Abstract

Indeed, in the initial phase following migration, an immigrant may be considered to

be emotionally vulnerable. The predominant feelings can include intense pain and
longing for all that one has left behind or lost, fear of the unknown, deep-rooted
loneliness, need, and helplessness.
Additionally, migration can pose threats to the immigrants sense of identity.
Differences in the new environment can be felt in many aspects of life, for example
language, as well as how to find his or her place, in the new community and acquire
anew the social position and professional status s/he enjoyed in the homeland. This
can lead to a shake-up in a sense of self and a decrease in an individuals self
esteem. Similarly, these changes can result in a risk of mental health, in particular
depression. Feelings of self esteem and depression can add to a persons mental
workload, and this in turn can affect their cognitive and social functioning.
Based on these understandings and previous research, this study examines whether the
immigration process influences a persons levels of self esteem and depression,
comparing immigrants from English speaking countries who have been in Israel for
two years or less, to those who have been there for eight to twelve years, with Israeli
born and raised. It then examines to what extent these hypothesized changes affect
levels of cognitive and social functioning. Ninety five participants who fitted the
criteria for each of the above groups, aged from 23-47, took part in the study which
involved carrying out a series of questionnaires
which examined their levels of self esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), depression (Beck's
Depression
The findings of this research have several implications. It would be beneficial to
utilize the effect of self esteem and depression on certain cognitive functions, within
educational systems (such as schools and universities) in order to examine how far
these elements are effecting students abilities. Efforts should be made by host
countries to assist immigrants in adjusting to the new country in order to help increase
their state of well being and decrease the possibility of psychological distress. This in
turn will assist in both their cognitive and social functioning which will have wider
implications in terms of finding work and becoming active and contributing members
of society. The importance of learning the new language needs to be considered by the
host country when providing assistance to new immigrants, as does the need to
provide suitably adapted matriculation and psychometric tests.
Further research needs to be carried out in order to determine how far the findings of
this study are directly related to the immigration process, and how far they are
influenced by a persons sense of self, as well as their cognitive and social
abilities, before the immigration
process occurs.

The problems of adaptation are enormous and range from cultural and religious to
financial (Thranhardt, 2000).
In this study the effects of immigration on immigrants from English speaking
countries are examined. The study looks at how immigration may affect a person's
sense of self and feelings of self esteem. The effects this may have on an immigrant's
cognitive and social functioning are also examined. The study also examines how far
effects are temporary or lessen as time passes and the immigrant acculturates into the
host society.
To the best of our knowledge, no previous research has been carried out on the
cognitive functioning of immigrants. Previous research has considered the
relationship between immigrants and low self esteem (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014)
and between self esteem and cognitive functioning (Baumeister et al., 2003, Makar,
2013), however research has yet to be carried out which examines the cognitive
functioning of
immigrants as a function of low self esteem. Such research can help us to understand
the experiences of immigrants when first moving to a new country. The research also
has social implications. It may enable relevant bodies, be it work places, universities
and colleges or schools to understand and to make appropriate allowances for
immigrants. In addition, little research has been carried out that considers the effect of
self esteem on
social performance. Some research has shown a link between low social performance
and

2. Theoretical Background
2.1 The Experience of Immigration
Immigration occurs when an individual moves from one country to another or from
one region to another where the second is sufficiently distant and different from the
first, for a sufficiently prolonged period of time such that one would consider the
person as living in another country, there taking up the activities of daily life. This
idea forms
the basis for the definitions found in most studies of migration: the action and effect
of moving from one country to another for the purpose of settling there (Grinberg &
Grinberg, 1984). Regardless of whether it is from one country to another or from one
region to another region of the same country, immigration can lead to what has been
termed "culture shock" (Oberg, 1960). Ticho (1971) has described culture shock as a
result of sudden change from an "average expectable environment" to a strange and
unpredictable one.

The intricate process that follows such a confrontation or a cultural encounter can be
rich in psychological manifestations, whose intensity, form and content may depend
upon a diversity of functional variables (Garza-Guerrero, 1974). Many models of
acculturation have been suggested but the large majority of them conceptualize the
acculturation process as potentially stressful because of difficulties which can include

2
language problems, perceived discrimination, perceived cultural incompatibilities, and
identity conflicts (Berry, 1997). Negative outcomes can occur when stressors of this
kind exceed the individual's coping resources, or protecting mediators (Liebkind,
2001). The consequent anxiety challenges the stability of the newcomer's psychic
organization (Akhtar, 1999). Berry (1997) however points out that for some, the
psychological
changes may be rather easy to accomplish. He suggests that psychological adaptations
to acculturation are a matter of learning a new behavioral repertoire that is appropriate
for the new cultural context. In fact, rigorous research and analysis has cast doubt on
the inevitability of an association between immigrant status and psychological
disorders, as several factors have been found to moderate the relationship (Berry,
1997).
In the initial phase following migration, an immigrant may be considered to be
emotionally vulnerable (Oppedal, Roysamb & Sam, 2004). Psychoanalytic literature
has suggested that in the first stage of the migratory process, the predominant feelings
can include intense pain and longing for all that one has left behind or lost, fear of the
unknown, deep-rooted loneliness, need, and helplessness. Paranoid, disorienting, and
depressive anxieties may alternate with one another, leaving the person prone to
periods of total disorganization (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). In summary, migration
can be considered as a potentially traumatic experience characterized by a series of
partially traumatic events and at the same time represents a crisis situation (Foster,
2001). The crisis may trigger a decision to emigrate or, conversely, may reflect the
impact of the migration (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984).

2.2 Immigration and Self Esteem and Depression

Self-esteem is literally defined by how much value people place on themselves. It is
the evaluative component of self-knowledge (Baumeister et al., 2003). High self-

3
esteem refers to a highly favourable global evaluation of the self (Baumeister et al.,
2003). Self reported self-esteem does not carry any definitional requirement of
accuracy whatsoever and is thus perception rather than an objective measure
(Baumeister et al.,

2003).
Kernberg (1967) suggests that mental health involves the feeling of continuity,
consistency and confirmation in ones self image or identity. Establishing a sense
of identity means maintaining stability in the face of changing circumstances and life
cycles. Events such as migration, which cause drastic change in a person's life, can
pose threats
to the sense of identity (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). Victor Tausk (1919) who
introduced the term identity in psychoanalytic literature, maintained that just as a
child discovers objects and his own self, so an adult in his struggle for selfpreservation frequently repeats the experience of "finding himself" and "feeling like
himself." The immigrant in his struggle for self-preservation needs to hold onto
various elements of his native environment (familiar objects, music, memories, and
dreams representing different aspects of his native land) in order to be able to feel like
himself (Akhtar, 1999).
However, the immigrant may need to re-negotiate elements of his identity, at least
temporarily, in order to become integrated in the new environment (Grinberg &
Grinberg,
1984). These differences can be felt by the immigrant in many aspects of life, for
example language as well as how to find his place, his spot, in the new community
and acquire anew the social position and professional status he enjoyed in his
homeland. No one knows him, and feeling anonymous increases his inner insecurity
(Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). Problems also arise when, owing to the more
demanding requirements in the host country, or to the inherent nature of his skills
themselves, an immigrant
cannot resume the vocation he has practiced hitherto. Low self esteem and cynicism
may
be frequent in such situations (Akhtar, 1999).

