The Relationship Between Quality of Life, Psychological Wellbeing, Satisfaction with Life and Acculturation of Immigrants in Greece.

Abstract

Few studies have examined the quality of life of immigrants in Greece and its relations to acculturation. This study explored the quality of life, psychological wellbeing and satisfaction with life among Albanian immigrants, Pontic Greeks in comparison to native Greeks. Furthermore, the relationship between quality of life, psychological wellbeing, satisfaction with life and acculturation of Albanian immigrants and Pontic Greeks was investigated. The study was based on 520 participants from broader area of Athens, 58.3% (303 people: 150 men and 153 women) native Greeks, 21.9% (114 people: 57 men and 57 women) Albanian immigrants and 19.8% (103 people: 50 men and 53 women) Pontic Greeks. Quality of life was measured by WHOQOL BREF-while wellbeing was measured with Satisfaction With Life Scale and The Affect Balance Scale. An adapted a version of Vancouver Index of Acculturation was used to assess acculturation of immigrants. The findings indicated three important factors contributed to quality of life and wellbeing of immigrants: ethnicity, heritage dimension of acculturation and gender. Albanian immigrants and Pontic Greeks scored lower on quality of life and satisfaction with life than native Greek.