{"title":"Trouble in paradise? Emotional and social loneliness among international retirement migrants.","authors":"Esma Betül Savaş, Kène Henkens, Matthijs Kalmijn","doi":"10.1037/pag0000880","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>People who migrate at a later age are vulnerable to loneliness: They are challenged to maintain social ties in the origin country while establishing new ties in the destination. In the present study, we investigate (a) the differences in loneliness levels between retirement migrants and older adults who reside in their country of origin (nonmigrants) and (b) the determinants of emotional and social loneliness among retirement migrants. We employ the survey of Dutch retirement migrants abroad (DRM, 2021: Henkens et al., 2022), including 4,995 Dutch retirement migrants residing in 40 destination countries and 1,338 nonmigrants residing in the Netherlands (aged 66-90). Our results showed that retirement migrants were socially lonelier than nonmigrants; however, they were not emotionally lonelier. Among retirement migrants, those who had lost contact with good friends in the country of origin were both emotionally and socially lonelier. Retirement migrants who had more neighbor contact and a higher sense of belonging to the destination were emotionally and socially less lonely. Furthermore, those who had lost contact with their children and had a higher sense of belonging to the Netherlands were emotionally lonelier. The present study presents new insights into the interplay between aging and migration by using a unique representative survey of individuals who migrated at a later age to a new country and points to the risks of the increasingly popular phenomenon of international retirement migration. Differences in levels and predictors of emotional and social loneliness highlight the importance of studying these dimensions separately. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48426,"journal":{"name":"Psychology and Aging","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychology and Aging","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000880","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
People who migrate at a later age are vulnerable to loneliness: They are challenged to maintain social ties in the origin country while establishing new ties in the destination. In the present study, we investigate (a) the differences in loneliness levels between retirement migrants and older adults who reside in their country of origin (nonmigrants) and (b) the determinants of emotional and social loneliness among retirement migrants. We employ the survey of Dutch retirement migrants abroad (DRM, 2021: Henkens et al., 2022), including 4,995 Dutch retirement migrants residing in 40 destination countries and 1,338 nonmigrants residing in the Netherlands (aged 66-90). Our results showed that retirement migrants were socially lonelier than nonmigrants; however, they were not emotionally lonelier. Among retirement migrants, those who had lost contact with good friends in the country of origin were both emotionally and socially lonelier. Retirement migrants who had more neighbor contact and a higher sense of belonging to the destination were emotionally and socially less lonely. Furthermore, those who had lost contact with their children and had a higher sense of belonging to the Netherlands were emotionally lonelier. The present study presents new insights into the interplay between aging and migration by using a unique representative survey of individuals who migrated at a later age to a new country and points to the risks of the increasingly popular phenomenon of international retirement migration. Differences in levels and predictors of emotional and social loneliness highlight the importance of studying these dimensions separately. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Psychology and Aging publishes original articles on adult development and aging. Such original articles include reports of research that may be applied, biobehavioral, clinical, educational, experimental (laboratory, field, or naturalistic studies), methodological, or psychosocial. Although the emphasis is on original research investigations, occasional theoretical analyses of research issues, practical clinical problems, or policy may appear, as well as critical reviews of a content area in adult development and aging. Clinical case studies that have theoretical significance are also appropriate. Brief reports are acceptable with the author"s agreement not to submit a full report to another journal.