4
The need to give up a part of his or her individuality can result in the immigrant
feeling a sense of loss. In all object losses a simultaneous loss of parts of the self
accompanies the person's sorrow for the lost object (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984). Any
sense of loss is accompanied by a state of mourning. Freud (1917, p.243) stated that
"Mourning is regularly the reaction to the loss of a loved person, or to the loss of
some abstraction which has taken the place of one, such as one's country, liberty, an
ideal and so on." Freud regarded such melancholic patients as having low self-esteem,
which arises out of the ambivalence felt for the lost object, and assumed that in an
ideal model of mourning the absence of hostility to the lost object accounted for the
lack of low self- esteem. Similarly, Bibring (1953) considered depression, just like
anxiety, a "state of the ego" and felt that low self-esteem was the common
denominator of depression (Garza- Guerrero, 1974). This therefore suggests that any
immigrant who is forced to give up a part of his sense of self will experience low selfesteem and depressive feelings as a result.

Indeed research that has examined the impact of immigration on sense of self
confirms this. Ben David (1996) found that immigrants showed fewer feelings of
confidence in the predictability and explicability of one's environment, together with
feelings of confidence in one's inner resources. Walsh and Horencyzk (2001)
examining English speaking immigrants in Israel, describe the loss of feelings of
competence and a sense of belonging. In Walsh et al.'s (2007) research on the impact
of immigration on young adults the subjects described feelings such as shame, failure
and a lack of competence; injury to their pride, feelings of being unwanted, different
and not understood; and feelings of instability and a lack of sense of belonging, many
of which
are feelings which are a part of or result in low self esteem.

5
How people think that others evaluate them has long been believed to influence how
they evaluate themselves, an insight that has been extended to peoples group
memberships (Deaux, 1993). How people think that others evaluate the groups that
they belong to (public regard) can influence how they themselves evaluate their
groups (private regard). Evidence supports an indirect link between how first- and
second- generation immigrants think that people in the heritage culture evaluate their
ethnic
group (i.e., public regard) and self-esteem, via how immigrants themselves evaluate
their ethnic group (i.e., private regard) (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014).
Though the above suggests that the immigration process affects a persons sense
of self, its direct relation to self esteem has yet to be examined. Noticeably most
research which concentrates on acculturation and self esteem has been carried out on
adolescents and students. In addition, most research looked at the effect of
acculturation on self esteem and not the other way around other. Any research that did
test the effect of self esteem on acculturation was not causal. The following study will
therefore examine how far the immigration process directly affects a persons self
esteem, in comparison to Israeli-born counterparts.
Depression is often used as a common descriptor for feeling emotionally low, but it
may manifest as a severe chronic clinical condition (McTernan et al., 2013). The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, provides
diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder and Depressive Episodes as
depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities for more than two
weeks, impaired social, occupational, and educational function with at least 5
different symptoms (e.g. depressed mood, decreased pleasure in activities, weight
change, insomnia, diminished ability to concentrate). Sub clinical depression is when
symptoms are not strong enough to warrant
a clinical diagnosis (McTernan et al., 2013).

6
The relationship between migration and mental health has been the subject of studies
for several decades and is considered a public health challenge in many countries. In
most studies, immigrants and their descendents have been found to be at greater risk
for developing mental illness than mainstream populations (Abebe, Lien & Hjelde,
2013). Depression during the acculturation process has been reported as one of the
most
prevalent health problems for immigrant women (Chae, Park & Sun Kang, 2014).
Mental health outcomes associated with migration may vary depending on factors
such as socio- cultural and economic contexts, gender, generation, acculturation or
social integration,
and the conditions and reasons under which migration takes place (Abebe, Lien &
Hjelde,
2013). Depressive symptoms have also been attributed to face demands for adaptation
to an unfamiliar system, as well as to discrimination and rejection from the host
population (Yu, Stewart, Liu & Lam, 2012).
Immigrants may encounter many stresses during the process of acculturating to a new
country. This acculturative stress may result in significant levels of depression. Indeed
acculturative stress has been positively associated with depression and suicidal
ideation and acculturative stress, perceived family dysfunction and nonhopeful
expectations for the future are significant predictors of depression and suicidal
ideation (Hovey, 2000).
Once again depression appears to be a result of the immigration process but there
appears to be a lack of research examining its direct link, and levels of depression in
comparison to Israeli born counterparts.

2.3 Increased Coping Over Time

The anxiety of the stressful situation that is migration can cause a persons sense
of self to become temporarily disorganized. A persons ability to return overcome
this

7
situation can, to some degree, predict the success or failure of their migration
(Grinberg
& Grinberg, 1984). If, because of his character predisposition or the conditions of his
migration, the emigrant's ego is too severely damaged by the traumatic experience of
the past or present crisis, it will be difficult for him to recover from the state of
disorganization into which he has fallen, and he may suffer any one of many forms of
mental or physical illness. If, however, he has sufficient capacity for working through,
not only will he overcome the crisis but there will be a quality of rebirth to his
recovery and a development of his creative potential (Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984).

Stability in the emigrant's family life is one of the factors that will assist in a
successful migration experience, as are professional skill and job satisfaction
(Grinberg
& Grinberg, 1984). Kim & Grant (1997) state that success in reestablishing social
networks in their new society reduces the psychological distress and the detrimental
effect of uprooting experienced by immigrants. Past research suggests that factors
such as age at immigration, language preference, place of birth, generation level,
socioeconomic status, preferred ethnic identity and ethnic group social contacts may
influence the transition process (Jamil et al, 2007).
The phase of acculturation needs to be taken into account if stress and adaptation are
to be understood. That is, how long a person has been experiencing acculturation
strongly affects the kind and extent of problems (Berry, 1997). The classical
description of positive adaptation in relation to time has been in terms of a U-curve:
Only a few problems are present early, followed by more serious problems later, and
finally a more positive long-term adaptation is achieved (Berry, 1997). Alternatively,
but with the same end effect, Jamil et al (2007) found that acculturation stress
amongst Iraqi immigrants in the US decreased over time. Although many studies have
demonstrated higher distress
among recent immigrants, there is little empirical evidence for such a standard course,

