Abstract

Thousands of new immigrants migrate to Israel from all over the world, including from a variety of English speaking countries. As a result of a sudden change of environment, immigrants undergo a ‘culture shock’ which can result in a variety of psychological manifestations. Indeed, in the initial phase following migration, an immigrant may be considered to be emotionally vulnerable. The predominant feelings can include intense pain and longing for all that one has left behind or lost, fear of the unknown, deep-rooted loneliness, need, and helplessness. Additionally, migration can pose threats to the immigrant’s sense of identity. Differences in the new environment can be felt in many aspects of life, for example language, as well as how to find his or her place, in the new community and acquire anew the social position and professional status s/he enjoyed in the homeland. This can lead to a shake-up in a sense of self and a decrease in an individual’s self esteem. Similarly, these changes can result in a risk of mental health, in particular depression. Feelings of self esteem and depression can add to a person’s mental workload, and this in turn can affect their cognitive and social functioning. Based on these understandings and previous research, this study examines whether the immigration process influences a person’s levels of self esteem and depression, comparing immigrants from English speaking countries who have been in Israel for two years or less, to those who have been there for eight to twelve years, with Israeli born and raised. It then examines to what extent these hypothesized changes affect levels of cognitive and social functioning. Ninety five participants who fitted the criteria for each of the above groups, aged from 23-47, took part in the study which involved carrying out a series of questionnaires which examined their levels of self esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), depression (Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), 1996), damage to self (Walsh’s Damage to Self Questionnaire, 2008), and acculturation (based on a larger study by Berry et al, 2006 adapted by Ben Shalom & Horencyzk (2004)), as well as their levels of social functioning (Buhrmester et al’s (1988) and Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being (1995)). They also took a series of tests which examined various elements of cognitive functioning (Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (originally developed in 1936), and Wechsler Digit Span, Symbol Search, Maths, Similarities (1997)). The study found that levels of self esteem and depression did not differ across the three groups. However differences in levels of acculturation and damage to self were found between the two immigrant groups. Levels of acculturation and damage to self were also found to be significantly related to self esteem and depression. Self esteem and depression levels were significantly related to scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test. Acculturation and damage to self levels were significantly related to scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search and Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices tests. Self esteem and depression, as well as damage to self and acculturation levels, were all found to be significantly related to social functioning. The study highlights some interesting finds with regards to the immigration process for English speaking immigrants in Israel. Findings suggest that self esteem and depression levels are not significantly affected by the process. However sense of belonging and identity, as part of the acculturation process, in particular with regards to their relationship with Israel (as determined by levels of acculturation and damage to self) do appear to be affected. This in turn seems to influence levels of self esteem and depression. Levels of acculturation, in particular control of the Hebrew language, appear to predict the immigrants cognitive functioning on the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices test as well as influencing their levels of social functioning. The findings of this research have several implications. It would be beneficial to utilize the effect of self esteem and depression on certain cognitive functions, within educational systems (such as schools and universities) in order to examine how far these elements are effecting students’ abilities. Efforts should be made by host countries to assist immigrants in adjusting to the new country in order to help increase their state of well being and decrease the possibility of psychological distress. This in turn will assist in both their cognitive and social functioning which will have wider implications in terms of finding work and becoming active and contributing members of society. The importance of learning the new language needs to be considered by the host country when providing assistance to new immigrants, as does the need to provide suitably adapted matriculation and psychometric tests. Further research needs to be carried out in order to determine how far the findings of this study are directly related to the immigration process, and how far they are influenced by a person’s sense of self, as well as their cognitive and social abilities, before the immigration process occurs.

1. Introduction

The Law of Return (1950) states that every Jew, his/her spouse, his children and grandchildren and their spouses are entitled to immigrate to Israel. As a result, every year thousands of new immigrants migrate to Israel from all over the world. In the year 2013, 19,558 immigrants moved to Israel, 7,732 from Eastern Europe, 4,689 from Western Europe, 3,751 from North America & Oceania, 899 Latin America, 1,612 from Africa, 431 from Asia and 444 of whose origin is unknown (From the Israel Ministry of Immigration website, www.moia.gov.il). The problems of adaptation are enormous and range from cultural and religious to financial (Thranhardt, 2000).

In this study the effects of immigration on immigrants from English speaking countries are examined. The study looks at how immigration may affect a person's sense of self and feelings of self esteem. The effects this may have on an immigrant's cognitive and social functioning are also examined. The study also examines how far effects are temporary or lessen as time passes and the immigrant acculturates into the host society.

To the best of our knowledge, no previous research has been carried out on the cognitive functioning of immigrants. Previous research has considered the relationship between immigrants and low self esteem (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014) and between self esteem and cognitive functioning (Baumeister et al., 2003, Makar, 2013), however research has yet to be carried out which examines the cognitive functioning of

immigrants as a function of low self esteem. Such research can help us to understand the experiences of immigrants when first moving to a new country. The research also has social implications. It may enable relevant bodies, be it work places, universities and colleges or schools to understand and to make appropriate allowances for immigrants. In addition, little research has been carried out that considers the effect of self esteem on

social performance. Some research has shown a link between low social performance and

1self esteem (Erol & Orth, 2014, Lakey et al., 1994) but there

appears to be little research considering how self esteem among immigrants may affect social performance. Social performance is a critical issue for new immigrants who have left behind family and friends and need to start creating new social and support frameworks (Valentine, 2001). Again results may enable those working with immigrants to help them in the development of social networks.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1 The Experience of Immigration

Immigration occurs when an individual moves from one country to another or from one region to another where the second is sufficiently distant and different from the first, for a sufficiently prolonged period of time such that one would consider the person as living in another country, there taking up the activities of daily life. This idea forms

the basis for the definitions found in most studies of migration: the action and effect of moving from one country to another for the purpose of settling there (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). Regardless of whether it is from one country to another or from one region to another region of the same country, immigration can lead to what has been termed "culture shock" (Oberg, 1960). Ticho (1971) has described culture shock as a result of sudden change from an "average expectable environment" to a strange and unpredictable one.

The intricate process that follows such a confrontation or a cultural encounter can be rich in psychological manifestations, whose intensity, form and content may depend upon a diversity of functional variables (Garza-Guerrero, 1974). Many models of acculturation have been suggested but the large majority of them conceptualize the

acculturation process as potentially stressful because of difficulties which can include language problems, perceived discrimination, perceived cultural incompatibilities, and identity conflicts (Berry, 1997). Negative outcomes can occur when stressors of this kind exceed the individual's coping resources, or protecting mediators (Liebkind, 2001). The consequent anxiety challenges the stability of the newcomer's psychic organization (Akhtar, 1999). Berry (1997) however points out that for some, the psychological

changes may be rather easy to accomplish. He suggests that psychological adaptations to acculturation are a matter of learning a new behavioral repertoire that is appropriate for the new cultural context. In fact, rigorous research and analysis has cast doubt on the inevitability of an association between immigrant status and psychological disorders, as several factors have been found to moderate the relationship (Berry, 1997).

In the initial phase following migration, an immigrant may be considered to be emotionally vulnerable (Oppedal, Roysamb & Sam, 2004). Psychoanalytic literature has suggested that in the first stage of the migratory process, the predominant feelings can include intense pain and longing for all that one has left behind or lost, fear of the unknown, deep-rooted loneliness, need, and helplessness. Paranoid, disorienting, and depressive anxieties may alternate with one another, leaving the person prone to periods of total disorganization (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). In summary, migration can be considered as a potentially traumatic experience characterized by a series of partially traumatic events and at the same time represents a crisis situation (Foster, 2001). The crisis may trigger a decision to emigrate or, conversely, may reflect the impact of the migration (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984).

2.2 Immigration and Self Esteem and DepressionSelf-esteem is literally defined by how much value people

place on themselves. It is the evaluative component of self-knowledge (Baumeister et al., 2003). High self-esteem refers to a highly favourable global evaluation of the self (Baumeister et al.,2003). Self reported self-esteem does not carry any definitional requirement of accuracy whatsoever and is thus perception rather than an objective measure (Baumeister et al.,2003).

Kernberg (1967) suggests that mental health involves the feeling of continuity, consistency and confirmation in one’s self image or identity. Establishing a sense of identity means maintaining stability in the face of changing circumstances and life cycles. Events such as migration, which cause drastic change in a person's life, can pose threats to the sense of identity (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). Victor Tausk (1919) who introduced the term identity in psychoanalytic literature, maintained that just as a child discovers objects and his own self, so an adult in his struggle for self-preservation frequently repeats the experience of "finding himself" and "feeling like himself." The immigrant in his struggle for self-preservation needs to hold onto various elements of his native environment (familiar objects, music, memories, and dreams representing different aspects of his native land) in order to be able to feel like himself (Akhtar, 1999).

However, the immigrant may need to re-negotiate elements of his identity, at least temporarily, in order to become integrated in the new environment (Grinberg & Grinberg,

1984). These differences can be felt by the immigrant in many aspects of life, for example language as well as how to find his place, his spot, in the new community and acquire anew the social position and professional status he enjoyed in his homeland. No one knows him, and feeling anonymous increases his inner insecurity (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). Problems also arise when, owing to the more demanding requirements in the host country, or to the inherent nature of his skills themselves, an immigrant cannot resume the vocation he has practiced hitherto. Low self esteem and cynicism may be frequent in such situations (Akhtar, 1999).

