Loneliness is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality risks, and, consequently, it is increasingly recognized as an important public health issue. Migrants are known to be at a greater risk of loneliness than their counterparts without a migration background in the country of settlement. Typically, this is ascribed to the challenges that come with international migration. Without aiming to dismiss the notion that migration is itself an important risk factor for loneliness, the premise of this presentation is that other, hitherto overlooked, mechanisms may also contribute to the relatively high levels of loneliness noted among migrants. Specifically, I will elaborate on selection of lonely people into migration and, briefly, on group differences in reporting bias as potential (partial) explanations. I will present initial findings from analyses of Generations and Gender Survey data and Swedish administrative data on emigration, and from a pre-registered survey experiment in the Netherlands. I will also discuss potential future research avenues to follow up on these initial findings.
Presented by:
Dr Thijs van den Broek (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Date & time:
22 Nov 2023 12:30 pm - 22 Nov 2023 13:30 pm
Venue:
The seminar will be held in person at 2N2.4.16 and online. Please contact the seminar organisers for the zoom call details at iserseminars@essex.ac.uk.
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