8
nor for fixed times (in terms of months or years) when such variations will occur
(Berry,
1997). Many researchers support an initial euphoric phase and suggest that the
distress may last three months to seven years following immigration (Ritsner &
Ponizovsky,
1999).
An alternative to a fixed, stage-like conceptualization of the relationship between
length of acculturation and problems experienced is to consider the specific nature of
the experiences and problems encountered as they change over time (e.g. initially
learning a language, obtaining employment and housing, followed by establishing
social relationships and recreational opportunities) and the relationship of such
problems to the personal resources of the migrant and to opportunities in the society
of settlement (Ho,
1995). This approach emphasizes the high degree of variability to be expected over
the time course from initial contact to eventual long-term adaptation (Berry, 1997).
The current study examines two groups of immigrants: one group of immigrants who
immigrated within the previous two years and a second group of immigrants who
immigrated 8-10 years ago (together with a group of Israeli-born individuals) in order
to explore how time in Israel and levels of acculturation may impact on inner feelings
(self esteem/ depression) and functioning.

2.4 The Relationship between Self Esteem, Depression and Cognitive

Functioning
Levels of self esteem have been shown to have implications on many areas of life, for
example high self-esteem has been associated with greater well-being than low selfesteem (Paradise & Kernis, 2002) and there is widespread agreement with the
assertion that the person's evaluation or esteem of himself plays a key role in
determining his or
her behaviour (Brown & Mankowski, 1993). One interpretation of this is that whereas

9
possessing secure feelings of self-worth may provide the basis for functioning
effectively in various realms, fragile self-feelings may undermine effective
functioning (Paradise & Kernis, 2002). Baumeister (1984) suggests that attention to
oneself decreases one's attention to the task so that performance decrements are due to
overlooking information necessary to perform the task.
Cognitive psychology has extensively studied the processes underlying mental
workload and their consequence on human information processing (Croizet et al.,
2004). People are continually confronted with tasks that demand more or less
cognitive capacity. Some tasks are more difficult than others in that they require more
attention and more elaborated cognitive processing (Cowan, 1995). There is also
ample evidence showing that, under certain circumstances, the mental workload
experienced by a person will
result in lower performance (Croizet et al., 2004). Such a performance decrement is
usually attributed to the limited capacity of working memory, either the limited pool
of attentional resources has been exhausted by task requirements (e.g. the task is too
difficult) or a finite workspace had to be shared between several tasks. In other words,
some extra peripheral activity (e.g. self related worries) can interfere with the
processing of a focus task (e.g. the resolution of logical problem) because it competes
for the limited resources. In such a situation, increased mental workload will reflect
cognitive interference and result in lower performance (Croizet et al., 2004). Indeed
Croizet et al. (2004) found that test scores in intelligence can be substantially
influenced by situational factors in addition to any actual differences in cognitive
ability.
If Baumeister's (1984) suggestions are correct than the mental burden caused by low
self esteem would result in lower performance on intellectual tasks. Indeed, many
studies have found that high self-esteem is positively correlated with academic
performance. In an early review, Wylie (1979) concluded that the correlation between

11

self-esteem and students' grade point averages was about .30. She added that similar
or slightly stronger relationships had been reported between self-esteem and scores on
various other achievement tests. Similarly, Davies and Brember (1999) found a
significant positive relationship between self-esteem and academic performance, in a
large British sample. Most recent studies have yielded similar conclusions
(Baumeister et al., 2003). Applied to the world of work, the self-esteem hypothesis
suggests that higher self esteem is strongly associated with better functioning at work
and greater work satisfaction (Michon et al., 2008). Indeed, the results regarding the
link between self- esteem and job performance seem to echo what has been found
with school performance; high self-esteem is related to better performance (Makar,
2014).
Since it would appear that self esteem is related to cognitive functioning and that
immigration can often impact on self esteem (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014), the
following study will examine basic cognitive functions of immigrants as compared to
their Israeli born counterparts and will determine how far self esteem is indeed an
influencing factor in various cognitive functions.
Similarly, it can be expected that depression would in turn effect cognitive
functioning. Indeed research suggests that the majority of adults with major
depressive disorder suffer from significant cognitive deficits (Wagner et al., 2014),
and that improved mood state is often associated with improved cognitive
performance and that degraded mood is associated with impaired cognitive
performance (Lieberman et al.,
2014). Similar to self esteem, the impact of depression is evident in lost productivity
at work (McTernan et al., 2013). Work capacity is reduced in persons with anxiety and
depression and this has greater influence on work performance than many other
medical conditions. Individuals with mental disorders report more frequent
extra effort days
than those with physical disorders. Work capacity is affected also in individuals with

11
subthreshold symptoms and in those who are in clinical remission (Bertilsson et al.,
2013). Depression has also been shown to have detrimental effects on students'
studies (Othieno et al., 2014). Indeed pediatric major depressive disorder seems to be
associated with an increased risk for poor academic functioning (Wagner et al., 2014).
In adults
with major depressive disorder empirical evidence supports the existence of moderate
but significant cognitive deficits, specifically in executive functions, psycho-motor
speed, attention and memory. These deficits affect patients ability to analyze,
plan, prioritize, schedule, initiate and complete an activity in a timely manner. As a
result the cognitive dysfunctions lead to poor classroom performance. In addition,
studies have revealed that the performance in cognitive test procedures is related to
the ability to regulate emotions. Emotional dysregulation on the other hand is one of
the central features of depression (Wagner et al., 2014).
No research appears to exist examining the direct relationship between depression and
basic cognitive functions (as opposed to performance at work, in certain tasks etc)

among immigrants. The following study attempts to examine this relationship, as well
as to determine to what extent immigration has a role in functioning.

