Acculturation, Adaptation and Loneliness among Brazilian Migrants Living in Portugal

Acculturation refers to the changes that individuals undergo following intercultural contact. Adaptation is the long-term outcome of the process of acculturation, and loneliness represents one indicator of negative psychological adaptation. This study, using acculturation strategies, looks to answer to four questions: (1) what is the relationship between intercultural strategies and loneliness? (2) What influence does cultural identity have on the loneliness of migrants? (3) What influence does perceived discrimination have on the loneliness of migrants? and (4) what influences do self-worth and perceptions of others have on the loneliness? Answering these questions is important for reducing migrants' loneliness. This study, carried out in 2012, is constituted by 258 Brazilian migrants in Portugal (53% females and 47% males) with a mean age of 36 years. The mean length of residence in Portugal was 14 years. In order to measure loneliness, we used the ULS-6 scale. Other scales were used to measure intercultural strategies, cultural identity, perceived discrimination, self-esteem and attitudes towards ethnocultural groups. As predicted, in what concerns intercultural strategies, loneliness was negatively associated with the strategy of integration, and positively associated with assimilation, separation and marginalization. Ethnic identity was negatively associated with loneliness, but, contrary to expectations, national identity was positively associated with loneliness. Perceived discrimination predicted positively loneliness. Finally, as expected, self-esteem and perceptions of the in-group predicted negatively loneliness. Implications of the study are discussed.