The need to give up a part of his or her individuality can result in the immigrant feeling a sense of loss. In all object losses a simultaneous loss of parts of the self accompanies the person's sorrow for the lost object (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). Any sense of loss is accompanied by a state of mourning. Freud (1917, p.243) stated that "Mourning is regularly the reaction to the loss of a loved person, or to the loss of some abstraction which has taken the place of one, such as one's country, liberty, an ideal and so on." Freud regarded such melancholic patients as having low self-esteem, which arises out of the ambivalence felt for the lost object, and assumed that in an ideal model of mourning the absence of hostility to the lost object accounted for the lack of low self- esteem. Similarly, Bibring (1953) considered depression, just like anxiety, a "state of the ego" and felt that low self-esteem was the common denominator of depression (Garza- Guerrero, 1974). This therefore suggests that

any immigrant who is forced to give up a part of his sense of self will experience low self-esteem and depressive feelings as a result.

Indeed research that has examined the impact of immigration on sense of self confirms this. Ben David (1996) found that immigrants showed fewer feelings of confidence in the predictability and explicability of one's environment, together with feelings of confidence in one's inner resources. Walsh and Horencyzk (2001) examining English speaking immigrants in Israel, describe the loss of feelings of competence and a sense of belonging. In Walsh et al.'s (2007) research on the impact of immigration on young adults the subjects described feelings such as shame, failure and a lack of competence; injury to their pride, feelings of being unwanted, different and not understood; and feelings of instability and a lack of sense of belonging, many of which

are feelings which are a part of or result in low self esteem.

5How people think that others evaluate them has long been

believed to influence how they evaluate themselves, an insight that has been extended to people’s group memberships (Deaux, 1993). How people think that others evaluate the groups that they belong to (public regard) can influence how they themselves evaluate their groups (private regard). Evidence supports an indirect link between how first- and second- generation immigrants think that people in the heritage culture evaluate their ethnic

group (i.e., public regard) and self-esteem, via how immigrants themselves evaluate their ethnic group (i.e., private regard) (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014).

Though the above suggests that the immigration process affects a person’s sense of self, its direct relation to self esteem has yet to be examined. Noticeably most research which concentrates on acculturation and self esteem has been carried out on adolescents and students. In addition, most research looked at the effect of acculturation on self esteem and not the other way around other. Any research that did test the effect of self esteem on acculturation was not causal. The following study will therefore examine how far the immigration process directly affects a person’s self esteem, in comparison to Israeli-born counterparts.

Depression is often used as a common descriptor for feeling emotionally low, but it may manifest as a severe chronic clinical condition (McTernan et al., 2013). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, provides diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder and Depressive Episodes as depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities for more than two weeks, impaired social, occupational, and educational function with at least 5 different

symptoms (e.g. depressed mood, decreased pleasure in activities, weight change, insomnia, diminished ability to concentrate). Sub clinical depression is when symptoms are not strong enough to warrant

a clinical diagnosis (McTernan et al., 2013).

6The relationship between migration and mental health has been

the subject of studies for several decades and is considered a public health challenge in many countries. In most studies, immigrants and their descendents have been found to be at greater risk

for developing mental illness than mainstream populations (Abebe, Lien & Hjelde, 2013). Depression during the acculturation process has been reported as one of the most

prevalent health problems for immigrant women (Chae, Park & Sun Kang, 2014). Mental health outcomes associated with migration may vary depending on factors such as socio- cultural and economic contexts, gender, generation, acculturation or social integration,

and the conditions and reasons under which migration takes place (Abebe, Lien & Hjelde,

2013). Depressive symptoms have also been attributed to face demands for adaptation to an unfamiliar system, as well as to discrimination and rejection from the host population (Yu, Stewart, Liu & Lam, 2012).

Immigrants may encounter many stresses during the process of acculturating to a new country. This acculturative stress may result in significant levels of depression. Indeed acculturative stress has been positively associated with depression and suicidal ideation and acculturative stress, perceived family dysfunction and nonhopeful “expectations for the future” are significant predictors of depression and suicidal ideation (Hovey, 2000).

Once again depression appears to be a result of the immigration process but there appears to be a lack of research examining its direct link, and levels of depression in comparison to Israeli born counterparts.

2.3 Increased Coping Over TimeThe anxiety of the stressful situation that is migration can

cause a person’s sense of self to become temporarily disorganized. A person’s ability to return overcome this

7

situation can, to some degree, predict the success or failure of their migration (Grinberg

& Grinberg, 1984). If, because of his character predisposition or the conditions of his migration, the emigrant's ego is too severely damaged by the traumatic experience of the past or present crisis, it will be difficult for him to recover from the state of disorganization into which he has fallen, and he may suffer any one of many forms of mental or physical illness. If, however, he has sufficient capacity for working through, not only will he overcome the crisis but there will be a quality of rebirth to his recovery and a development of his creative potential (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984).

Stability in the emigrant's family life is one of the factors that will assist in a successful migration experience, as are professional skill and job satisfaction (Grinberg

& Grinberg, 1984). Kim & Grant (1997) state that success in reestablishing social networks in their new society reduces the psychological distress and the detrimental effect of uprooting experienced by immigrants. Past research suggests that factors such as age at immigration, language preference, place of birth, generation level, socioeconomic status, preferred ethnic identity and ethnic group social contacts may influence the transition process (Jamil et al, 2007).

The phase of acculturation needs to be taken into account if stress and adaptation are to be understood. That is, how long a person has been experiencing acculturation strongly affects the kind and extent of problems (Berry, 1997). The classical description of positive adaptation in relation to time has been in terms of a U-curve: Only a few problems are present early, followed by more serious problems later, and finally a more positive long-term adaptation is achieved (Berry, 1997). Alternatively, but with the same end effect, Jamil et al (2007) found that acculturation stress amongst Iraqi immigrants in the US decreased over time. Although many studies have demonstrated higher distress

among recent immigrants, there is little empirical evidence for such a standard course,

8nor for fixed times (in terms of months or years) when such

variations will occur (Berry,

1997). Many researchers support an initial euphoric phase and suggest that the distress may last three months to seven years following immigration (Ritsner & Ponizovsky,

1999).

An alternative to a fixed, stage-like conceptualization of the relationship between length of acculturation and problems experienced is to consider the specific nature of the experiences and problems encountered as they change over time (e.g. initially

learning a language, obtaining employment and housing, followed by establishing social relationships and recreational opportunities) and the relationship of such problems to the personal resources of the migrant and to opportunities in the society of settlement (Ho,

1995). This approach emphasizes the high degree of variability to be expected over the time course from initial contact to eventual long-term adaptation (Berry, 1997).

The current study examines two groups of immigrants: one group of immigrants who immigrated within the previous two years and a second group of immigrants who immigrated 8-10 years ago (together with a group of Israeli-born individuals) in order to explore how time in Israel and levels of acculturation may impact on inner feelings (self esteem/ depression) and functioning.

2.4 The Relationship between Self Esteem, Depression and Cognitive

Functioning

Levels of self esteem have been shown to have implications on many areas of life, for example high self-esteem has been associated with greater well-being than low self- esteem (Paradise & Kernis, 2002) and there is widespread agreement with the assertion that the person's evaluation or esteem of himself plays a key role in determining his or

her behaviour (Brown & Mankowski, 1993). One interpretation of this is that whereas

9possessing secure feelings of self-worth may provide the basis

for functioning effectively in various realms, fragile self-feelings may undermine effective functioning (Paradise & Kernis, 2002). Baumeister (1984) suggests that attention to oneself decreases one's attention to the task so that performance decrements are due to overlooking information necessary to perform the task.

Cognitive psychology has extensively studied the processes underlying mental workload and their consequence on human information processing (Croizet et al., 2004). People are continually confronted with tasks that demand more or less cognitive capacity. Some tasks are more difficult than others in that they require more attention and more elaborated cognitive processing (Cowan, 1995). There is also ample evidence showing that, under certain circumstances, the mental workload experienced by a person will

result in lower performance (Croizet et al., 2004). Such a performance decrement is usually attributed to the limited capacity of working memory, either the limited pool of attentional resources has been exhausted by task requirements

(e.g. the task is too difficult) or a finite workspace had to be shared between several tasks. In other words, some extra peripheral activity (e.g. self related worries) can interfere with the processing of a focus task (e.g. the resolution of logical problem) because it competes for the limited resources. In such a situation, increased mental workload will reflect cognitive interference and result in lower performance (Croizet et al., 2004). Indeed Croizet et al. (2004) found that test scores in intelligence can be substantially influenced by situational factors in addition to any actual differences in cognitive ability.

If Baumeister's (1984) suggestions are correct than the mental burden caused by low self esteem would result in lower performance on intellectual tasks. Indeed, many studies have found that high self-esteem is positively correlated with academic

performance. In an early review, Wylie (1979) concluded that the correlation between

11self-esteem and students' grade point averages was about .30.

She added that similar or slightly stronger relationships had been reported between self-esteem and scores on various other achievement tests. Similarly, Davies and Brember (1999) found a significant positive relationship between self-esteem and academic performance, in a

large British sample. Most recent studies have yielded similar conclusions (Baumeister et al., 2003). Applied to the world of work, the self-esteem hypothesis suggests that higher self esteem is strongly associated with better functioning at work and greater work satisfaction (Michon et al., 2008). Indeed, the results regarding the link between self- esteem and job performance seem to echo what has been found with school performance; high self-esteem is related to better performance (Makar, 2014).

Since it would appear that self esteem is related to cognitive functioning and that immigration can often impact on self esteem (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014), the following study will examine basic cognitive functions of immigrants as compared to their Israeli born counterparts and will determine how far self esteem is indeed an influencing factor in various cognitive functions.