2.5 The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Depression and Social Relationships
Self esteem has also been linked to interpersonal relationships. It is certainly
plausible that high self-esteem would improve interpersonal relations (Baumeister et
al.,
2003). With regards to social relationships self esteem has been found to be related to
relationship satisfaction (Erol & Orth, 2014), likeability, (Baumeister et al., 2003),
higher quality friendships, (Keefe & Berndt, 1996), positive social interactions, less
stressful life events (Lakey et al, 1994), and more social support (Marigold et al.,
2014) better
workplace relationships (Frone, 2000), better, richer, and more satisfying social lives

12
(Baumeister et al., 2003), more reciprocal friendships (Bishop & Inderbitzen, 1995),
increased presence of conventional and peer-oriented groups (Glendinning & Inglis,
1999), longer lasting romantic relationships, (Hendrick et al., 1988), higher
motivation for a romantic relationship (Kindelberger & Tsao, 2014), less instances of
unrequited love (Baumeister et al., 2003), public self consciousness (Cho, Matsumoto
& Kimura,
2009), and positive contribution to group work and group performance (Baumeister
et al., 2003).
Similarly, depression has been linked to interpersonal relationships. Depressive
symptoms often negatively affect individuals social network and cause
interpersonal conflicts. They are associated with negative feedback and excessive
reassurance seeking, negative attributions, ruminations and poor social skills (Joiner
Jr., 2001). Depression
has also been connected to less instrumental social support (Bonanno et al., 2002) to
abusive relationships (Follingstad, 2009), interpersonal instability and dysfunction
and social withdrawal (Hammen, 2012), romantic relationship stress and lower
relationship quality (Whitton & Kuryluk, 2014) including withdrawal of support and
an increase in conflicts (Whisman & Baucom, 2012), low social support at work
(Netterstrom et al.,
2008), decreased acceptance and support from peers (Dolphin & Hennessy, 2014),
and rejection (Stice, Ragan & Randall, 2004).
Self esteem is also important when looking at the social behaviour of immigrants
since it is thought to indicate comprehensive values of the self that are made largely
by comparing the self with others (Schnittker, 2002). Indeed, according to Negy and
Woods (1992) "Self-esteem or self confidence may interact with acculturation as it
intuitively makes sense that a healthy level of self confidence would assist individuals
in taking risks, such as initiating contact with members outside their ethnic groups"
(p.243)

(Valentine, 2001). Several studies have shown that self esteem is a significant
predictor

13
of general psychological well-being in ethnic minority adolescents (Rhee et al., 2003).
In Pham and Harris's (2001) study of Vietnamese-Americans they found that
preference for integration was positively linked to self-esteem. In a similar study by
Valentine (2001) it was found that Hispanics' self-esteem is positively associated with
their assimilation into mainstream American culture.
This study will examine how far low self esteem and depression, among immigrants,
affect a persons social functioning on a broad level, in comparison to their Israeli
counterparts.

2.6 The Relationship between Acculturation Stress and Cognitive and Social
Functioning
Selye (1936) defined stress as the nonspecific result of any demand upon the
body, be the effect mental or somatic (p.3). McGrath (1976) argued that stress
involves interaction between a person and his/her environment. Lazarus and Folkman
(1984) defined stress as a relationship between the person and the environment
that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and
endangering his or her well being (p.21). While quite broad, these definitions
clearly point to stress as an outcome
for individuals who face taxing situational demands. In this way, stress is perceptual,
and, for any given situation, is likely to vary from person to person (OConnor et
al., 2010).
Acculturative stress is often defined as stress that occurs in the process of adaptation
to the host culture from a persons own culture (Mori, 2000). It is noted that a
higher level of acculturative stress is associated with many factors: socio demographic
characteristics (e.g., older age, female, longer years of education), a deeper level of
psychological distress, mode of acculturation, loss of social support, increased family
and
cultural conflicts, personality, and different social values and norms (Jin, 2014).

14
Particularly, studies on international students in the United States identified that the
more discrepancy there is between the host culture and the culture of origin, the
higher the
level of acculturative stress (Lee, Koeske, & Sales, 2004).

Similarly to self esteem and depression, stress has also been found to be related to
cognitive and social functioning. Those found under stress were found to experience
cognitive impairments (Robinson et al., 2003). Negative affects such as stress have
been shown to interfere with cognitive control and tasks, in particular verbal and
spatial working memory (Koric et al., 2012), and controlled task focused thinking
(Kivimaki & Lusa, 1994). High stress proneness is associated with the risk of a
serotonin deficiency in the brain. Serotonergic activity seems to be involved in the
maintaining of control over information processing and thus may result in reduced
cognitive performance (Markus et al., 1998).
With regards to social functioning, research seems to indicate that social support can
moderate levels of acculturation stress (Hovey & King, 1997). Previous studies have
shown that social support is a positive indicator of acculturative stress (Lee, Lee, Kim,
& Kim, 2009) and psychological distress (Gellis, 2003). Furthermore, research has
shown that there is an indirect impact of acculturative stress on intimate relationships
of individuals (Neff & Hoppe, 1992). Psychological problems caused by acculturative
stress affect an individuals intimate relationships adversely (Karapanagiotis,
2008).
Little research seems to be available regarding the relationship between stress, and in
particular acculturation stress, on social functioning and most research that does exists
seems to examine the effect of support on stress levels and not vice versa. This
research will therefore examine levels of acculturation of immigrants and how far this
effects levels of self esteem and depression and in turn will examine the relationship
between acculturation and cognitive and social functioning.

15
2.7 Immigration from English Speaking Countries
This study examines the experience of young people, from English speaking
countries, who have chosen to move to Israel. In the last two decades, approximately
100,000 people have emigrated from Western countries to Israel, including 40,000
from North America (Central Bureau of Statistics 2012). These immigrants entered
Israel under the Law of Return, which permits the entrance of immigrants with at least
one Jewish grandparent (referred in Hebrew as olim) and grants them Israeli
citizenship upon arrival. Participants can be considered to have immigrated from a
diaspora population
to a homeland (Walsh & Horenczyk, 2001). As a returning diaspora, the
immigrants who come to Israel feel an affinity with their new host society even before
migrating and frequently exhibit warm feelings of homecoming upon arrival (Amit &
Riss, 2007). Although the migration of Jews to Israel is classified as a returning
diaspora (Semyonov & Lewin-Epstein 2003), Jewish immigrants are driven
by a combination of motives, among them proclaimed religious and ideological
(Zionist) motives. In fact, the few studies conducted on North American immigrants
in Israel reveal that many of these immigrants are religious Jews whose main motives
for coming to Israel are religious (Amit & Riss, 2007).

Western immigrants freely choose to come to Israel (Amit & Semyonov, 2006), and
are characterized with high levels of educational attainment and a high representation
of occupational professions (Rebhun & Waxman, 2000). They are often highly
skilled; many of them are professional, managerial and technical specialists (Amit &
Riss, 2007). Amit and Riss (2007) found that in their immigration process, immigrants
from North America tend to rely on social networks based on distant (weak) ties. It
should be noted
that the geographic dispersion of American olim differs significantly from that of the

16
total Jewish Israeli population. Most salient is their greater tendency to settle in rural
localities as compared to their Israeli counterparts (Rebhun & Waxman, 2000).

