It is simple for migrants to sustain their heritage culture in a multicultural country like Australia. But in the latest study that surveyed more than 300 migrants found those who adapted Australian culture, called “Australian acculturation”, are happier and have higher personal well-being than those who didn’t.
Note that personal well-being indicates a person’s quality of life, ranked at two levels.
The first: how happy and satisfied they are with their life overall. And the second: how happy and satisfied they are with particular life domains, such as accomplishments, relations, health, security, and social connectivity.
Migrants who adapted Australian culture
The study examined the relationships between time in the host country, acculturation and personal well-being among non-Western skilled migrants in Australia. The study concluded that migrants who had enough personal well-being also had:
- Acculturated more to the Australian culture than to their legacy culture
- More English language competency
- An Australian identity
The research concluded that it is not necessary to spend more time in Australia for personal well-being if experienced migrants don’t adapt to Australian culture.
Social connectedness
The research also estimated personal well-being using the Australian Unity Personal Well-being Index (PWI), which measures the level of a person’s satisfaction using a points system from 0 to 100.
A chart from the research comparing the well-being of skilled migrants with the common residents of Australia.
The average PWI of the Australian common residents ranges from 74.2 to 76.8 out of 100, whereas the average PWI of our experienced migrant sample is higher, at 77.27.
The study concluded it’s possible that their higher education, professions, and wages may have contributed to higher levels of personal well-being, compared to the Australian community as a whole.
Experienced migrants showed the lowest score for the “community connectedness” domain, along with the rest of the Australian population. Community connectedness indicates the number and intensity of connections a person has with others in their community.
Some experienced migrants also maintain their own culture and add layers of cultural traditions from their host country. For them, “biculturalism” or being able to shift between host and legacy cultures is more practical.
For a first-generation non-Western migrant, adapting to the Australian culture is even more difficult. The study has revealed that acculturation into a Western country is strange for these people.
Poor Australian acculturation can lead to social isolation
A large number of people migrate when they’re young, so they’re able to add to the socio-economic well-being of the host country by inducing much-needed talents, experience, technology, and travelling in Australia.
There are some cases when migrants grow old in a culture that’s not heritage to them, so Australian acculturation is essential to help against social isolation in their old age.