Similarly, it can be expected that depression would in turn effect cognitive functioning. Indeed research suggests that the majority of adults with major depressive disorder suffer from significant cognitive deficits (Wagner et al., 2014), and that improved mood state is often associated with improved cognitive performance and that degraded mood is associated with impaired cognitive performance (Lieberman et al.,

2014). Similar to self esteem, the impact of depression is evident in lost productivity at work (McTernan et al., 2013). Work capacity is reduced in persons with anxiety and depression and this has greater influence on work performance than many

other medical conditions. Individuals with mental disorders report more frequent ‘‘extra effort days’’

than those with physical disorders. Work capacity is affected also in individuals with

11subthreshold symptoms and in those who are in clinical

remission (Bertilsson et al.,

2013). Depression has also been shown to have detrimental effects on students' studies (Othieno et al., 2014). Indeed pediatric major depressive disorder seems to be associated with an increased risk for poor academic functioning (Wagner et al., 2014). In adults

with major depressive disorder empirical evidence supports the existence of moderate but significant cognitive deficits, specifically in executive functions, psycho-motor speed, attention and memory. These deficits affect patient’s ability to analyze, plan, prioritize, schedule, initiate and complete an activity in a timely manner. As a result the cognitive dysfunctions lead to poor classroom performance. In addition, studies have revealed that the performance in cognitive test procedures is related to the ability to regulate emotions. Emotional dysregulation on the other hand is one of the central features of depression (Wagner et al., 2014).

No research appears to exist examining the direct relationship between depression and basic cognitive functions (as opposed to performance at work, in certain tasks etc) among immigrants. The following study attempts to examine this relationship, as well as to determine to what extent immigration has a role in functioning.

2.5 The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Depression and Social Relationships

Self esteem has also been linked to interpersonal relationships. It is certainly plausible that high self-esteem would improve interpersonal relations (Baumeister et al.,

2003). With regards to social relationships self esteem has been found to be related to relationship satisfaction (Erol & Orth, 2014), likeability, (Baumeister et al., 2003), higher quality friendships, (Keefe & Berndt, 1996), positive social interactions, less stressful life events (Lakey et al, 1994), and more social support (Marigold et al., 2014) better

workplace relationships (Frone, 2000), better, richer, and more satisfying social lives

12(Baumeister et al., 2003), more reciprocal friendships (Bishop

& Inderbitzen, 1995), increased presence of conventional and peer-oriented groups (Glendinning & Inglis,

1999), longer lasting romantic relationships, (Hendrick et al., 1988), higher motivation for a romantic relationship (Kindelberger & Tsao, 2014), less instances of unrequited love (Baumeister et al., 2003), public self consciousness (Cho, Matsumoto & Kimura,

2009), and positive contribution to group work and group performance (Baumeister et al., 2003).

Similarly, depression has been linked to interpersonal relationships. Depressive symptoms often negatively affect individuals’ social network and cause interpersonal conflicts. They are associated with negative feedback and excessive reassurance seeking, negative attributions, ruminations and poor social skills (Joiner Jr., 2001). Depression

has also been connected to less instrumental social support (Bonanno et al., 2002) to abusive relationships (Follingstad, 2009), interpersonal instability and dysfunction and social withdrawal (Hammen, 2012), romantic relationship stress and lower relationship quality (Whitton & Kuryluk, 2014) including withdrawal of support and an increase in conflicts (Whisman & Baucom, 2012), low social support at work (Netterstrom et al.,

2008), decreased acceptance and support from peers (Dolphin & Hennessy, 2014), and rejection (Stice, Ragan & Randall, 2004).

Self esteem is also important when looking at the social behaviour of immigrants since it is thought to indicate comprehensive values of the self that are made largely by comparing the self with others (Schnittker, 2002). Indeed, according to Negy and Woods (1992) "Self-esteem or self confidence may interact with acculturation as it intuitively makes sense that a healthy level of self confidence would assist individuals in taking risks, such as initiating contact with members outside their ethnic groups" (p.243)

(Valentine, 2001). Several studies have shown that self esteem is a significant predictor

13of general psychological well-being in ethnic minority

adolescents (Rhee et al., 2003). In Pham and Harris's (2001) study of Vietnamese-Americans they found that preference for integration was positively linked to self-esteem. In a similar study by Valentine (2001) it was found that Hispanics' self-esteem is positively associated with their assimilation into mainstream American culture.

This study will examine how far low self esteem and depression, among immigrants, affect a person’s social functioning on a broad level, in comparison to their Israeli counterparts.

2.6 The Relationship between Acculturation Stress and Cognitive and Social

Functioning

Selye (1936) defined stress as the “nonspecific” result of any demand upon the body, be the effect mental or somatic” (p.3). McGrath (1976) argued that stress involves interaction between a person and his/her environment. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) defined stress as “a relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well being” (p.21). While quite broad, these definitions clearly point to stress as an outcome

for individuals who face taxing situational demands. In this way, stress is perceptual, and, for any given situation, is likely to vary from person to person (O’Connor et al., 2010).

Acculturative stress is often defined as stress that occurs in the process of adaptation to the host culture from a person’s own culture (Mori, 2000). It is noted that a higher level of acculturative stress is associated with many factors: socio demographic characteristics (e.g., older age, female, longer years of education), a deeper level of psychological distress, mode of acculturation, loss of social support, increased family and

cultural conflicts, personality, and different social values and norms (Jin, 2014).

14Particularly, studies on international students in the United

States identified that the more discrepancy there is between the host culture and the culture of origin, the higher the

level of acculturative stress (Lee, Koeske, & Sales, 2004).

Similarly to self esteem and depression, stress has also been found to be related to cognitive and social functioning. Those found under stress were found to experience cognitive impairments (Robinson et al., 2003). Negative affects such as stress have been shown to interfere with cognitive control and tasks, in particular verbal and spatial working memory (Koric et al., 2012), and controlled task focused thinking (Kivimaki & Lusa, 1994). High stress proneness is associated with the risk of a serotonin deficiency in the brain. Serotonergic activity seems to be involved in the maintaining of control over information processing and thus may result in reduced cognitive performance (Markus et al., 1998).

With regards to social functioning, research seems to indicate that social support can moderate levels of acculturation stress (Hovey & King, 1997). Previous studies have shown that social support is a positive indicator of acculturative stress (Lee,

Lee, Kim, & Kim, 2009) and psychological distress (Gellis, 2003). Furthermore, research has shown that there is an indirect impact of acculturative stress on intimate relationships of individuals (Neff & Hoppe, 1992). Psychological problems caused by acculturative stress affect an individual’s intimate relationships adversely (Karapanagiotis, 2008).

Little research seems to be available regarding the relationship between stress, and in particular acculturation stress, on social functioning and most research that does exists seems to examine the effect of support on stress levels and not vice versa. This research will therefore examine levels of acculturation of immigrants and how far this effects levels of self esteem and depression and in turn will examine the relationship

between acculturation and cognitive and social functioning.

152.7 Immigration from English Speaking Countries

This study examines the experience of young people, from English speaking countries, who have chosen to move to Israel. In the last two decades, approximately

100,000 people have emigrated from Western countries to Israel, including 40,000 from North America (Central Bureau of Statistics 2012). These immigrants entered Israel under the Law of Return, which permits the entrance of immigrants with at least one Jewish grandparent (referred in Hebrew as olim) and grants them Israeli citizenship upon arrival. Participants can be considered to have immigrated from a ‘diaspora’ population

to a ‘homeland’ (Walsh & Horenczyk, 2001). As a returning diaspora, the immigrants who come to Israel feel an affinity with their new host society even before migrating and frequently exhibit warm feelings of homecoming upon arrival (Amit & Riss, 2007). Although the migration of Jews to Israel is classified as a ‘‘returning diaspora’’ (Semyonov & Lewin-Epstein 2003), Jewish immigrants are driven by a combination of motives, among them proclaimed religious and ideological (Zionist) motives. In fact, the few studies conducted on North American immigrants in Israel reveal that many of these immigrants are religious Jews whose main motives for coming to Israel are religious (Amit & Riss, 2007).

Western immigrants freely choose to come to Israel (Amit & Semyonov, 2006), and are characterized with high levels of educational attainment and a high representation of occupational professions (Rebhun & Waxman, 2000). They are often highly skilled; many of them are professional, managerial and technical specialists (Amit & Riss, 2007). Amit and Riss (2007) found that in their immigration process, immigrants from North America tend to rely on social networks based on distant (weak) ties. It should be noted

that the geographic dispersion of American olim differs significantly from that of the

16total Jewish Israeli population. Most salient is their greater

tendency to settle in rural localities as compared to their Israeli counterparts (Rebhun & Waxman, 2000).

3. Research Aims

This study takes as its starting point that immigrants need to renegotiate their identity, at least temporarily, in order to become integrated into the new environment. This along with other factors involved in the immigration process, in particular the acculturation process, can lead to feelings of low self esteem and depression. This study aims to examine how far this theoretical knowledge regarding changes to a person’s sense of self and well being during the immigration process, actually occurs in reality. Using Israeli born counterparts as a control group, the study measures the levels of self esteem and depression of new immigrants (up to two years) from English speaking countries in Israel as well as of more veteran immigrants who have been in Israel between eight to twelve years.

Self esteem and depression have been found to be linked to levels of cognitive and social functioning. This study will therefore examine how far new immigrants, who are predicted to be suffering from lower levels of self esteem and higher levels of depression, have impaired overall cognitive and social functioning, with an emphasis on the predictive role of the self esteem and depression. The study also involved immigrants who had been in Israel a substantially longer period of time (8-10 years) According to the literature, these young people should have acclimated and returned to their original levels of self esteem and depression with no effect on their cognitive and social functioning. Furthermore the study examines the role of acculturation and its influence on self esteem

and depression and how and if, in turn, this effects social and cognitive functioning.