3. Research Aims
This study takes as its starting point that immigrants need to renegotiate their identity,
at least temporarily, in order to become integrated into the new environment. This
along with other factors involved in the immigration process, in particular the
acculturation process, can lead to feelings of low self esteem and depression. This
study aims to examine how far this theoretical knowledge regarding changes to a
persons sense of self and well being during the immigration process, actually
occurs in reality. Using Israeli born counterparts as a control group, the study
measures the levels of self esteem and depression of new immigrants (up to two
years) from English speaking countries in Israel as well as of more veteran
immigrants who have been in Israel between eight to twelve years.
Self esteem and depression have been found to be linked to levels of cognitive and
social functioning. This study will therefore examine how far new immigrants, who
are predicted to be suffering from lower levels of self esteem and higher levels of
depression, have impaired overall cognitive and social functioning, with an emphasis
on the predictive role of the self esteem and depression. The study also involved
immigrants who had been in Israel a substantially longer period of time (8-10 years)
According to the literature, these young people should have acclimated and returned
to their original levels of self esteem and depression with no effect on their cognitive
and social functioning. Furthermore the study examines the role of acculturation and
its influence on self esteem
and depression and how and if, in turn, this effects social and cognitive functioning.

17
3.1 Hypotheses
1). The study hypothesized that immigrants would have lower levels of self esteem
and higher levels of depression than their Israeli born counterparts. In addition, newer
immigrants will have lower self esteem and higher levels of depression than those that
have been in the country for some time.
2). The study also hypothesized that those with low self esteem and suffering from
depression will perform less well on tasks testing cognitive functioning.
3). As a result of the above, the study hypothesized that immigrants would perform
worse on tasks of cognitive functioning than their Israeli born counterparts (with
newer immigrants performing worse than those that have been in the country for some
time)
and that this would be mediated by levels of self esteem and depression.
4). The study also hypothesized that those with lower self esteem and higher levels of
depression will have lower quality social relationships. New immigrants will have
lower quality social relationships than their Israeli born counterparts, which will be
mediated by levels of self esteem and depression.
5). The study supposes that after a significant period of time immigrants self
esteem and levels of depression will return to the levels they were at before
immigration and as such immigrants who have been in the country for a longer period
of time will perform to the same standards on tasks testing cognitive functioning and
will have the same quality of social relationships as their Israeli counterparts. As such,
the study hypothesized that measurements of older immigrants on cognitive
functioning, social relationships, self
esteem and depression will not differ from those of their Israeli counterparts.

18

4. Method
4.1 Participants
The research was carried out on immigrants in Israel from English speaking countries.
The participants were divided into three groups: 1. Immigrants from English speaking
countries who had moved to Israel within the last two years (n =33), 2. Immigrants
from English speaking countries who had been in Israel between eight to twelve years
(n=31), and 3. A control group of Israeli born and raised participants (n=31).
Participants age was from 23 to 47 (see table 1). New immigrant participants were
gathered from Absorption centres and Hebrew learning centers (Ulpanim).
Older immigrants were contacted through immigrant networks. Each group consisted
of approximately 30 participants. Participants stemmed from various educational and
marital status backgrounds (see table 2).

19
Table 1 Average Age of Participants

New
Immigrants
N

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

Std Deviation

33

23

39

28.88

3.967

Veteran
Immigrants
31

26

47

32.1

4.308

26

35

Israelis
2.121

31

30.03

Table 2: Socio-demographic data on participants (%)

New Immigrants
Male
Female
61.3

Veteran Immigrants
57.6
42.4

Israelis
61.3
38.7

38.7

Bagrut only (or equivalent)

Partial Academic Education
BA
MA/Phd
45.2

6.1
3
54.5
36.4

3.2
16.1
54.8
25.8

3.2
9.7
41.9

Single
Married
19.4
Divorced

69.7
27.3

48.4
51.6

80.6

Fulltime Employment
Part time Employment
Unemployed
12.9

51.5
27.3
21.2

74.2
12.9
12.9

74.2
12.9

Of the immigrants, 56.3% were born in the UK and 31.3% in the USA, 4.7% in
Canada, 4.7% in South Africa and 3.1% in Australia. For group 1, the mean number of
years in Israel was 1.31 (SD = 0.79) and for group 2, 9.8 (SD = 1.45).

4.2 Measures
Participants completed an anonymous questionnaire containing the following
elements (each part was provided in English for the immigrant participants and
Hebrew for the Israeli born participants):

1.
Demographic Questionnaire (Appendix 1). This section required participants
to provide basic demographic information such as age, education, marital status and
level of
religiousness.
21
2.
Rosenbergs Self-Esteem Scale (1965) (Appendix 2). The questionnaire
consists of 10 questions that measure participants levels of self esteem answered
on a 4 point scale from 1 = strongly agree to 4 = strongly disagree. Questions relate to
how a person relates to himself (e.g. On the whole I am satisfied with myself)
and his self image (e.g. All in all, I am inclined to think I am a failure and
I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others). Item
scores are summed to a total score (ranging from 10-40) with some questions
scales inverted in order to achieve a score that determines level of self esteem. The
scale has previously been translated and used in Hebrew (Sherer & Enbal, 2006). The
scale has been found to be of high validity and reliability in
previous studies (Sinclair et al., 2010) and was also found to be reliable in this study,
Cronbachs
Alpha = 0.82.
3.
Walshs Damage to Self Questionnaire (2008) (Appendix 3). The damage
to self scale explores the degree to which the emerging adult described a feeling of
having negatively internalized elements of the immigration experience. A total of 42
questions are answered on a 5 point scale from 1= I dont feel like this at all to 5 =
I feel this almost all the time. Some questions are inverted to allow a total score which
reflects the level of damage to self. Questions examine negative feelings regarding
oneself in general (e.g. I feel helpless, sad, unstable, calm, lonely), with
regards to moving country (e.g. I miss places, scenery and weather, I miss
home cooked food and food from my homeland) and with regards to living in
Israel in particular (e.g. I think that Israeli culture is rude, I feel that
Israelis accept me). New immigrants were asked to fill this out regarding the
period since they moved to Israel and veteran immigrants were asked to fill it out both
regarding how they felt in the first two years after moving to Israel and again with
regards to how they currently feel. This questionnaire was only filled in by the
immigrant
groups

