Relationship to place among Spanish immigrants in the United Kingdom: effects on perceived prejudice / Relación con el lugar de inmigrantes españoles residentes en Reino Unido: efectos en el prejuicio percibido

Abstract

Spanish citizens have migrated to other European countries in recent years, looking for employment and new opportunities. This study examines the relationship to place developed by Spanish immigrants in the UK using residential satisfaction, place attachment and place identity. It also assesses the possible influence of these variables on perceived prejudice. Place was conceptualized as an interchangeable relationship between physical-spatial characteristics and social-human ones. With a sample of 474 participants, the results showed that people felt satisfied in their new places of residence and attached to them, although those places were largely not part of their identity. It was also noted that the longer the length of residence, the higher the levels of the psycho-environmental variables measured. However, higher income levels in the new country only had positive effects on residential satisfaction. Finally, with regard to perceived prejudice, residential satisfaction was the only explanatory factor with a residual effect (5.5%) in the sample dataset. However, taking into consideration length of residence, it was noted that for those residents who had lived in the country for more than five years, residential satisfaction was a key factor that explained 42.9% of perceived prejudice.