How Acculturation Affects Settlement Intentions of Chinese Rural-Urban Migrants: The Mediating Roles of Socioeconomic Status and Psychological Well-Being

Zhongshan Yue, Xi’an Jiaotong University
Zhixuan Chen, Xi'an Jiaotong University
Shuzhuo Li, Xi'an Jiaotong University
Ming Wen, University of Utah

Rural-urban migrants inevitably experience a process of acculturation. However, few studies have addressed how acculturation affects settlement intentions of rural-urban migrants. Using data from a survey of rural-urban migrants in 2015-2016 in Guangdong, China, this paper not only examines the link between acculturation and settlement intentions but also explores mediating roles of socioeconomic status (SES) and psychological well-being for this link. The study considers acculturation as a multidimensional (including changes of cultural practices, values, and identifications) and bicultural (with orientation towards both the culture of original rural society and the host culture of urban society) process and identifies four categories of acculturation (two subtypes of integration and two subtypes of separation) by latent class analysis. Results show that migrants in both subtypes of integration were more inclined to settle down in the host city than those in separation subtypes. The settlement effect of acculturation was partially mediated by socioeconomic status (assessed by perceived SES and income) and psychological well-being (assessed by life satisfaction). Integrated migrants generally enjoyed higher levels of socioeconomic status and psychological well-being, through which acculturation increases their likelihood of settling in cities.

Keywords: Internal Migration and Urbanization, Population and Development

See paper.