21

4.
Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) (Appendix 4). Developed by Beck, Steer,
& Brown (1996). The questionnaire is a 21-question multiple-choice self-report
inventory with each question containing several sentences. Participants must choose
the sentence which best describes how they have felt (e.g. 0. I don't feel a failure,
1. I feel that I have failed more than the average man, 2. When I look back on my life
all that I see is a lot of failures, 3. I feel that I am a total failure as a person), or
acted (e.g. 0. I make decisions as I always did, 1. I try to postpone making
decisions more than I did in the past, 2. I find it harder to make decisions than I did in
the past 3. I can't make decisions at all) or behavioural changes (e.g. 0. My
appetite is no worse than normal, 1. My appetite isnt
as good as it used to be, 2. My appetite is much worse now, 3. I don't have any
appetite at all any more) over the last week with the higher point sentences
suggesting higher levels of depression. Scores on the scale can range from 0 to 63,
with scores of up to 10 reflecting normal behaviours, scores of over 17 suggesting
some range of depression and over 40 suggesting severe depression. The BDI has
been found to be of high reliability and validity including for cross cultural
populations (Joe et al., 2008).
5.
Acculturation Scale (based on a larger study by Berry et al, 2006 adapted by
Ben Shalom & Horencyzk (2004) (Appendix 5). The questionnaire is divided into
several sections which examine various aspects of acculturation. The first section
considers how
a person regards themselves, in terms of identity with a country. The first question in
this section asks for a general overview regarding identifying with a country (e.g.
I think of myself as English/Israeli/English and Israeli) and is on a 5 point
scale from 1= not at all to 5= very much. The second part of this section is made up of
15 questions regarding feelings towards both the participants homeland and
Israel (e.g. Being past of English culture is embarrassing to me, I feel that
moving to Israeli was one of the most
important things I've ever done.). Questions are on a 5 point scale from 1=strongly

22
disagree to 5=strongly agree. The second section of the scale examines how important
people consider different aspects of themselves to be (e.g. that I am
English/Israeli, that I am a male/female, that I am Jewish). Five
questions are answered on a 5 point scale from 1=not at all, to 5= very well. The third
section considers attitudes towards various aspects of acculturation such as language
(e.g. It is more important to be to be fluent in English than in Hebrew, it
is more important to me to be fluent in Hebrew than in English), cultural traditions
(e.g. I feel that it is not important for the English either to maintain their own
cultural transients or to adapt to those of Israel, I feel that
the English should maintain their own cultural traditions but also adapt to those of
Israel)

and friendships (e.g. I prefer social activities that involve Israelis only, I
prefer to have only Israeli friends). 20 questions are answered on a 5 point scale
where
1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree. The final sections concerns knowledge of
Hebrew and English with participants being asked to rate their levels of English and
Hebrew understanding, speaking, reading and writing on a 5 point scale from 1=not at
all to 5=very well.
Since the questionnaire considers various aspects of acculturation scores were
calculated for each section of the scale and participants were provided acculturation
scores for Identity of home country, Israel identity, no identity with Israel or home
country, strong Israeli and home country identity, control of Hebrew language, control
of English language, acculturated into Israeli society. This questionnaire was only
given to the two immigrant groups.
6. Cognitive Functioning. Cognitive functioning was assessed using five tests. 1)
Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test widely used to measure problem solving
ability (Raven et al., 1993), fluid intelligence (Cattell, 1963) and analytic intelligence
(Carpenter,
Just & Shell, 1990). Participants are provided with a set of matrices to solve. Each

23
matrix contains a pattern and participants need to identify the missing matrix from a
choice of 8. Items are presented as one set of 12 (set I), and another of 36 (set II).
Items are again presented in black ink on a white background, and become
increasingly difficult as progress is made through each set. Participants received two
scores for carrying out the test, a score based on how many correct answers after
twenty minutes (proven to be an adequate predictor of the untimed score (Hamel &
Schmittmann, 2006) and another score for correct answers for the full test with no
time restrictions. 2) The remaining tests were selected from the Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, D. (1997a). WAIS-III: Technical manual. Orlando, FL:
Psychological Corporation). Tests
were chosen according to the various aspects of cognitive functioning they examine,
with the assumption (based on previous research) that these were the cognitive
functions that the mental burden of self esteem and depression would influence.
i) Wechsler Digit Span. This test involves presenting a series of digits orally at the rate
of one per second and the subjects task is to repeat them sequentially, or for
digits backwards in the reverse order. The participant is required to repeat 3-9
digits forward and 2-9 digits backwards with the length of each sequence of numbers
increasing as the participant correctly responds. Participants receive a score of one
for each series of
digits they correctly repeat.
ii) The Wechsler Symbol Search test comprises of a series of items which contain
various symbols. Within a period of two minutes the participant must mark either yes
or no in a checkbox as to whether the symbols shown are present in the series of
symbols provided. The Symbol Search subtest is designed to assess information
processing speed and visual perception. It is one of three subtests that contribute to
the Processing Speed Indices derived from the Wechsler intelligence scales.

24
iii) The Wechsler Arithmetic Test is comprised of Maths, 20 arithmetic problems
similar to those encountered in elementary math courses. Problems are administered
orally and must be solved without paper and pencil. In addition to math knowledge,
test measures concentration and systematic problem-solving ability.
iv) The Wechsler Similarities Test is made up of 19 items which require the
participant to describe how two given things are alike, for example what do ice and
steam have in common? Scores on each item vary according to the degree to which
the response describes a general property primarily pertinent to both items in the pair.
The test measures concrete, functional, and abstract concept formation.
7. Social Functioning Test (Appendix 6) The questionnaire is based on two
sources. 1) Buhrmester et als (1988) 40 item questionnaire which is designed to
assess five domains of interpersonal competence: a) initiating relationships (e.g.
Asking or suggesting to someone new that you get together and do something,
e.g. go out together), b)
disclosing personal information (e.g. Revealing something intimate about yourself
while talking with someone youre just getting to know.), c) asserting
displeasure with others (e.g. Saying no when a date/acquaintance asks you
to do something you dont want to do), d) providing emotional support and
advice (e.g. Helping a close companion get to the heart of a problem s/he is
experiencing), and e) managing interpersonal conflict (e.g. When angry with a
companion, being able to accept that s/he has a valid point of view even if you
dont agree with that view). Participants are instructed to use a 5-point rating
scale to indicate their level of competence and comfort in handling each type of
situation (1- Im poor at this; Id feel so uncomfortable and unable to
handle this situation to 5- Im EXTREMELY good at this; Id feel
very comfortable and could handle this situation very well. The questionnaire has
been found to be reliable and valid (Buhrmester et al., 1988). This
questionnaire was translated to Hebrew by Ergov (1999).

25
2) Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being (1995) which includes a section on
positive relations with others. This section contains nine statements which the
participant must grade on a 6 point scale from "1-I strongly agree" to "6-I strongly
disagree" with regards to the participants relationships with others such as I
often feel lonely because I have few close friends with whom to share my
concerns and Maintaining close relationships has been difficult and frustrating
for me. Participants receive a score from 9 to 54 which represents their difficulties

in forming relationships. Some questions scores are inverted to provide the score.
The scale has been found to be valid and reliable (Spring & Hauser,
2006).

