PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AND ACCULTURATION STRATEGIES IN AFRO-COLOMBIANS IMMIGRANTS IN NORTHERN CHILE

In Chile, immigration is one of the nation's most important issues. Adjustment strategies to the new social environment affect psychological well-being (PW-B) in the migration process. The aim of this study was to describe the strategies of acculturation used by Afro-Colombian immigrants and its relationship with PW-B. The scales of psychological well-being and acculturation strategies were applied to 186 people immigrants of Colombian nationality, residing in Northern Chile. Of these, 64% were women. The average of age was of 32 years (TD=9.4). Models were constructed to bring together participants in successful PW-B levels and included variables of synthesis considering the combination of options of maintenance/no maintenance of its own culture and the accession/non-accession to the dominant culture of the host country to represent the types of acculturation strategies employed. The most relevant determinants for higher PW-B were: education level, residence in Antofagasta and the use of strategies to preserve the original culture or to integrate with native residents.