%0 Journal Article
%T Toward a Positive Psychology of Immigrants
%A Alan Meca
%A Charles R. Martinez
%A Cory L. Cobb
%A Dong Xie
%A Ludwin E. Molina
%A Maria Cecilia Zea
%A Nyla R. Branscombe
%A Seth J. Schwartz
%J Perspectives on Psychological Science
%@ 1745-6924
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1745691619825848
%X The vast majority of immigration-focused research in psychology is rooted in deficit models that center on negative health outcomes (e.g., depression, acculturative stress, anxiety, substance use), resulting in a widely held assumption that immigrants are at greater risk for pathology and poor well-being compared with native-born individuals. Moreover, current political discourse often portrays immigrants as more prone to crime compared with native-born individuals. From a positive-psychology perspective, we argue that, despite numerous migration-related challenges, many immigrant populations report positive patterns of psychological health. We also provide evidence that immigrants are, in fact, less prone to crime than their native-born counterparts. We conclude by discussing several contributing factors that account for positive immigrant well-being across the range of destination countries. Ultimately, the field should address questions regarding (a) immigrants¡¯ strategies for coping with the challenges involved in adapting to new homelands and (b) asset-based factors that help immigrants to thrive during difficult life challenges
%K immigrants
%K strength
%K well-being
%K positive psychology
%K adaptation
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691619825848