pairwise when values were missing. The
only consistent correlate was education (high school or less
vs college education), which positively correlated with sub-
jective social status ratings (rs from .21 to .25) and nega-
tively with goal disengagement (r = −.14); goal
disengagement was also correlated with years working
abroad (r = .15) and sex (r = −.22). Sex also correlated with
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society
Aust J Psychol 357
goal engagement (r = −.14). No demographic variables were
associated with any of the causal beliefs. These correlations
suggested to us that there were no strong relationships
between the variables and the main criterion variable in the
hypothesized model.
DISCUSSION
Migrant workers, who leave their families of origin in order
to seek for opportunities abroad, often aspire for upward
socio-economic mobility and a better life for them and their
families back home. Household theory of labour migration
(Lauby & Stark, 1988; Massey, 1994) suggests that sending
a family member to work in a foreign country is a strategy
adopted by families to improve the prospects of upward
social mobility for the family. This view seems to be shared
by the sample of Filipino migrant workers in Macau whose
perceptions of the current SES of their families have already
improved compared to before they started working abroad,
and whose expected SES for their families 10 years after are
even higher. Indeed, even if there are uncertainties as to
whether working in a foreign country actually leads to
improved socio-economic status for all types of Filipino fam-
ilies who have migrant workers (Rodriguez, 1998), the
expectation of a better future for their families seems to be
clearly envisioned among the migrant workers in our sam-
ple. And as our results suggest, the expectation of a better
future is related to whether they already see improvements
in their family’s current social status.
Our results also suggest that these envisaged better
futures are not mere dreams or hollow expectation. Instead,
our results provide some insights as to how the migrant
workers’ expectations of a better future are related to adap-
tive goal-pursuit strategies. Consistent with previous models
(Shane & Heckhausen, 2013), our results provide evidence
for engagement-promoting and disengagement-promoting
pathways towards socio-economic mobility. The migrant
workers’ belief that meritocracy leads to socio-economic
mobility tends to be associated with goal engagement strate-
gies such as being persistent in working towards their goals,
which was associated with higher social mobility expecta-
tions. Thus, the migrant workers’ high expectations for their
family’s future socio-economic status are driven by their
belief in the importance of their own efforts and abilities,
and their tendency to persevere and to persist in their work.
On the other hand, their belief that luck and other uncon-
trollable factors are at work in socio-economic mobility
tends to be associated with goal disengagement such as giv-
ing up and lowering one’s expectations, which is negatively
associated with social mobility expectations. Fortunately for
this sample, luck was the lowest rated causal factor
(endorsed much less than meritocracy), which suggests that
the migrant workers in our sample were more likely to be
358 A.B.I. Bernardo et al.
in the engagement-promoting pathway to higher socio-
economic expectations. Beyond the economic assumptions
of household labour migration theory, our results show the
applicability of social cognitive models to understand the
motivated cognitive mindsets that are associated with these
expectations of improved family SES associated with the
decision to work abroad.
Interestingly, meritocracy was not the most highly
endorsed causal factor of socio-economic mobility among
the migrant workers in our sample. We added two causal
factors based on relevant previous studies in the
Philippines—social network and faith in God. Social net-
work as a causal factor was not associated with either
engagement or disengagement strategies, and was thus, not
indirectly related to the migrant workers’ socio-economic
mobility expectations. However, faith in God was actually
endorsed more strongly than meritocracy, and it was also
positively associated with goal engagement and not with
goal disengagement. Even if the causal factor makes refer-
ence to an external supernatural agent, it does not seem
that belief in God represents purely uncontrollable causal
factors. Instead, as we hypothesized, the causal factor may
be seen as a form of compensatory primary control that is
associated with recognising that one’s personal resources,
which are pushed a lot in working overseas, are not suffi-
cient to attain the goal, and that another extraordinary
resource—God’s help—is needed. This result is consistent
with findings in qualitative studies involving Filipino sam-
ples (Tuason, 2008), and may reflect a form of spiritual
experience in Philippine society and in other societies with
strong belief in the importance of religious beliefs (Crabtree,
2010). Thus, faith in God also fits the engagement-
promoting pathway, though its indirect effect is smaller
than that of meritocracy. The idea seems consistent with
the popular Filipino saying, “Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao
ang gawa” (God gives mercy to those who help themselves)
and with earlier research showing that among Filipinos,
hopeful thoughts regarding the role of spiritual forces in
goal attainment (i.e., external-spiritual locus-of-hope) tend
to be associated with the belief that hard work and applica-
tion lead to positive outcomes, an association not found in
other Asian samples (Bernardo & Nalipay, 2016).
