Refugees' and non-refugee migrants' regret about migration and confidence in integration: The role of forcedness and perils before and during migration.

Abstract

Refugees typically experience stronger migration forcedness and higher migration-related perils (harm, adversities and hardship) than do non-refugee migrants. We explored how refugees' and non-refugee migrants' perceptions of their own forcedness of migration and related perils before and during migration are associated with regret about leaving their country of origin and their confidence in integration. In two studies conducted with refugee and non-refugee migrants in Germany (total N=336), we found correlations between perceived forcedness and premigration perils, and perils during migration, with meaningful differences between groups from different countries. Importantly, regret about migration was predicted by an interaction effect of perceived forcedness and migration perils: Perils encountered during migration increased regret about having migrated when perceived forcedness was low (vs. high). As important potential predictors of confidence in integration and regret, we also assessed discrimination experienced in the receiving society (Study 1) and resilience (Study 2). Importantly, we found that high (vs. low) perceived migration perils buffered negative effects of discrimination experienced in the host country. We discuss implications of our findings for integration in the receiving society, highlighting the role of perceived forcedness in coping with distressing experiences before and after arrival in the host country.