173.1 Hypotheses

1). The study hypothesized that immigrants would have lower levels of self esteem and higher levels of depression than their

Israeli born counterparts. In addition, newer immigrants will have lower self esteem and higher levels of depression than those that have been in the country for some time.

2). The study also hypothesized that those with low self esteem and suffering from depression will perform less well on tasks testing cognitive functioning.

3). As a result of the above, the study hypothesized that immigrants would perform worse on tasks of cognitive functioning than their Israeli born counterparts (with newer immigrants performing worse than those that have been in the country for some time)

and that this would be mediated by levels of self esteem and depression.

4). The study also hypothesized that those with lower self esteem and higher levels of depression will have lower quality social relationships. New immigrants will have lower quality social relationships than their Israeli born counterparts, which will be mediated by levels of self esteem and depression.

5). The study supposes that after a significant period of time immigrants’ self esteem and levels of depression will return to the levels they were at before immigration and as such immigrants who have been in the country for a longer period of time will perform to the same standards on tasks testing cognitive functioning and will have the same quality of social relationships as their Israeli counterparts. As such, the study hypothesized that measurements of older immigrants on cognitive functioning, social relationships, self

esteem and depression will not differ from those of their Israeli counterparts.

4. Method

4.1 Participants

The research was carried out on immigrants in Israel from English speaking countries. The participants were divided into three groups: 1. Immigrants from English speaking countries who had moved to Israel within the last two years (n =33), 2. Immigrants from English speaking countries who had been in Israel between eight to twelve years (n=31), and 3. A control group of Israeli born and raised participants (n=31). Participants age was from 23 to 47 (see table 1). New immigrant participants were gathered from Absorption centres and Hebrew learning centers (“Ulpanim”). Older immigrants were contacted through immigrant networks. Each group consisted of approximately 30 participants. Participants stemmed from various educational and

marital status backgrounds (see table 2).Of the immigrants, 56.3% were born in the UK and 31.3% in the

USA, 4.7% in Canada, 4.7% in South Africa and 3.1% in Australia.

For group 1, the mean number of years in Israel was 1.31 (SD = 0.79) and for group 2, 9.8 (SD = 1.45).

4.2 Measures

Participants completed an anonymous questionnaire containing the following elements (each part was provided in English for the immigrant participants and Hebrew for the Israeli born participants):

1. Demographic Questionnaire (Appendix 1). This section required participants to provide basic demographic information such as age, education, marital status and level of religiousness.

2. Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (1965) (Appendix 2). The questionnaire consists of 10 questions that measure participants’ levels of self esteem answered on a 4 point scale from 1 = strongly agree to 4 = strongly disagree. Questions relate to how a person relates to himself (e.g. “On the whole I am satisfied with myself”) and his self image (e.g. “All in all, I am inclined to think I am a failure” and “I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others”). Item scores are summed to a total score (ranging from 10-40) with some questions’ scales inverted in order to achieve a score that determines level of self esteem. The scale has previously been translated and used in Hebrew (Sherer & Enbal, 2006). The scale has been found to be of high validity and reliability in previous studies (Sinclair et al., 2010) and was also found to be reliable in this study, Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.82.

3. Walsh’s Damage to Self Questionnaire (2008) (Appendix 3). The damage to self scale explores the degree to which the emerging adult described a feeling of having negatively internalized elements of the immigration experience. A total of 42 questions are answered on a 5 point scale from 1= I don’t feel like this at all to 5 = I feel this almost all the time. Some questions are inverted to allow a total score which reflects the level of damage to self. Questions examine negative feelings regarding oneself in general (e.g. “I feel helpless, sad, unstable, calm, lonely”), with regards to moving country (e.g. “I miss places, scenery and weather”, “I miss home cooked food and food from my homeland”) and with regards to living in Israel in particular (e.g. “I think that Israeli culture is rude”, “I feel that Israelis accept me”). New immigrants were asked to fill this out regarding the period since they moved to Israel and veteran immigrants were asked to fill it out both regarding how they felt in the first two years after moving to Israel and again with regards to how they currently feel. This questionnaire was only filled in by the immigrant groups

4. Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) (Appendix 4). Developed by Beck, Steer, & Brown (1996). The questionnaire is a 21-question multiple-choice self-report inventory with each question containing several sentences. Participants must choose the sentence which best describes how they have felt (e.g. “0. I don't feel a failure, 1. I feel that I have failed more than the average man, 2. When I look back on my life all that I see is a lot of failures, 3. I feel that I am a total failure as a person”), or acted (e.g. “0. I make decisions as I always did, 1. I try to postpone making decisions more than I did in the past, 2. I find it harder to make decisions than I did in the past 3. I can't make decisions at all”) or behavioural changes (e.g. “0. My appetite is no worse than normal, 1. My appetite isn’t as good as it used to be, 2. My appetite is much worse now, 3. I don't have any appetite at all any more”) over the last week with the higher point sentences suggesting higher levels of depression. Scores on the scale can range from 0 to 63, with scores of up to 10 reflecting normal behaviours, scores of over 17 suggesting some range of depression and over 40 suggesting severe depression. The BDI has been found to be of high reliability and validity including for cross cultural populations (Joe et al., 2008).

5. Acculturation Scale (based on a larger study by Berry et al, 2006 adapted by Ben Shalom & Horencyzk (2004) (Appendix 5). The questionnaire is divided into several sections which examine various aspects of acculturation. The first section considers how a person regards themselves, in terms of identity with a country. The first question in this section asks for a general overview regarding identifying with a country (e.g. “I think of myself as English/Israeli/English and Israeli”) and is on a 5 point scale from 1= not at all to 5= very much. The second part of this section is made up of 15 questions regarding feelings towards both the participant’s homeland and Israel (e.g. “Being past of English culture is embarrassing to me”, “I feel that moving to Israeli was one of the most

important things I've ever done.”). Questions are on a 5 point scale from 1=strongly

22disagree to 5=strongly agree. The second section of the scale

examines how important people consider different aspects of themselves to be (e.g. “that I am English/Israeli”, “that I am a male/female”, “that I am Jewish”). Five questions are answered on a 5 point scale from 1=not at all, to 5= very well. The third section considers attitudes towards various aspects of acculturation such as language (e.g. “It is more important to be to be fluent in English than in Hebrew”, “it is more important to me to be fluent in Hebrew than in English”), cultural traditions (e.g. “I feel that it is not important for the English

either to maintain their own cultural transients or to adapt to those of Israel”, “I feel that

the English should maintain their own cultural traditions but also adapt to those of Israel”)

and friendships (e.g. “I prefer social activities that involve Israelis only”, “I prefer to have only Israeli friends”). 20 questions are answered on a 5 point scale where

1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree. The final sections concerns knowledge of Hebrew and English with participants being asked to rate their levels of English and Hebrew understanding, speaking, reading and writing on a 5 point scale from 1=not at all to 5=very well.

Since the questionnaire considers various aspects of acculturation scores were calculated for each section of the scale and participants were provided acculturation scores for Identity of home country, Israel identity, no identity with Israel or home country, strong Israeli and home country identity, control of Hebrew language, control of English language, acculturated into Israeli society. This questionnaire was only given to the two immigrant groups.

6. Cognitive Functioning. Cognitive functioning was assessed using five tests. 1) Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test widely used to measure problem solving ability (Raven et al., 1993), fluid intelligence (Cattell, 1963) and analytic intelligence (Carpenter,

Just & Shell, 1990). Participants are provided with a set of matrices to solve. Each

23matrix contains a pattern and participants need to identify

the missing matrix from a choice of 8. Items are presented as one set of 12 (set I), and another of 36 (set II). Items are again presented in black ink on a white background, and become increasingly difficult as progress is made through each set. Participants received two scores for carrying out the test, a score based on how many correct answers after twenty minutes (proven to be an adequate predictor of the untimed score (Hamel & Schmittmann, 2006) and another score for correct answers for the full test with no time restrictions. 2) The remaining tests were selected from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, D. (1997a). WAIS-III: Technical manual. Orlando, FL: Psychological Corporation). Tests

were chosen according to the various aspects of cognitive functioning they examine, with the assumption (based on previous research) that these were the cognitive functions that the mental burden of self esteem and depression would influence.

i) Wechsler Digit Span. This test involves presenting a series of digits orally at the rate of one per second and the subject’s task is to repeat them sequentially, or for “digits backwards” in the reverse order. The participant is required to repeat 3-9 digits forward and 2-9 digits backwards with the length of each

sequence of numbers increasing as the participant correctly responds. Participants receive a score of one for each series of

digits they correctly repeat.ii) The Wechsler Symbol Search test comprises of a series of

items which contain various symbols. Within a period of two minutes the participant must mark either yes or no in a checkbox as to whether the symbols shown are present in the series of symbols provided. The Symbol Search subtest is designed to assess information processing speed and visual perception. It is one of three subtests that contribute to the Processing Speed Indices derived from the Wechsler intelligence scales.

24iii) The Wechsler Arithmetic Test is comprised of Maths, 20

arithmetic problems similar to those encountered in elementary math courses. Problems are administered orally and must be solved without paper and pencil. In addition to math knowledge, test measures concentration and systematic problem-solving ability.

iv) The Wechsler Similarities Test is made up of 19 items which require the participant to describe how two given things are alike, for example what do ice and steam have in common? Scores on each item vary according to the degree to which the response describes a general property primarily pertinent to both items in the pair. The test measures concrete, functional, and abstract concept formation.

