The Relationship Between Social Support and Psychological Well-Being for Recent Female Hispanic Immigrants in the United States
Date of Award
2005
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Hernandez, Sarah
Keywords
Social Support, Well-Being, Hispanic Immigrants, Female Immigrants
Area of Concentration
Sociology
Abstract
This thesis studies the relationship between social support and psychological well-being as it pertains to recent female Hispanic immigrants. I interviewed ten women regarding the characteristics of their support network to gain an understanding of the extent and quality of support they receive and perceive as available. Additionally, I surveyed the same women regarding five measures of psychological well-being. The results of my study suggest qualitative differences in the support women receive. Women report receiving different categories of support from distinct groups of people. Extended family tends to provide financial support, nuclear family provides companionship, and female friends provide emotional support. While most women report receiving some form of tangible support, less than half report receiving emotional support. Those women who receive little to no quality emotional support, and moreover perceive that such support is unavailable, correlate to greater degrees of anxiety and loneliness and lesser degrees of life satisfaction. Conversely, women who report access to quality emotional support have, overall, lesser degrees of anxiety and loneliness and greater degrees of life satisfaction. These results suggest a correlation between social support and well-being for female Hispanic immigrants.
Recommended Citation
Conley, Meghan, "The Relationship Between Social Support and Psychological Well-Being for Recent Female Hispanic Immigrants in the United States" (2005). Theses & ETDs. 3506.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/3506
Rights
This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.