Immigration Motivation, Determination, and Success of US Immigrants in Israel: A Mediation Model

Immigration entails many challenges for families, particularly for children. The study was designed to assess pre- and post-immigration measures that contribute to successful and adaptive immigration of families. Participants included 122 recent Jewish US immigrant families to Israel. Measures included predictor indices of immigration motivation, outcome measures of perceived immigration success, and post-immigration process factors including immigration determination and parental social integration. Immigration motivation driven by religious factors was found to be positively associated with immigration determination, perceived immigration success, and parental social integration. Furthermore, the relationship between pre-immigration religious motivation factors and immigration success was found to be mediated by immigration determination. Results highlight the process by which religious immigration motivation positively impacts immigration success for families. Findings have both research and applied implications in the identification of clear immigration difficulty risk factors and the development of guidelines for families, schools, and agencies working on maximizing immigration success.