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The Influence of Culture of Honor and Emotional Intelligence in the Acculturation of Moroccan Immigrant Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2014

Esther Lopez-Zafra  and
Karima El Ghoudani
Esther Lopez-Zafra*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Jaén (Spain)
Karima El Ghoudani
Affiliation:
Universidad de Jaén (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Esther Lopez-Zafra. Departamento de Psicología. Universidad de Jaén. Campus Las Lagunillas S/N. 23071. Jaén (Spain). E-mail: elopez@ujaen.es
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Abstract

Migration is a normal process of people seeking new opportunities, work, or leisure in societies. The way people adapt to a new country (acculturation) is a complex process in which immigrants’ evaluations about the culture of origin and their perceptions of the host country interact. The combination of these two factors produces four types of acculturation: separation, assimilation, integration, and marginalization. Several variables, such as personality, attitudes, and emotional intelligence, have been studied to help explain this process. However, the impact of a culture of honor and its interaction with other variables remains an open question that may help to explain how migrants can better adjust to their host culture. In this study, we examine the influence of the culture of honor (social) and emotional intelligence (individual) on acculturation. In a sample of 129 Moroccan women (mean age = 29, SD = 9.40) immigrants in Spain (mean time in Spain = 6 years, SD = 3.60), we investigated the relations among the variables of interest. Our results show that no significant differences emerged in the scores given for culture of honor (CH) and the acculturation strategies of the Moroccan immigrant women F(3, 99) = .233; p = .87. However women who preferred the integration strategy scored highest on emotional intelligence (EI), whereas the assimilated immigrants showed the lowest scores for EI F(3, 92) = 4.63; p = .005. Additionally, only in the case of integration does EI mediate between CH and the value given to the immigrant’s own and host cultures (p <.001).

Keywords

acculturationculture of honoremotional intelligenceMoroccan immigrantwomen
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 17 , 2014 , E49
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014 

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