Identity Threats and Individual, Relational, and Social Resources among Refugees in Italy

Abstract

Young people who migrate to another country, especially in the context of forced migration, must face complex and lengthy challenges. From a psychological point of view, the main challenges of migration are the re-signification of one’s identity, the re-establishment of one’s own life in the new country, and facing different social and institutional challenges as well as individual difficulties. All these challenges may constitute a threat to young migrants’ identity. Based on the Motivated Identity Construction Theory, this study aimed to explore—in a sample of refugees—the identity threats faced by forced migrants in the settlement phase and the resources most frequently activated in dealing with this sensitive phase.

Keywords

• identity needs
• migration
• identity threat
• refugees
• resources