Sociability among European Migrants

Abstract

Research on migration often finds that migrants typically experience decreased social connectedness after migration, at least temporarily. Cultural differences and language difficulties are said to impede social ties with natives; at a minimum, making new friends in a new location takes time. This picture, however, emerges mainly from qualitative research investigating a limited range of migration streams. This article develops a broader analysis of sociability among migrants moving within Europe, using data from the European Social Survey enabling comparison of migrants with stayers in the countries the migrants left. While migrants in some streams do experience lower levels of sociability (compared with rates among stayers in the corresponding origin countries), migrants in other streams experience significantly higher sociability. The consequences of migration for sociability are by no means as uniform as previous research might suggest. The pattern of varying outcomes is consistent with the notion that migrants adapt to the levels of sociability prevailing in the destination country.