7. Social Functioning Test (Appendix 6) – The questionnaire is based on two sources. 1) Buhrmester et al’s (1988) 40 item questionnaire which is designed to assess five domains of interpersonal competence: a) initiating relationships (e.g. “Asking or suggesting to someone new that you get together and do something, e.g. go out together”), b)

disclosing personal information (e.g. “Revealing something intimate about yourself while talking with someone you’re just getting to know.”), c) asserting displeasure with others (e.g. “Saying “no” when a date/acquaintance asks you to do something you don’t want to do”), d) providing emotional support and advice (e.g. “Helping a close companion get to the heart of a problem s/he is experiencing”), and e) managing interpersonal conflict (e.g. When angry with a companion, being able to accept that s/he has a valid point of view even if you don’t agree with that view”). Participants are instructed to use a 5-point rating scale to indicate their level of competence and comfort in handling each type of situation (1- ‘I’m poor at this; I’d feel so uncomfortable and unable to handle this situation’ to ‘5- I’m EXTREMELY good at this; I’d feel very comfortable and could handle this situation very well.’ The questionnaire has been found to be reliable and valid (Buhrmester et al., 1988). This

questionnaire was translated to Hebrew by Ergov (1999).

252) Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being (1995) which

includes a section on positive relations with others. This section contains nine statements which the participant must grade on a 6 point scale from "1-I strongly agree" to "6-I strongly disagree" with regards to the participant’s relationships with others such as “I often feel lonely because I have few close friends with whom to share my concerns” and “Maintaining close relationships has been difficult and frustrating for me.” Participants receive a score from 9 to 54 which represents their difficulties in forming relationships. Some questions’ scores are inverted to provide the score. The scale has been found to be valid and reliable (Spring & Hauser,

2006).

4.3 Procedure

The study received ethics approval from the Bar Ilan ethics committee. Before carrying out the research a pre test was carried out with 10 students, after which any elements of the questionnaire that were felt to be unclear were improved.

Participants were met with on a one-on-one basis to fill out the questionnaire. After signing an informed consent form, the questionnaires were filled out independently whereas the cognitive tests required elements to be read aloud to the participants. Once participants had agreed to take part in the research they were asked to fill out the questionnaire. The participants were told that the purpose of the research is to study functioning of immigrants. They were assured that all information obtained will be strictly confidential and used for the purposes of this research only.

Once participants had completed the questionnaire they were informed of the aims of the study and the reason for each part of the questionnaire. Participants were given the option to be told their scores once calculated should they so desire. There was

no remuneration for taking part in the study.

265. Results

5.1 Self Esteem, Depression and Cognitive Functioning across Groups

The study hypothesized that immigrants would have lower levels of self esteem than their Israeli born counterparts and that more recent immigrants would have lower self esteem than those that had been in the country for a longer period. Analysis was carried out using ANOVA with the group type as the independent variable and self esteem as the dependent variable. No significant differences were detected (F(2,94)=0.90, NS). Similarly, with levels of depression as the dependent variable, no significant differences were found, (F(2,94)=0.53, NS).

In terms of cognitive functioning, ANOVA with the group type as the independent variable and the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test Full Score1 as the dependent variable, yielded a near-significant effect of group, F(2,92)=2.52, p=0.086, with the Israelis achieving higher scores (M=41.7) than both veteran (M=40.1) and new immigrants (M=38.7). Post hoc l analysis revealed that the difference between the

Israelis and new immigrants was significant, p<.05.

5.2 Effect of Self Esteem and Depression on Cognitive Functioning

The study hypothesized that those with low self-esteem would have a larger mental workload than those with higher self esteem, since more attention is concentrated inwardly, and as a result would perform less well on tasks testing intellectual performance. Using Pearsons correlations, significant correlations were found between levels of self esteem and depression and results of one of the intelligence tests. When

examining the data of all three groups together a negative correlation was found between

1 Participants received two scores for this test; the score received after 20 minutes of carrying out the test

(Raven 20), and a full score after completing the test with no time restrictions (Raven Full)

27the scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and levels of

depression. In other words, the higher the level of depression, the lower the test scores. Additionally, the higher the self esteem of the participant, the better they performed on the same test (see table 3).

Table 3Correlation between Self Esteem, Depression and Wechsler

Symbol Search Test for all Three Groups Together(n=95)Wechsler

Symbol Search Self Esteem 0.444** Depression -0.224*

Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

As with the total population, when members of group 1 (New Immigrants) were examined individually, a significant correlation between the scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and self esteem was identified (r=0.42, p<0.05). The same was found for members of group 2 (Veteran immigrants) (r=0.6, p<0.01) but not group 3 (see Model

2).

Model 2. Relationship between self esteem (x-axis) and scores on the Wechsler Symbol

Search test (y-axis).

Self esteem scores also correlated with results on the Wechsler Maths and

Similarities tests for members of group 2 (veteran immigrants) only. The higher the self

28esteem of the participant, the higher the score they achieved

on the tests (see table 4). No such correlation was found with the other group members.

Table 4Correlation betwee n Self Esteem and Wechsler Maths for Group

2 Participants (n=31)WechslerWechsler

Group 2 Maths Similarities SelfEsteem 0.523** 0.376*Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

For the majority of the intelligence tests, no significant differences were detected in the scores of the three groups.

5.3 Self Esteem, Depression and Social Relationships

The study also hypothesized that those with lower self esteem would have lower quality social relationships. Pearson correlations were carried out among the sample as a whole, and a significant correlation was found (p < 0.01). In other words, those who demonstrated lower levels of self esteem expressed lower levels of social functioning (see table 5).

Similarly, when carrying out Pearson Correlations, a significant correlation was also found between levels of depression and social functioning on both of the tests used to examine social functioning (Buhmester el al’s (1988) Social Functioning Test and

Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being (1995) (see table 5). The tests showed that the more depressed the participant felt, the less successful they were at creating social relationships. In addition, those who scored high on the depression scale, were found to have low levels of self esteem (r=-0.49, p<0.01).

Table 5Correlation between Self Esteem and Depression and Social

Functioning for all Three Groups (n=95)Buhrmester et al’s SocialRyff’s Scales of Psychological Functioning Test

Well-being Self Esteem 0.375** 0.435**

Depression -0.329** -0.436**

Note: ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

29On examining the data of each group individually, members of

group 1 (new immigrants) also showed the same significant positive correlation between self esteem and social functioning for both tests used (r =0.57, r=0.59, p <0.01), as did members of group 3 (Israeli born) (r=0.38, r=0.41, p<0.05). This association, however, was not found for members of group 2 (veteran immigrants). The same significant negative correlation was found between feelings of depression and levels of social functioning for both tests for members of group 1 (r=-0.38, p<0.05), r=-0.67, p <0.01) and group 3 (r=-0.57, r=-

0.48, p <0.01). Once again, this association, however, was not found for members of group 2.

No significant differences in social relationships were noted between the three groups for both the social functioning tests. When carrying out the Pearson Correlation test, an additional correlation was noted between the scores of group 1 members on the Raven 20 test and one of the social functioning tests (Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being) with those feeling more socially adept scoring higher on the matrices test (r=0.45, p <0.01).

5.4 Damage to Self

The level of damage to self for each of the two immigrant groups was measured using a T-test for independent samples with the group type as the independent variable and damage to self as the dependent variable. The group of immigrants living in Israel

for longer (group 2) expressed less damage to self (t(57)=4, p<0.001) than those living in Israel for two years and under. Interestingly, on comparing the levels of damage to self the veteran immigrants (group 2) reported retroactively during their first two years in Israel with the level of those who recently immigrated, the veterans reported

experiencing higher levels than the new immigrants currently feel (t(62)=2.29, p<0.05).

As would be expected the level of damage to self that the veteran immigrants

31experienced during their first two years in Israel is

significantly higher than the damage to self that they currently reported (t(28)=8.86, p<0.001).

The damage to self questionnaire contains questions regarding the immigrant’s relationship with Israel (e.g. feeling Israeli culture is rude) and regarding the immigrant’s relationship with oneself (e.g. feeling sad). On comparison of the scores of the two types of questions using a dependent sample T-test with a within subject factor of type of damage to self, participants show significantly higher feelings of damage to self with regards to their relationship with Israel as opposed to with themselves (t(62)=5.43, p<0.001). The same is found on considering the two immigrant groups separately (Group

1 – t(32)=6.06, p<0.001, Group 2 – t(29)=2.08, p<0.05).

5.5 Damage to Self and Cognitive Functioning

Similarly to depression, damage to self was also found to have a negative influence on intelligence test scores. When carrying out Pearson Correlation tests, those who expressed a current high level of damage to self, performed worse on the Raven 20 test and the Wechsler Symbol Search test (see table 6).

Table 6 Correlation between Damage to Self and Intelligence

Tests for Groups 1 and 2 (n=63) Wechsler Symbol Search Raven 20 test Damage toSelf -0.349**

-0.257*Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

When the data was divided between the two groups, no significant relationships between damage to self and intelligence were identified.

5.6 Damage to Self and Social Relationships

Pearson Correlations were carried out to examine the relationship between damage to self and social relationships. In the total sample, damage to self was

31negatively correlated with social relationships, with both of

the social functioning tests that were carried out (r=-0.26, r=-0.35, p<0.05). On examining the groups individually, the same negative effect on social relationships was found with group 1. No relationship was found between group 2 participants’ current damage to self levels and social functioning however a negative effect on the social functioning (according to Buhrmester et al’s (1988) questionnaire) of those who experienced high levels of damage to self

reported within their first two years of living in Israel (in group 2) was noted (see table 7).