However, we wish to note that the causal belief related to
faith in God may not always represent primary control striv-
ings in all contexts. It is possible that the causal roles of faith
in God could be seen as being beyond one’s control. Viewed
in this way, the causal role of faith in God might be under-
stood as similar to fatalism or surrendering to the will or
workings of unknown external forces. As such, belief in
these factors might promote compensatory secondary con-
trol more likely to be associated with a disengagement-
oriented pathway. There is some evidence from Philippine
samples that hopeful thoughts regarding the role of spiritual
forces in goal attainment are negatively associated with
help-seeking intentions of Filipino women who experienced
intimate partner violence (Bernardo & Estrellado, 2017),
which is consistent with disengagement-oriented coping
even if not directly related to social mobility goals. Although
our results are consistent with the assumption that causal
beliefs related to faith in God relate to goal engagement,
future research might inquire into other possible concep-
tions of this particular causal belief and their implications
for social mobility expectations.
The hypothesis relating luck, disengagement, and lower
SES expectations was supported by the data, but the
hypothesis on social network was not. This was surprising
given how this factor was suggested to be a causal factor in
a study of Filipino’s social mobility attributions (Clemente
et al., 2017), and especially given that social networks are
notable in the experiences of overseas Filipino workers
(Hosoda, 2013; Jackson, 2011). But a recent study of Fili-
pino migrant workers in Macau noted the negative impact
of social network support on migrant workers’ mental
health (Mendoza, Mordeno, Latkin, & Hall, 2017). This
finding might provide clues to why social networks were
not related to goal strategies of the workers in our sample.
Although the results generally support Shane and Hec-
khausen’s (2013) model, there is an important difference
that relates to the engagement-promoting pathway’s origins
in the participants’ current subjective social status. In the
current study, the path from current SES to meritocracy
was only marginally significant, and that to faith in God
was not significant. Thus, the engagement-promoting path-
way does not seem to originate from the participants’ cur-
rent subjects social status, and does not support the model’s
assumption regarding status-related goal engagement. The
difference may be due to dissimilar current SES measures.
In Shane and Heckhausen’s, the current SES measure
referred to a more directly personal reference rating (stu-
dents’ compared themselves to other students in their uni-
versity); in our study, participants compared their family to
other families in the Philippines. Future studies could
inquire into whether different measures of current subjec-
tive social class (e.g., compared to families of other known
overseas workers) would be better predictors of causal con-
ceptions and strategies.
There are other limitations in the study related to its
methods, which relied on a cross-sectional design and self-
report data. Because of missing data, many factors were
uncontrolled for in the analysis such as the number of years
as a migrant worker, type of work, among others. The Fili-
pino migrant workers in Macau might also have a different
migrant labour experience compared to those in other
countries. Future research with more diverse samples that
use longitudinal research designs, and consider other possi-
ble causal conceptions of socio-economic mobility would
© 2018 The Australian Psychological Society

help in verifying the generalizability of our research
findings.
Moreover, although we increased the range of factors
that might represent causal conceptions of socio-economic
mobility, it is possible that there are other more important
causal factors we did not assess. There are other external
and less controllable factors that might be perceived causes
of social mobility. Social factors such as job opportunities,
government policies, and social conditions of the country
were mentioned in a study on social mobility conceptions
(Clemente et al., 2017). Similar uncontrollable social factors
in the country of migrant work could be salient causal con-
ceptions of overseas Filipino workers, particularly as this
relate to policies on migrant labour (e.g., binding minimum
wage, migrant quotas, etc.) that change as a result of politi-
cal transitions, shifts in the country’s economic well-being,
among others (Castles, 2004). It is possible that for migrant
workers such uncontrollable factors in their country of
work might relate to disengagement.
These limitations in the scope notwithstanding, our study
provides another level of analysis regarding the household
theory of labour migration, by presenting evidence that
shows the engagement-promoting pathways to socio-
economic mobility that originates from controllable causal
conceptions of socio-economic mobility and goal engage-
ment strategies. Not only do our results provide further evi-
dence for Shane and Heckhausen’s (2013) model of
pathways to socio-economic mobility; the evidence derives
from a new population of individuals who have chosen par-
ticularly challenging approaches to improve their family’s
socio-economic status. Our results also point to new causal
conceptions in these pathways, suggesting a need to contex-
tualise such models within the cultural systems of individ-
uals and pointing to the possibility of other meaningful
pathways to a seeing a better future for their families.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by a grant from the Research
Development and Administration Office of the University of
Macau (Project Reference No.: SRG014-FSH13-ABIB). We
would like to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Mario
R. Echano in gathering the research data.
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