4.3 Procedure
The study received ethics approval from the Bar Ilan ethics committee. Before
carrying out the research a pre test was carried out with 10 students, after which any
elements of the questionnaire that were felt to be unclear were improved.
Participants were met with on a one-on-one basis to fill out the questionnaire. After
signing an informed consent form, the questionnaires were filled out independently
whereas the cognitive tests required elements to be read aloud to the participants.
Once participants had agreed to take part in the research they were asked to fill out the
questionnaire. The participants were told that the purpose of the research is to study
functioning of immigrants. They were assured that all information obtained will be
strictly confidential and used for the purposes of this research only.
Once participants had completed the questionnaire they were informed of the aims of
the study and the reason for each part of the questionnaire. Participants were given the
option to be told their scores once calculated should they so desire. There was
no remuneration for taking part in the study.

26
5. Results
5.1 Self Esteem, Depression and Cognitive Functioning across Groups
The study hypothesized that immigrants would have lower levels of self esteem than
their Israeli born counterparts and that more recent immigrants would have lower self
esteem than those that had been in the country for a longer period. Analysis was
carried out using ANOVA with the group type as the independent variable and self
esteem as the dependent variable. No significant differences were detected
(F(2,94)=0.90, NS). Similarly, with levels of depression as the dependent variable, no
significant differences were found, (F(2,94)=0.53, NS).
In terms of cognitive functioning, ANOVA with the group type as the independent
variable and the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test Full Score1 as the
dependent variable, yielded a near-significant effect of group, F(2,92)=2.52, p=0.086,
with the Israelis achieving higher scores (M=41.7) than both veteran (M=40.1) and
new immigrants (M=38.7). Post hoc l analysis revealed that the difference between
the
Israelis and new immigrants was significant, p<.05.

5.2 Effect of Self Esteem and Depression on Cognitive Functioning

The study hypothesized that those with low self-esteem would have a larger mental
workload than those with higher self esteem, since more attention is concentrated
inwardly, and as a result would perform less well on tasks testing intellectual
performance. Using Pearsons correlations, significant correlations were found
between levels of self esteem and depression and results of one of the intelligence
tests. When
examining the data of all three groups together a negative correlation was found
between
1 Participants received two scores for this test; the score received after 20 minutes of
carrying out the test
(Raven 20), and a full score after completing the test with no time restrictions (Raven
Full)

27
the scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and levels of depression. In other
words, the higher the level of depression, the lower the test scores. Additionally, the
higher the self esteem of the participant, the better they performed on the same test
(see table 3).
Table 3
Correlation between Self Esteem, Depression and Wechsler Symbol Search Test for
all Three Groups Together
(n=95)
Wechsler
Symbol Search Self Esteem
0.444** Depression
-0.224*
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).
As with the total population, when members of group 1 (New Immigrants) were
examined individually, a significant correlation between the scores on the Wechsler
Symbol Search test and self esteem was identified (r=0.42, p<0.05). The same was
found for members of group 2 (Veteran immigrants) (r=0.6, p<0.01) but not group 3
(see Model
2).
Model 2. Relationship between self esteem (x-axis) and scores on the Wechsler
Symbol
Search test (y-axis).

Self esteem scores also correlated with results on the Wechsler Maths and
Similarities tests for members of group 2 (veteran immigrants) only. The higher the
self

28
esteem of the participant, the higher the score they achieved on the tests (see table 4).
No such correlation was found with the other group members.
Table 4
Correlation betwee n Self Esteem and Wechsler Maths for Group 2 Participants
(n=31)
Wechsler
Wechsler
Group 2
Maths
Similarities Self
Esteem 0.523**
0.376*
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).
For the majority of the intelligence tests, no significant differences were detected in
the scores of the three groups.
5.3 Self Esteem, Depression and Social Relationships
The study also hypothesized that those with lower self esteem would have lower
quality social relationships. Pearson correlations were carried out among the sample
as a whole, and a significant correlation was found (p < 0.01). In other words, those
who demonstrated lower levels of self esteem expressed lower levels of social
functioning (see table 5).
Similarly, when carrying out Pearson Correlations, a significant correlation was also
found between levels of depression and social functioning on both of the tests used to
examine social functioning (Buhmester el als (1988) Social Functioning Test and
Ryffs Scales of Psychological Well-being (1995) (see table 5). The tests showed
that the more depressed the participant felt, the less successful they were at creating
social relationships. In addition, those who scored high on the depression scale, were
found to have low levels of self esteem (r=-0.49, p<0.01).
Table 5

Correlation between Self Esteem and Depression and Social Functioning for all Three
Groups (n=95)
Buhrmester et als Social
Ryffs Scales of Psychological
Functioning Test
Well-being
Self Esteem
0.375**
0.435**
Depression
-0.329**
-0.436**
Note: ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

29
On examining the data of each group individually, members of group 1 (new
immigrants) also showed the same significant positive correlation between self esteem
and social functioning for both tests used (r =0.57, r=0.59, p <0.01), as did members
of group 3 (Israeli born) (r=0.38, r=0.41, p<0.05). This association, however, was not
found for members of group 2 (veteran immigrants). The same significant negative
correlation was found between feelings of depression and levels of social functioning
for both tests for members of group 1 (r=-0.38, p<0.05), r=-0.67, p <0.01) and group 3
(r=-0.57, r=0.48, p <0.01). Once again, this association, however, was not found for members of
group 2.
No significant differences in social relationships were noted between the three groups
for both the social functioning tests. When carrying out the Pearson Correlation test,
an additional correlation was noted between the scores of group 1 members on the
Raven 20 test and one of the social functioning tests (Ryff's Scales of Psychological
Well-being) with those feeling more socially adept scoring higher on the matrices test
(r=0.45, p <0.01).
5.4 Damage to Self
The level of damage to self for each of the two immigrant groups was measured using
a T-test for independent samples with the group type as the independent variable and
damage to self as the dependent variable. The group of immigrants living in Israel
for longer (group 2) expressed less damage to self (t(57)=4, p<0.001) than those
living in Israel for two years and under. Interestingly, on comparing the levels of
damage to self the veteran immigrants (group 2) reported retroactively during their
first two years in Israel with the level of those who recently immigrated, the veterans
reported
experiencing higher levels than the new immigrants currently feel (t(62)=2.29,
p<0.05).
As would be expected the level of damage to self that the veteran immigrants

