Abstract

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 immigrants 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 individuals 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 persons 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 persons 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 questionnaireswhich examined their levels of self esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), depression (Beck's Depression

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 persons sense of self, as well as their cognitive and social abilities, before the immigrationprocess occurs.

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

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 formsthe 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 theacculturation process as potentially stressful because of difficulties which can include

2language 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 psychologicalchanges 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-

3esteem 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 ones 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 threatsto 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 immigrantcannot resume the vocation he has practiced hitherto. Low self esteem and cynicism may

be frequent in such situations (Akhtar, 1999).

4The 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 whichare 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 peoples 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 ethnicgroup (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 persons 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 persons 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 warranta 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 riskfor developing mental illness than mainstream populations (Abebe, Lien & Hjelde, 2013). Depression during the acculturation process has been reported as one of the mostprevalent 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 persons sense of self to become temporarily disorganized. A persons ability to return overcome this

7situation 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 distressamong 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 orher 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 willresult 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 academicperformance. 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 alarge 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 daysthan 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 adultswith 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 patients 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) betterworkplace 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). Depressionhas 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 persons 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 outcomefor 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 (OConnor et al., 2010).Acculturative stress is often defined as stress that occurs in the process of adaptation to the host culture from a persons 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 andcultural 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 thelevel 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 individuals 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 relationshipbetween 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, approximately100,000 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 populationto 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 notedthat 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 persons 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 esteemand 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, selfesteem and depression will not differ from those of their Israeli counterparts.

18

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 andmarital status backgrounds (see table 2).

19Table 1 Average Age of Participants

NewImmigrantsN Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation

33 23 39 28.88 3.967

VeteranImmigrants31 26 47 32.1 4.308

Israelis 31 26 35 30.03 2.121

Table 2: Socio-demographic data on participants (%)

New Immigrants Veteran Immigrants IsraelisMale 57.6 61.3 38.7Female 42.4 38.7 61.3

Bagrut only (or equivalent) 6.1 3.2 3.2Partial Academic Education 3 16.1 9.7BA 54.5 54.8 41.9MA/Phd 36.4 25.8 45.2

Single 69.7 48.4 80.6Married 27.3 51.6 19.4Divorced 3 0 0

Fulltime Employment 51.5 74.2 74.2Part time Employment 27.3 12.9 12.9Unemployed 21.2 12.9 12.9

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 ofreligiousness.

212. Rosenbergs 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 inprevious studies (Sinclair et al., 2010) and was also found to be reliable in this study, Cronbachs

Alpha = 0.82.

3. Walshs 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 dont 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 withregards to how they currently feel. This questionnaire was only filled in by the immigrant

groups

214. 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 isntas 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 howa 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 participants homeland and Israel (e.g. Being past of English culture is embarrassing to me, I feel that moving to Israeli was one of the mostimportant 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 thatthe 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 where1=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). Testswere 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 subjects 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 ofdigits 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 als (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 youre just getting to know.), c) asserting displeasure with others (e.g. Saying no when a date/acquaintance asks you to do something you dont 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 dont 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- Im poor at this; Id feel so uncomfortable and unable to handle this situation to 5- Im EXTREMELY good at this; Id feel very comfortable and could handle this situation very well. The questionnaire has been found to be reliable and valid (Buhrmester et al., 1988). Thisquestionnaire 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 participants 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 wasno 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 theIsraelis and new immigrants was significant, p