Social Mobility Among United States Immigrants: A Psychology of Working Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate subjective social mobility among U.S. immigrants—here referred to as shifts in experiences of marginalization and economic constraints before and after immigration—and assess how mobility is related to a host of theoretically informed predictors and outcomes. Surveys were completed by 242 employed U.S. immigrants who had been in the United States for an average of 11.65 years. A latent profile analysis was conducted which identified four groups with different social mobility types: subjective upward mobility, privileged, underprivileged, and subjective downward mobility. Four times as many participants experienced downward versus upward mobility (38.4% vs. 10.3%), with the majority maintaining a privileged (21.9%) or underprivileged (29.3%) status. Additionally, the downward mobility group had significantly lower work volition, work need satisfaction, and decent work compared to other groups. Implications for counseling practice, advocacy, and research for socially mobile immigrants are discussed.