Table 7Correlation betwee n Damage to Self and Social Functioning for

Groups 1 and 2 (n=33, n=30) Buhrmester et al’sSocial FunctioningRyff’s Scales of Psychological

New Test Well-

being Immigrants Damage to Self -0.426*

-0.445**VeteranImmigrantsDamage to Self,(current) 0.079

-0.255Damage to self(first two yearsin Israel) -0.186

-0.556**Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

5.7 Acculturation

The study also examined the levels of acculturation reached by each of the two immigrant groups (groups 1 and 2) using a T-test for independent samples with the group type as the independent

variable and acculturation levels as the dependent variable. As expected, members of group 2, immigrants that had been in Israel for between 8-12 years, felt significantly more acculturated than those who had been in Israel for less than two years, (t (55)=3.31, p<0.01). This was demonstrated through several areas including feeling a connection with Israel (t(58)=4.6, p<0.001), having a strong Israeli identity (t(62)=2.52, p<0.5), feeling a part of Israeli culture (t(57)=2.2, p<0.1) and demonstrating

high levels of Hebrew (t(48)=5.43, p<0.0001).

325.8 Acculturation and Self Esteem and Depression

Pearson Correlations were carried out to examine the relationship between acculturation and self esteem and depression. Significant correlations were found between levels of acculturation and scores on the self esteem and depression tests for group 1 (see table 8). Members of group 1 who felt a strong identity, either with their home country or with Israel, scored higher on the self esteem scales. Those who felt an overall strong sense of acculturation within Israel also scored higher on the self esteem scales, as did those who felt a strong control of the English language. Those who felt no strong identity with either their home country or Israel showed higher levels of

depression.

Control of the English language also correlated negatively with depression, i.e. those who felt they have high levels of English had lower levels of depression (r=-0.36, p<0.05). Members of group 1 with low levels of acculturation and low association with their home country, scored higher on the depression scale (r=0.48, p<0.01). For members of group 2, no correlations were demonstrated between levels of acculturation and levels of self esteem. A negative correlation was noted between those who felt they had

33integrated well into Israeli culture and scores on the

depression scale (r=-0.43, p<0.05), i.e. those who felt more culturally integrated felt less depressed.

5.9 Acculturation and Social Relationships

Pearson Correlation’s were carried out to examine the relationship between acculturation and social relationships for groups 1 and 2. A significant correlation was found for members of group 1 between strong Israeli identities and higher scores on both social functioning tests (r=0.35, r=0.36, p<0.05). Similarly those who felt they had a strong control of the Hebrew language also demonstrated better social relationships. Those who felt overall more acculturated scored higher on the Buhrmester et al’s (1988) social functioning test, as did those who felt they had maintained both an Israeli and English identity. For group 2 members, only those who felt a stronger control of the Hebrew language, scored higher on the Buhrmester et al’s (1988) social functioning test (see table 9).

Table 9Correlation between Acculturation and Social Functioning for

Groups 1 and 2 (n=33, n=31) Buhrmester et al’sSocial FunctioningRyff’s Scales ofPsychological

New Immigrants Control of HebrewLanguage Strong Israeli and home country Identity Acculturated

into Israeli SocietyVeteran Immigrants Control of HebrewLanguage Strong Israeli and home country Identity Acculturated

into Israeli SocietyNote: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).2 Test Well-being 0.468** 0.418*

0.445** 0.181

0.446** 0.344

0.449* -0.097

0.058 0.013

0.15 -0.065

2 Due to the large number of variables measuring acculturation, only those that were seen to be significant for one of the groups were included in the table.

34

5.10 Acculturation and Cognitive functioning

Pearson Correlation’s were carried out to examine the relationship between acculturation and cognitive functioning for groups 1 and 2. Significant correlations were found for the relationship between levels of acculturation and scores on the various cognitive tests. Individuals in group 1 who obtained high scores on the acculturation test, scored higher on the Wechsler Symbol Search test. The acculturation data was also divided into separate factors. For example those that felt a strong Israeli identity, a significant positive correlation was identified between these individuals and their scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test. Those who felt they had a strong command of the Hebrew language scored higher on the Wechsler Digit Span test and the Raven 20 test. Those who felt that they had both a strong English and Israeli identity scored higher on the Wechsler Similarities test (table 10).

Table 10Correlation between Acculturation and Intelligence Tests for

Groups 1 and 2 (n=33, n=31) StrongIsraeli andhome countryControl ofHebrewLanguageAcculturatedinto IsraeliSociety

IsraeliIdentity

EnglishIdentity

New Identity WechslerImmigrantsSymbolSearch0.013 0.246 0.392*

0.443** 0.105

VeteranRaven 20 test 0.106 0.349*

0.223 0.227 0.074Wechsler

Similarities 0.345* 0.316 0.244 0.226 0.3

WechslerDigit Span 0.127 0.370*

0.285 0.259 0.042WechslerMath Test -0.003 0.218

0.077 -0.016 -0.077WechslerImmigrantsSymbolSearch-0.035 0.027 0.105

-0.025 -0.209Raven 20 test 0.068 0.369*

0.243 -0.028 -0.374* WechslerSimilarities 0.13 0.145

0.169 0.011 0.162WechslerDigit Span -0.108 0.18

0.098 0.151 0.163WechslerMath Test 0.119 0.073

0.254 0.154 -0.358*

Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

35Correlations were also found between acculturation and

cognitive functioning among group 2 members. Similarly to group 1, members of group 2 who felt they had a strong command of Hebrew, received higher scores on the Raven 20 test. Interestingly the remainder of the correlations were negative correlations between those who felt they had a strong English identity and their results on the Wechsler Maths and the Raven 20 test (see table 8). In other words, those who still felt a strong English identity, despite having lived in Israel for between 8-12 years, received lower scores on these two tests.

5.11 Predictors of cognitive functioning

Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine predictors of cognitive functioning, using each of the intelligence measures for all groups together and then for groups 1 and 2 together with the immigration measures. Since acculturation seemed to have the most overall effect on intelligence and is most related to moving to Israel, the regression model used first examined whether acculturation could be used to predict intelligence levels, with steps being added to examine the additional influence of other elements (model 1: acculturation; model 2: acculturation and damage to self; model 3: acculturation and damage to self and self esteem).

Significant results were noted with regards to the Raven 20 and Wechsler Symbol

Search tests. When looking at the ability to predict results on the Raven 20 test it was seen that overall acculturation would appear to predict success on the test. On further examination it appears that the control of the Hebrew language (Hebrew) appears to more significantly predict results on the test than acculturation into Israeli society

(acculturation). When adding damage to self to the predictors, the model (2) continues to predict results on the test, albeit slightly less significantly. Once again control of the

Hebrew language is the most significant predictor. When self esteem is added to the

36model, results on the test are no longer significantly

predicted by the model (3) though a clear trend can still be noted (see table 11).

Table 11Linear regressions using acculturation, damage to self and

self esteem to predict results on Raven 20 test.

UnstandardizedStandardized Coefficients Coefficients R Std. R Square

B Error Beta Model 1 0.336 0.113* 29.180 5.647

Acculturation 0.032 0.118 0.048

Hebrew 0.522 0.306 0.299

Model 2 0.352 0.124* 36.022 9.625

Acculturation -0.021 0.133 -0.031

Hebrew 0.506 0.307 0.290

Damage to Self

-0.033 0.037 -0.137 Model 3 0.362 0.131 31.788

11.503

Acculturation -0.033 0.134 -0.049

Hebrew 0.527 0.310 0.302

Damage toSelf -0.024

0.039 -0.100

Self Esteem 0.121 0.178 0.094

Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

When examining the ability to predict results on the Wechsler Symbol Search test it was seen that overall acculturation would appear to predict success on the test. On further examination it appears that, in contrast to the Ravel 20 test, acculturation into Israeli society appears to more significantly predict results on the test than control of the Hebrew language. When adding damage to self to the predictors, the model (2) continues to predict results on the test, even more significantly, with damage to self have being the most significant predictor of results, followed by acculturation as the next predictor.

When self esteem is added to the model, results on the test are even more significantly

37predicted by the model (3) however here self esteem is the

only predictor of results on the test, with the other factors having no influence on the results (table 12).

Table 12Linear regressions using acculturation, damage to self and

self esteem to predict results on WechslerSymbol Search test. UnstandardizedCoefficientsR Std.StandardizedCoefficients R Square B Error

Beta Model 1 0.311 0.097* 16.257 8.765Acculturation .0339

0.183 0.328Hebrew -0.066

0.474 -0.025

Model 2 0.370 0.137* 35.922 14.700Acculturation 0.187

0.203 0.181Hebrew -0.111

0.468 -0.041Damage to Self

-0.094 0.057 -0.256 Model 3 0.532 0.283** 5.918 16.070Acculturation 0.099

0.188 0.096Hebrew 0.033

0.432 0.012Damage toSelf -0.031

0.055 -0.084Self Esteem 0.855

0.248 0.435**Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

6. Discussion

The study examined 95 adults between the ages of 23 and 47, in three different groups (immigrants to Israel from English speaking countries who have lived in Israel for two years or less, immigrants to Israel from English speaking countries who have lived in Israel between 8-12 years and Israeli born and raised) and considered the extent to which immigration influenced their self-esteem, depression and feelings about themselves and how far this, and their level of acculturation, effected their cognitive and social functioning.

