Migration and Integration

International migration has recently reached unprecedented levels, resulting in approximately 214 million people presently residing in countries different from where they were born, and this trend is likely to continue. What happens to individuals when there is a change in their cultural context, or when they come to live next to a group of different ethnic and cultural background? What are the conditions for successful integration into a new society? These questions have become very urgent in the face of increasing immigration, recent economic crises, and social and political stratifications that have the potential of creating tensions among different ethnic and cultural groups. The processes involved in migration and intercultural contact are of concern not only to the migrating individual and group but also to the communities and societies that immigrants settle in. There is, therefore, a need to expand the psychological perspective on migration by understanding how intercultural encounters take shape and influence outcomes at the individual, intergroup, and societal levels.
Whereas the process of acculturation is mutual, much of the psychological research has thus far mainly focused on how minority ethnic group members deal with the culture change. Recently, however, the focus on how the two parties involved in intergroup contact impact each other and the dynamics of these influences are taking center stage, and this volume aims to contribute to the understanding of these processes.