Successful assimilation of refugees in their host country is an important prerequisite of psychological well-being. Refugees' satisfaction in the new country is one of key indicators of their assimilation. The satisfaction with their host country was assessed for 54 Kurdish refugees of mean age of 35.8 yr. (SD = 10.9) via an 8-item rating scale partly based on Cernovsky's Assimilation Scale. The 36 men and 18 women had resided in the host country for a mean of 4.5 yr. (SD = 4.0). An overall score was calculated from ratings of satisfaction with personal safety, health, employment, food, financial security, social life, and entertainment. This overall score was unrelated to age, sex, and employment status. Those who emigrated at a younger age (r = -.28, p = .03) and those with lower education reported more satisfaction with their host country (r = -.28, p = .03) perhaps because they could more easily and rapidly re-establish social status comparable to what they had in their homeland than could older refugees from Kurdistan's higher educational strata.

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refugee psychological aspect human Refugees middle aged Ethnic Groups ethnic group Turkey (republic) Iraq Adaptation, Psychological Great Britain ethnology Iran Humans male Canada Acculturation Socioeconomic Factors female adaptive behavior socioeconomics cultural factor Article adult Turkey United Kingdom