Abstract#
The current research examined the psychological factors associated with refugee adaptation, focusing on Zomi refugees in Malaysia, an ethnic minority who fled Myanmar due to protracted conflict. Based on the psychological antecedents of the refugee integration (PARI) model (Echterhoff et al., 2020), this study considered the role of loss of control, perception of forcedness and related perils on the subjective well-being of Zomi refugees compared with non-Zomi refugees. Data were collected through an online survey involving Zomi refugees (N = 258) and non-Zomi refugees (N = 158) from May to August 2022. Using multigroup structural equations modelling, we found that the role of our variables of interest differed in the two groups. For non-Zomi refugees, loss of control was positively associated with the perception of forcedness and negatively linked with subjective well-being. For Zomi refugees, loss of control was negatively correlated with the perception of forcedness and not associated with subjective well-being. The indirect effect of perception of forcedness and related perils with subjective well-being via loss of control was not significant in either group. We propose that the Zomis have a different conception of control compared to non-Zomi refugees and suggest that specific cultural and contextual factors influence these differences. In the context of policies, we discuss practical implications and recommendations in the assessment and provision of support for refugees’ adaptation in Malaysia. The limitations, practical implications, and future research were discussed.
Keywords: Zomi, PARI, psychological adaptation, subjective well-being, perception of forcedness, related perils, loss of control, refugees.
The invited talk took place on the
- 12 September 2024, at the YSI @ Economic Development Workshop University Malaya, Malaysia.
- 13 November 2024, at Sunway University, Malaysia.