As a result of a sudden change of environment, immigrants often undergo a

‘culture shock’ (Ticho, 1971) which can result in a variety of psychological manifestations (Garza-Guerrero, 1974). Indeed, in the initial phase following migration, an immigrant may be considered to be emotionally vulnerable (Oppedal, Roysamb &

38Sam, 2004). Additionally, migration can pose threats to the

immigrant’s sense of identity. Differences in the new environment can be felt in many aspects of life, for example language, as well as how to find his or her place, in the new community and acquire

anew the social position and professional status s/he enjoyed in the homeland (Grinberg

& Grinberg, 1984). This can lead to a shake-up in a sense of self and a decrease in an individual’s self esteem (Akhtar, 1999). Similarly, these changes can result in a risk of mental health (Abebe, Lien & Hjelde, 2013), in particular depression (Chae, Park & Sun Kang, 2014). Feelings of self esteem and depression can add to a person’s mental workload (Croizet et al.,

2004, Bertilsson et al., 2013), and this in turn can affect their cognitive and social functioning (Wylie, 1979, Baumeister et al., 2003).

The study hypothesized that, as a result of the immigration process, newer immigrants would have lower self esteem and higher levels of depression than veteran immigrants and those Israeli born. In practice no differences in self esteem or depression were noted between the groups. Differences in levels of damage to self between the two groups were noted, as were levels of acculturation, with newer immigrants experiencing more damage to self and less acculturation than veteran immigrants. In addition, both damage to self and acculturation were connected to levels of self esteem and depression with higher damage to self and lower acculturation correlating with lower self esteem

and higher depression levels.

The damage to self questionnaire contains questions regarding the immigrant’s relationship with Israel (e.g. feeling Israeli culture is rude, feeling excited to be in Israel, feeling Israelis accept me, feeling I can’t relate to Israeli culture) and regarding the immigrant’s relationship with oneself (e.g. feeling sad, confused, humiliated). On comparison of the scores of the two types of questions, participants showed significantly

higher feelings of damage to self with regards to their relationship with Israel as opposed

39to with themselves. This would suggest that the significant

effects of immigration relate more to a sense of belonging and connecting to the new country rather than affecting a person’s relationship with himself. Similarly, immigrants that had been in Israel for longer felt significantly more acculturated than those who had been in Israel for less than two years. This was demonstrated through several areas including feeling a connection with Israel, having a strong Israeli identity, feeling a part of Israeli culture and demonstrating high levels of Hebrew.

As Grinberg & Grinberg (1989) point out, immigration is a stress-inducing situation, often involving “mourning” over the loss of family, friends, language, music, food, and so forth, which can involve a threat to the newcomer’s identity. The results suggest that while the process of immigration does have a negative effect on the sense of self, such as a loss of feelings of competence and a sense of belonging (Walsh and Horencyzk, 2001) this is mainly related to adjusting to the new country rather than changes with regards to a person’s relationship with themselves.

Indeed recent research seems to support these findings. Marcu’s (2011) examination of immigrants notes that getting out and learning about a new country, job security, and integration into society, were all critical in finding a place in a new country. Additionally, the themes that emerged in the re-construction of identity were the sense of language, the sense of

home, the fluidity of identity, personal ties and the future. In his research, Goldman (2014) found that belonging indicated a process by which immigrants gained a sense of identification with and inclusion in the new society. Immigrants' perception of belonging was affected by two themes, forming attachments and feeling acceptance (a reciprocal process of acceptance that revealed a struggle to accept cultural changes as well as the significance of feeling accepted as an equal member of society).

As such, the results of the study emphasized the centrality of feelings of belonging and

41attachment in the immigrant experience. It seems that it is

these feelings which are threatened as opposed to the immigrants feelings toward him/herself per se.

With regards to depression, it is possible that although, as studies suggest, immigration has an impact on psychological distress (Mirsky, 1997, Abebe, Lien & Hjelde, 2013) this distress shows itself through other symptoms rather than depression thus explaining the lack of significant differences in levels of depression between the three groups in the study. Indeed immigration has been related to anxiety disorders (Aglipay, Colman & Chen, 2013), emotional and behavioural problems (Derluyn, Broekaert & Schuyten, 2008) and PTSD (Foster, 2001).

The findings suggest that neither the act of immigration itself, nor the amount of time since immigration occurred, affect self esteem, rather it was a person’s sense of identity and belonging with regards to the new country, in other words their levels of acculturation, which was related to levels of self-esteem. The relationship between acculturation, and in particular identity, and self-esteem has been found to vary in a myriad of ways (Perez, 2011). In Sam’s (2000) study of immigrant adolescents in Norway, immigrant ethnic identity and Norwegian (host culture) identity were found to be positively correlated with self esteem. Benet-Martinez and Karakitapoglu-Ayguen (2003) found that self-esteem among Asian-American college students was positively related to American identity. Phinney et al. (1992) found that maintaining a positive identification with both one’s own culture and the mainstream culture predicted higher levels of self esteem. A long standing position in ethnic studies is that English proficiency has a strong impact on self esteem among individuals in the US with immigrant backgrounds (Jackson & Lassiter, 2001). Indeed the regular use of English is thought to increase self esteem by promoting a sense of competence (Schnittker, 2002).

These studies help us to understand the relationship found between acculturation and self

41esteem in this study and once again suggest that the

significant factor in immigration and its effects on individuals relates to their sense of identity and the changes the immigration process causes to it.

Acculturation levels were also found to correlate with depression levels. Sense of belonging is a concept which has been explicated and associated with mental health (Hagerty & Williams, 1999). Hagerty, Williams, Coyne, and Early (1996) posited that a lower sense of belonging is related to depression. It therefore stands to reason that those who feel they no longer belong to their home country but also are not acculturated within Israel would be more depressed. However research in this area appears to be sparse and further research is necessary to consider how far a sense of belonging is a determining factor in the depression levels of new immigrants. In summary, the research suggests that immigrants, when they first move to a new country, go through a process of acculturation, which relates to their ability to create a relationship with, and a sense of belonging within, the new country, and that those who have trouble acculturating will experience lower self esteem and higher levels of depression.

The study is one of the first to examine the effect of self esteem on cognitive functioning. The study hypothesized that low self esteem would result in lower performance on intellectual tasks as a result of added mental burden (Baumeister, 1984). From the various cognitive tests the participants were asked to perform, a correlation was found between scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and levels of self esteem, with those with higher levels of self esteem scoring higher on the test. With all other tests, no correlation was found. On further examination it was found that levels of self esteem significantly predicted scores on the Symbol Search test. The Symbol Search subtest is designed to assess information processing speed and visual perception. Cognitive

psychology has extensively studied the processes underlying mental workload and their

42consequence on human information processing suggesting that

increased mental workload will negatively affect information processing (Croizet et al., 2004). It could therefore be that self esteem indeed affects mental workload in a manner which influences the ability to process information speedily, but does not influence other cognitive functions, and this would explain the results. However since mental workload was not examined directly it is not known if this is indeed the cause, or if some other reason lies behind the results. Further research is clearly needed to further determine which areas of cognitive function are specifically affected by a decrease in self esteem.

Interestingly, when each of the groups was separated out, it was found that the relationship between self esteem and performance on the Wechsler Symbol Search test was only present

for the immigrant groups, not the Israelis. In other words, self esteem appears to affect the performance of immigrants on the Wechsler Symbol Search test but not the performance of Israelis. It’s possible that self esteem is linked to different areas for those from English speaking countries opposed to Israelis. Perhaps, outside of Israel more of an emphasis is placed on cognitive functioning (e.g. academic performance, performance at work) whereas in Israel there are a greater variety of methods that cause

self esteem to be boosted, for example serving in the army or physical agility. As a result, the self esteem of immigrants may have more impact on cognitive tests than for Israelis.

Indeed research has shown enormous cross-cultural differences in abilities to comprehend text and to solve mathematical problems (Boehnke, 2005). Boehnke (2005) proposes that high achievement value preferences can endanger performance by increasing students’ anxiety levels: High achievement value preferences are assumed to increase perceived achievement pressure from parents, which in turn increases anxieties and lowers students’ self-esteem, which itself is central to good academic performance.

Boehnke (2005) compares the high achievement values of students in Canada, Germany

43and Israel. He finds that in Canada the impact of high

achievement value preferences on mathematical self-esteem is substantially larger than in the other two countries, thereby leading to a stronger indirect impact of values on grades. The role of parental achievement expectations in Israel, however, differs from the other two countries. While in Germany and Canada, high perceived parental achievement expectations are a hotbed of manifest anxiety; this may not be the case in Israel.

This goes some way in assisting in understanding why self esteem for immigrants

would affect cognitive performance, whilst it doesn’t for Israelis, but further investigation needs to occur to fully understand. Similarly, research has shown that educational achievement increases as acculturation increases (Won, 1989), therefore it is possible that in the period after immigration when acculturation is lower, and is burdening the individual, self esteem is much lower and therefore has much more of an effect on cognitive functioning. Alternatively the differences between the groups may be due to the small number of participants.

A negative correlation was also found between the scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and levels of depression for all three groups. In other words, the higher the level of depression, the lower the test scores. This would suggest that, as with self esteem, depression influences the cognitive functions of information processing speed and/or visual perception. In adults

with major depressive disorder empirical evidence supports the existence of moderate but significant cognitive deficits (Wagner et al., 2014). However recent research has expressed that, due to divergent findings, a picture consolidating which cognitive domains and functions are affected has yet to be elucidated (Hammar et al., 2010). Some studies have shown that depression interferes

with automatic information processing (Suslaw et at., 2004). Further studies are clearly

44needed to determine why this particular test was affected by

levels of depression whilst others were not.Since no differences were found in self esteem between the

three groups, the hypothesis that immigration effects self esteem which in turn affects cognitive function was not proven. However differences in cognitive functioning between the three groups were found, suggesting that other factors may affect the mental burden and in turn the cognitive functioning of immigrants. Firstly, a difference was identified between results of the Israelis versus the immigrants with Israelis scoring higher on the Raven Full Test than their immigrant counterparts. The Raven test measures problem solving ability

(Raven et al., 1993), fluid intelligence (Cattell, 1963) and analytic intelligence (Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990).

