Migration patterns studied over nine years show that people with high levels of emotionality are more likely to migrate, possibly due to dissatisfaction. How does temperament affect migration patterns?
"Galileo" magazine
By: Dr. Miriam Dishon-Berkovitch
Migration is the transfer of one's place of residence from one region to another within the same country (internal migration), or between countries (external migration). Many factors may influence the reasons for migration, such as economic, political or cultural-religious factors, and many studies have dealt with this. However, the possible effects of immigrants' personality and temperament on migration patterns have hardly been studied.
Temperament refers to interpersonal differences in behaviors and emotions, some of which are innate. According to one of the prevailing models for characterizing temperament, there are three main characteristics of temperament: emotionality, sociability and activity level. People with high levels of sociability prefer the company of others. High levels of emotionality are characterized by a tendency to experience negative emotions, especially fear and anger. High levels of activity are characterized by energetic and energetic behavior in daily life.
In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, Markus Jokela, Marco Elovainio, Mika Kivimauki and Lisa Keltikangas-Jaurvinen examined the influence of people's temperament on the process of internal migration. How might each of the three main characteristics of temperament affect migration patterns?
This question was examined in the present study, which was a longitudinal study conducted over nine years in Finland. The study measured migration between different jurisdictions within Finland - from the village to the city, to the town, etc. In the study, two main questions were examined: Will the human temperament affect the very act of immigration? If so, is it related to the migration distance?
1,733 people (726 of them men) took part in the study. The age of the participants at the beginning of the study ranges from 15 to 30 years. At the beginning of the study, the participants answered a questionnaire measuring temperament - levels of sociality, emotionality and activity. After nine years, the participants reported the number of times they moved between different jurisdictions. At the time of the study, there were 452 judicial authorities in Finland whose size ranged from 6 to 17,333 square kilometers, and the number of their inhabitants ranged from 127 to 560,905 people. The study participants lived in 190 of these municipalities.
The analysis of the research findings shows that after nine years, 917 participants (making up 53%) migrated between jurisdictions. Did the temperament of the people affect their migration patterns? It turns out that compared to people with low levels of sociability, people with high levels of sociability were more likely to stay in urban areas. If they did migrate, they tended to migrate from rural to urban areas and to migrate longer distances.
What might be the explanation for this finding? Urban areas, which are very densely populated, may provide a more interesting environment for sociable people than rural areas; Probably because of the large supply of social opportunities. By the way, it is interesting to note that in 2007, in a study published by Cote and Clobert (Cote, Clobert) on lizards published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, it was found that lizards with higher social tolerance tend to move to denser areas than lizards with low social tolerance...
The second characteristic of temperament whose influence on migration patterns was examined is activity. As mentioned, activity reflects the level of energy, pace and vitality with which people conduct their daily lives. The results of the study show that people with high levels of activity generally tended to migrate more than people with low levels of activity, either to rural areas or to urban areas.
Finally, the research findings show that people with high levels of emotionality were more likely to immigrate, especially from rural areas, but they did not have a preferred destination (village or city). In addition, they tended to migrate to closer areas. It is possible that people with high levels of emotionality tend to change their living area due to dissatisfaction.
And as for the second question - does temperament have an effect on the distance of migration? It turns out that the answer to this is positive. Higher levels of sociability resulted in regional migration
far, while high levels of emotionality resulted in migration to shorter distances. The reason for this finding may lie in the fact that people with high levels of emotionality tend to experience distress and stress, and moving to a remote area is more stressful than moving to a close area. So it is possible that these people are more inclined to migrate due to dissatisfaction with their area of residence and general dissatisfaction, but prefer to move to closer areas.
In conclusion, the present study indicated that personality traits can shed new light on migration patterns, and that the interpersonal differences have consequences not only at the individual level, but also at the population level.
Dr. Miriam Dishon-Berkowitz is a psychologist and organizational consultant
The article was published in "Galileo" magazine
