National and transnational belonging among Turkish and Moroccan older migrants in the Netherlands: protective against loneliness?

This research investigates how a sense of belonging functions as protective mechanism against loneliness. Inspired by the work of Berry (1980) on acculturation strategies (i.e. integration, assimilation, separation and marginalization), we distinguish migrants who feel a relatively strong or weak sense of belonging to larger society and those who feel a strong or weak belonging to the “own group.” We expect that more national belonging contributes to less loneliness. We add a transnational perspective by arguing that feelings of belonging to the own group can take place in the country of settlement, but can also be transnational, i.e. a feeling of belonging to the country of origin. Transnational belonging can protect against loneliness, as it acknowledges the importance of place attachment. Using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam on older migrants aged 55–66, we employ latent class analysis and find five national belonging clusters, interpretable in terms of Berry’s acculturation strategies. Further analyses reveal mixed evidence: some aspects of transnational belonging vary with belonging to the own group, but other aspects point to a third dimension of belonging. Regression analysis shows that those marginalized are loneliest and that a transnational sense of belonging contributes to more loneliness. We conclude that Berry’s (1980) typology is useful for interpreting older migrants’ national belonging and that a transnational sense of belonging is apparent among older migrants, but needs to be explored further

Lonely and excluded: A downward spiral? An investigation in Germany before the COVID-19 Pandemic

Loneliness and the feeling of being excluded from society both arise from the unsatisfied need to belong, and these negative experiences tend to reinforce each other over time, the authors note. The longer people feel lonely, the less they perceive themselves as valued members of society

‘We love it here and there’:Turkish Alevi older migrants’ belonging to places

This paper investigates belonging among Turkish Alevi older migrants during their stays in the origin country. The few studies that cover belonging among older migrants primarily examined belonging within the confines of host countries. As substantial amounts of time are spent in origin countries, migrants’ life worlds are thus only partially studied. Furthermore, the importance of context for belonging is thereby insufficiently acknowledged. Antonsich’s (2010) framework inspires this investigation, distinguishing place-belongingness and politics of belonging. Based on observations and 21 interviews with older Alevi migrants in Turkey, we show that the autobiographic story is particularly useful to study older migrants’ belonging, that minority identity shapes belonging, and that the location of the interview matters for the types of narratives collected. This study thereby adds to literature on belonging among older migrant populations, to understanding of the complementary nature of place-belongingness and politics of belonging, and to scholarly acknowledgement of the importance of context for belonging.</p

Social Norms Offer Explanation for Inconsistent Effects of Incentives on Prosocial Behavior

Humans are widely considered to be susceptible to incentives, which are frequently employed to encourage specific behaviors. However, incentives have surprisingly inconsistent effects when used to motivate prosocial behavior - sometimes producing no behavioral change or even backfiring. To explain these inconsistencies, we extended a prominent image-based model of prosocial behavior, based on the idea that social norms shape the reputational consequences of receiving incentives. We tested the key predictions of this model by examining the blood donation behavior of 26,000 individuals from 28 European countries. Our preregistered analyses revealed that social norms can indeed predict how incentives, either in the form of financial payments or time off work, relate to individual-level blood donation behavior. Incentives are associated with higher levels of prosociality if they align with existing norms. The results suggest that humans may not be universally persuaded by incentives to behave prosocially, but that the effectiveness of incentives depends on social norms

Social network type and informal care use in later life:A comparison of three Dutch birth cohorts aged 75-84

Recent societal changes have increased the salience of non-kin relationships. It can be questioned whether networks types that are more strongly non-kin based give more informal care nowadays. We study how informal care use differs according to network type for three birth cohorts. Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) on older adults aged 75-84 years, interviewed in 1992, 2002 and 2012 respectively (total sample size N=2151, analytical sample having functional limitations N=926). We found four network types: restricted, family-focused with partner, family-focused without partner and wider community-focused diverse networks. Wider-community focused diverse networks are more common in the late birth cohort, whereas restricted networks and family-focused networks without partner are less common. Logistic regression analyses reveal that those in a family-focused network with a partner use informal care more often than those in the other three network types, and insignificant interaction terms show that this does not differ by birth cohort. Irrespective of their network type, those in the late birth cohort use informal care less often. However, after controlling for need, predisposing and context factors, this cohort-difference is no longer significant. We conclude that despite large-scale societal changes, wider-community-focused diverse networks do not provide more informal care than before and that among the functionally impaired, the odds of receiving informal care does not decline across birth cohorts

Comparing generations of migrants’ transnational behaviour: the role of the transnational convoy and integration

This paper compares generations (G1, G1.5, G2, G3) of male Turkish migrants to Europe in their transnational behaviours: contact frequency, visits, remittances, property ownership and voting. We aim to explain differences by generational differences in transnational convoy size and integration into residence countries. Data from 798 members of migrant families were obtained from 2000 Families. Generations differ in visiting, remitting, property ownership and voting, but not in contact frequency. Using regression analysis, the transnational convoy cannot explain transnational behaviours. Structural and socio-cultural integration impact various transnational behaviours within generations. Generally, waning of transnational ties across generations cannot be attributed to differences in transnational ties or integration. We add to knowledge on generational differences in transnational behaviour until the third generation and on determinants of transnational behaviour, but conclude that the field of transnational studies is in need of further refinement of operationalization and theory to understand generational differences in transnational behaviour

Genetic liability for depression, social factors and their interaction effect in depressive symptoms and depression over time in older adults

Objectives The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of genetic and social factors on depressive symptoms and depression over time and to test whether social factors moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms and its underlying genetics in later life. Methods The study included 2,279 participants with a mean follow-up of 15 years from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam with genotyping data. The personal genetic loading for depression was estimated for each participant by calculating a polygenic risk scores (PRS-D), based on 23,032 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with major depression in a large genome-wide association study. Partner status, network size, received and given emotional support were assessed via questionnaires and depressive symptoms were assessed using the CES-D Scale. A CES-D Scale of 16 and higher was considered as clinically relevant depression. Results Higher PRS-D was associated with more depressive symptoms whereas having a partner and having a larger network size were independently associated with less depressive symptoms. After extra adjustment for education, cognitive function and functional limitations, giving more emotional support was also associated with less depressive symptoms. No evidence for gene-environment interaction between PRS-D and social factors was found. Similar results were found for clinically relevant depression. Conclusion Genetic and social factors are independently associated with depressive symptoms over time in older adults. Strategies that boost social functioning should be encouraged in the general population of older adults regardless of the genetic liability for depression

Informal and formal home-care use among older adults in Europe: can cross-national differences be explained by societal context and composition?

Cross-national comparisons used welfare state regimes to explain differences in care use in the European older population, yet these classifications do not cover all care-related societal characteristics and limit our understanding of which specific societal characteristics are most important. This study explores to the familialistic culture, welfare state context, and socio-economic and demographic composition add to our understanding of informal and formal care use of older adults in 11 European countries. Using the Survey of Ageing, Health and Retirement (2006), multilevel logistic regression analyses show that, in addition to individual determinants, societal determinants are salient for understanding informal and formal care use. In countries with a less familialistic culture, a high availability of home based services, a larger proportion of women in part-time work and a smaller proportion of 65 years and older in the population, older adults are more likely to receive formal home care, particularly when they have functional limitations. In countries with more residential care, more spending in pensions, more women in part-time employment and a more aged population, older adults with functional limitations are less likely to receive informal care. We can tentatively conclude that the incorporation of societal determinants rather than commonly used welfare state classifications yields more insight in factors that determine older adults informal and formal care use