Since this difference does not appear to be related to self esteem, the cause of this difference needs to be examined. According to Kaniel and Fisherman (1991) there is a consensus amongst psychologists that minority and immigrant groups score lower than dominant groups in IQ tests. They explain this in two ways. One approach suggests that ethnic differences and genetic makeup are a source of variation in the timing of cognitive development. The other approach suggests that differences are due to differences in culturally-induced psychological, cognitive and behavioral strategies.

Additionally, it may be that stress, in particular acculturation stress, is causing the differences between the groups. Indeed stress has been found to be cause cognitive impairments (Robinson et al., 2003), and interfere with cognitive control and tasks, in particular verbal and spatial working memory (Koric et al., 2012), and controlled task focused thinking (Kivimaki & Lusa, 1994). Alternatively, differences in education systems and methods, of the various countries could also be of influence here. For

example the Israeli education system involves psychometric testing for entrance into

45university which tests, verbal reasoning, quantitative

reasoning and English. It is possible that the training and preparation for these tests assisted the Israelis in performing better in the Raven test. This area remains unstudied and requires further research.

Cognitive functioning was found to be effected both by damage to self and acculturation. The results suggest that those will higher levels of damage to self perform less well on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and the Raven 20 tests with those more acculturated scoring better on these tests. On further examination it was found that levels of acculturation are the most significant predictor of results on the Raven 20 test. In particular the control over Hebrew language is the largest predictor of higher results on the test. With regards to the Wechsler Symbol Search test, although levels of acculturation and damage to self do seem to predict results on this test, it would appear that self esteem is the most significant predictor here.

There are several possible explanations for the finding regarding acculturation levels and results on the Raven 20 test. It may be that, as previously suggested, the immigration process effects mental burden, which is turn has an effect of the areas of cognitive functioning that the Raven’s test measures. Indeed Herrera (1998) found that acculturation is an important moderator variable in relation to the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices even after controlling for education and age. As stated, further examination of this area needs to be carried out in order to understand this relationship better.

An alternative explanation may be related to language. The Raven’s Standard

Progressive Matrices is a widely used test of non-verbal reasoning ability (Stone, Wong

& Lo, 2000). Indeed the Raven’s Progressive Matrices epitomize one of the first and most successful attempts to present inductive reasoning and analogical tasks in non- verbal format (Cockcroft & Israel, 2011). However, some studies have shown that the

46Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices include the assessment of

a verbal-analytic factor (Lynn, Allik & Irving, 2004). The verbal element measured appears to involve using rules for analysis, coding and transforming relationships (Olson, 1986). Cockcroft and Israel (2011) found a modest, but statistically significant relationship between verbal- analytic ability and the Raven Advanced Matrices. It may therefore be that the results on the Raven’s test are related to the participant’s language skills as opposed to their levels of acculturation. Further research needs to be carried out to determine whether or not

results on the Raven’s test can be predicted by control of the Hebrew language as a factor

of acculturation or as a result of language abilities. In addition, since Israelis scored higher on the Raven 20 test than both immigrant groups the connection between the Hebrew language and this test definitely warrants further consideration. In summary, it can be seen that those immigrants who have trouble acculturating and whose self esteem is low as a result, and whose Hebrew is not of a high level, will demonstrate poorer cognitive functioning.

As was expected a relationship was found between levels of self esteem and depression and social functioning with those with lower self esteem and higher depression levels functioning less well. Interestingly though, on further examination this was only found for the new immigrants and Israelis but not the case for the veteran immigrants. Similarly a link was found between damage to self and social functioning, however for veteran Israelis this was linked to levels of damage to self in their first two years in Israel as opposed to their current levels. With regards to acculturation, a significant correlation was found for new immigrants between strong Israeli identities and higher scores on social functioning tests. For veteran immigrants however, only those who felt a stronger control of the Hebrew language, scored higher on the social

functioning tests.

47The differences between the groups, with regards to the effect

of self esteem and depression, on social functioning, are difficult to interpret. It is unclear as to why the veteran immigrant participants would function differently to the other two groups. Some studies have shown that people’s own evaluations of their ethnic group are likely linked to their personal self-esteem (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014). Another study has shown that this is true of first-generation immigrants (i.e., for those born outside the United States), but not of second generation (i.e., those born in the United States to at least one immigrant parent), (Wiley, Perkins, & Deaux, 2008). Perhaps veteran immigrants are closer in status to second generation immigrants, and their evaluation of their immigrant group drastically changes over time, and therefore their levels of self esteem are significantly different from newer immigrants in regards to how they evaluate those around them, which in turn effects their social functioning.

It is possible that the small number of participants in each group accounts for the differences. Or perhaps, having lived in Israel for a longer period of time, the veteran immigrants have juggled enough trials and tribulations that their self esteem has strengthened and is not in any way related to outside factors. Little if no research appears to have been carried out examining this area and therefore further consideration of these factors needs to occur.

With regards to damage to self, it is possible that levels of damage to self only effect social functioning when damage to self levels are particularly low, as would be expected in the first two years of immigration, and that once levels reach a certain point there is no longer a link to social functioning. Since we found that self esteem is connected to social functioning and that acculturation levels effect self esteem it is not

surprising to find that acculturation levels also effect social functioning. Indeed one

48would expect that those who felt a strong identity with Israel

and a better control of

Hebrew to find it easier to form relationships.

Migration scholars have paid little attention to the relationship between language skills and feelings of belonging or exclusion for immigrants and refugees (Nawyn et al.,

2012). Some exceptions include Warriner (2007) who found that ESL instruction neglected language learning that would help Sudanese refugee women engage with their new surroundings, and Allen (2007) who found that in communities without sufficient language support, refugees can experience significant social isolation. It is therefore unsurprising that control of Hebrew language has an effect on social relationships, however this area requires further examination.

The findings of this research have several implications. With regards to the effect of self esteem and depression on certain cognitive functions, it would be beneficial to utilize this information within educational systems (such as schools and universities) in order to examine how far these elements are effecting students’ abilities. If educational systems would take this into account and provide students with help dealing with their self esteem and depression issues, not only would this positively affect their well being but it would also enable them to advance rather than creating experiences of failure.

The research also has implications for countries that deal with a large influx of immigrants, in particular Israel. Since the study suggests that an immigrant’s sense of identity and belonging with regards to their new country, will affect their self esteem and depression levels, efforts should be made to assist the immigrants in adjusting to the new country in order to help increase their state of well being and decrease the possibility of psychological distress. This in turn will assist in both their cognitive and social functioning which will have wider implications in terms of finding work and becoming

active and contributing members of society.

49Additionally, of particular importance are the effects of

learning Hebrew when moving to Israel as this appears to be a predicting factor in elements of cognitive functioning. As well as ensuring that immigrants are assisted in learning the language, this should also be a consideration with regards to any tests that new immigrants may take, for example matriculation or psychometric tests as this may significantly affect

their ability to succeed. A program currently exists that provides alternative psychometric testing for Ethiopian-Israeli students applying to Bar Ilan University. Similar such

projects should be considered for other immigrant groups. English speaking immigrants may not usually be provided with such assistance since they are often from educated backgrounds (Rebhun & Waxman, 2000). However this research suggests that they too, may need additional assistance.

This study has several limitations. First and foremost the number of participants. In order for the finds to be examined in more depth a wider study will need to be carried out. Since the study is examining levels of self esteem and depression of immigrant groups, it would have been beneficial to have been able to measure immigrant’s levels of self esteem and depression before the immigration process as well as during, in order to better identify the influential factors. Similarly for cognitive and social functioning, the study would have more impact had the levels of cognitive and social functioning of the immigrants been measured before and after immigration in order to determine how far any differences are in fact related to the immigration process. Future research should be carried out which examines immigrants over time, from before immigration until several years after, in order to better determine which factors are influenced by the immigration process and which are related specifically to the individual.

The study finds the control of Hebrew language is a significant predictor of

scores on the Raven 20 test. This is thought to be within the context of acculturation.

51However it is possible that this is linked to a person’s

language skills and their ability to acquire a new language. Once again research that looks at immigrants before as well as during the immigration process, in particular their scores on the Raven 20 test and their knowledge and acquisition of the Hebrew language, would better assist in determining the influential factors. It would also be beneficial to carry out similar studies with

immigrants from other countries and also to other countries in order to determine how far these factors are characteristic of all immigrants and for all languages or specific to Israel and to the Hebrew language.

In conclusion, this study has found that immigrants moving to Israel from English speaking countries seem to be tackling the issue of creating a sense of belonging with the new culture and environment, noted through their levels of acculturation. This process appears to be affecting their levels of self esteem and depression, with those struggling to acculturate experiencing lower self esteem and higher levels of depression. In addition their levels of acculturation have an influence on their levels of cognitive functioning in certain areas, as well as their social functioning. In particular, within the acculturation process, success at learning Hebrew appears to have the most influence on cognitive functioning levels. Additionally self esteem and depression were also found to have a direct link with cognitive and social functioning, although this appears to be

unrelated to the immigration process.

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