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    MUSSI Working Paper Series No – 27 Adjustment and Intra-Individual Value Change in Migrants: The Mediating Role of Host Country Embeddedness


    Mockaitis, Audra, Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė, Vilmanté, Ferrari, Emanuela and Ó Maonaigh, Conchúr (2025) MUSSI Working Paper Series No – 27 Adjustment and Intra-Individual Value Change in Migrants: The Mediating Role of Host Country Embeddedness. Working Paper. Maynooth University Social Science Institute (MUSSI), Maynooth.

    Abstract

    The notion that cultural values are inherently stable is an accepted tenet in cross-cultural research. However, there is ongoing debate about the stability of individual values. While much of the literature has focused on the stability of cultural values, few studies have systematically examined whether and how individual values change in the context of migration. Migration represents a significant life transition that challenges individuals to adapt to a new cultural and social environment, making it an ideal context for studying intra-individual value change. In general, there are few studies in the literature that measure changing values within individuals (Schuster, Pinkowski, & Fischer, 2019). Studies by Bardi et al. (2014), Lönnqvist et al. (2011, 2013), and Rudnev (2014), are among the few that have explored values change in migrants, offering valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying this process. However, the broader literature has primarily concentrated on the influence of individual values on aspects of acculturation or adaptation by migrants to their host country (e.g., Ward & Searle, 1991); the impact of migration on values change is largely underexplored, and there is still a gap in our understanding about how migration shapes individual values and the processes through which such changes occur. Our study takes a different approach by examining how in country adjustment leads to intra-individual value change in migrants. We base our study on the premise that values are dynamic and subject to change when individuals encounter significant disruption or change to their lives, such as through a major life event like immigration. The decision to commit to a new life in a different culture and the processes associated with adapting to the host country can profoundly alter one's perspective. Interactions with host country individuals repeatedly challenge personal beliefs and assumptions, which may lead to a re-evaluation of values over time. This interaction manifests in various ways, including an acceptance of the host culture as "home" and a gradual adaptation of individual values, depending on the degree of comfort and acceptance individuals feel toward their new environment, or how embedded they are in the host country. Bierwiaczonek and Waldzus (2016) highlight that the literature on cross-cultural adaptation has tended to focus on specific subpopulations, such as expatriates and international students, often neglecting the socio-cultural adaptation of first-generation migrants. They argue that because migrants are generally more committed to settling in their host countries than temporary sojourners, it is often assumed that they attain satisfactory adaptation over time. This assumption, however, overlooks the unique challenges and contextual influences faced by first generation migrants, and the longer term outcomes of transition to the host country context, which remain underexplored in the literature. For these reasons, we focus on European migrants from Lithuania, voluntary migrants, who have chosen to settle permanently in their host countries. Our study seeks to address these gaps by investigating whether and how individual values change as a consequence of migration and the mechanisms through which these changes occur. Specifically, we examine how in-country adjustment influences values change and the mediating role of host country embeddedness. Using a sample of 1,687 voluntary migrants to four European Union host countries, we aim to provide new insights into the literature on values in the migration context by generating a deeper understanding about how migrants’ individual values change in the process of adapting to new environments.
    Item Type: Monograph (Working Paper)
    Additional Information: Funding. This project was supported by the Lithuanian Research Council, grant number S MIP-23-115
    Keywords: adjustments; intra-individual value; migrants' mediating role; Host Country Embeddedness;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute, MUSSI
    Item ID: 21860
    Identification Number: 10.48460/MU.MURAL.00021860
    Depositing User: Audra Mockaitis
    Date Deposited: 23 Sep 2026 14:00
    Publisher: Maynooth University Social Science Institute (MUSSI)
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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