31

experienced during their first two years in Israel is significantly higher than the
damage to self that they currently reported (t(28)=8.86, p<0.001).
The damage to self questionnaire contains questions regarding the immigrants
relationship with Israel (e.g. feeling Israeli culture is rude) and regarding the
immigrants relationship with oneself (e.g. feeling sad). On comparison of the
scores of the two types of questions using a dependent sample T-test with a within
subject factor of type of damage to self, participants show significantly higher
feelings of damage to self with regards to their relationship with Israel as opposed to
with themselves (t(62)=5.43, p<0.001). The same is found on considering the two
immigrant groups separately (Group
1 t(32)=6.06, p<0.001, Group 2 t(29)=2.08, p<0.05).
5.5 Damage to Self and Cognitive Functioning
Similarly to depression, damage to self was also found to have a negative influence on
intelligence test scores. When carrying out Pearson Correlation tests, those who
expressed a current high level of damage to self, performed worse on the Raven 20
test and the Wechsler Symbol Search test (see table 6).
Table 6
Correlation between Damage to Self and Intelligence Tests for Groups 1 and 2
(n=63) Wechsler Symbol
Search
Raven 20 test
Damage to
Self
-0.349**
-0.257*
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).
When the data was divided between the two groups, no significant relationships
between damage to self and intelligence were identified.
5.6 Damage to Self and Social Relationships
Pearson Correlations were carried out to examine the relationship between damage to
self and social relationships. In the total sample, damage to self was

31
negatively correlated with social relationships, with both of the social functioning
tests that were carried out (r=-0.26, r=-0.35, p<0.05). On examining the groups
individually, the same negative effect on social relationships was found with group 1.
No relationship was found between group 2 participants current damage to self
levels and social functioning however a negative effect on the social functioning
(according to Buhrmester et als (1988) questionnaire) of those who experienced
high levels of damage to self
reported within their first two years of living in Israel (in group 2) was noted (see
table 7).

Table 7
Correlation betwee n Damage to Self and Social Functioning for Groups 1 and 2
(n=33, n=30)
Buhrmester et als
Social Functioning
Ryffs Scales of Psychological
New
Test
Well-being
Immigrants
Damage to Self
-0.426*
Veteran
Immigrants
Damage to Self,
(current)
0.079
-0.255
Damage to self
(first two years
in Israel)
-0.186
-0.556**
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

-0.445**

5.7 Acculturation
The study also examined the levels of acculturation reached by each of the two
immigrant groups (groups 1 and 2) using a T-test for independent samples with the
group type as the independent variable and acculturation levels as the dependent
variable. As expected, members of group 2, immigrants that had been in Israel for
between 8-12 years, felt significantly more acculturated than those who had been in
Israel for less than two years, (t (55)=3.31, p<0.01). This was demonstrated through
several areas including feeling a connection with Israel (t(58)=4.6, p<0.001), having a
strong Israeli identity (t(62)=2.52, p<0.5), feeling a part of Israeli culture (t(57)=2.2,
p<0.1) and demonstrating
high levels of Hebrew (t(48)=5.43, p<0.0001).

32
5.8 Acculturation and Self Esteem and Depression
Pearson Correlations were carried out to examine the relationship between
acculturation and self esteem and depression. Significant correlations were found
between levels of acculturation and scores on the self esteem and depression tests for
group 1 (see table 8). Members of group 1 who felt a strong identity, either with their

home country or with Israel, scored higher on the self esteem scales. Those who felt
an overall strong sense of acculturation within Israel also scored higher on the self
esteem scales, as did those who felt a strong control of the English language. Those
who felt no strong identity with either their home country or Israel showed higher
levels of
depression.
Table 8
Correlation between Acculturation and Self Esteem and Depression for Groups 1 and
2 (n=33, n=31)
No
Identity with
home country

Israeli Identity

Acculturation into Israeli Society

Control of English Language
Identity with Israel or home
country
New
Immigrants
Veteran
Immigrants
Self
Esteem
0.395*
0.500**
0.374*
0.386*
-0.293
Depression
-0.175
-0.212
-0.18
-0.359*
0.474** Self
Esteem
-0.081
0.237
0.304
0.184
-0.146
Depression
-0.013
-0.063
-0.322
-0.064
0.309
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).
Control of the English language also correlated negatively with depression, i.e. those
who felt they have high levels of English had lower levels of depression (r=-0.36,
p<0.05). Members of group 1 with low levels of acculturation and low association
with their home country, scored higher on the depression scale (r=0.48, p<0.01). For
members of group 2, no correlations were demonstrated between levels of
acculturation and levels of self esteem. A negative correlation was noted between
those who felt they had

33
integrated well into Israeli culture and scores on the depression scale (r=-0.43,
p<0.05), i.e. those who felt more culturally integrated felt less depressed.
5.9 Acculturation and Social Relationships
Pearson Correlations were carried out to examine the relationship between
acculturation and social relationships for groups 1 and 2. A significant correlation was
found for members of group 1 between strong Israeli identities and higher scores on
both social functioning tests (r=0.35, r=0.36, p<0.05). Similarly those who felt they
had a strong control of the Hebrew language also demonstrated better social
relationships. Those who felt overall more acculturated scored higher on the
Buhrmester et als (1988) social functioning test, as did those who felt they had
maintained both an Israeli and English identity. For group 2 members, only those who
felt a stronger control of the Hebrew language, scored higher on the Buhrmester et
als (1988) social functioning test (see table 9).
Table 9
Correlation between Acculturation and Social Functioning for Groups 1 and 2 (n=33,
n=31)
Buhrmester et als
Social Functioning
Ryffs Scales of
Psychological
New Immigrants
Control of Hebrew
Language Strong Israeli and home country Identity Acculturated into Israeli Society
Veteran Immigrants
Control of Hebrew
Language Strong Israeli and home country Identity Acculturated into Israeli Society
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).2
Test
Well-being
0.468**
0.418*
0.445**

0.181

0.446**

0.344

0.449*

-0.097

0.058

0.013

0.15

-0.065

2 Due to the large number of variables measuring acculturation, only those that were
seen to be significant for one of the groups were included in the table.

34
5.10

Acculturation and Cognitive functioning

Pearson Correlations were carried out to examine the relationship between

acculturation and cognitive functioning for groups 1 and 2. Significant correlations
were found for the relationship between levels of acculturation and scores on the
various cognitive tests. Individuals in group 1 who obtained high scores on the
acculturation test, scored higher on the Wechsler Symbol Search test. The
acculturation data was also divided into separate factors. For example those that felt a
strong Israeli identity, a significant positive correlation was identified between these
individuals and their scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test. Those who felt they
had a strong command of the Hebrew language scored higher on the Wechsler Digit
Span test and the Raven 20 test. Those who felt that they had both a strong English
and Israeli identity scored higher on the Wechsler Similarities test (table 10).
Table 10
Correlation between Acculturation and Intelligence Tests for Groups 1 and 2 (n=33,
n=31)
Strong
Israeli and
home country
Control of
Hebrew
Language
Acculturated
into Israeli
Society
Israeli
Identity
English
Identity
New
Identity
Wechsler
Immigrants
Symbol
Search
0.013

0.246

0.392*

0.443**

0.105

Veteran
Raven 20 test
0.106
0.074
Wechsler
Similarities
0.345*
Wechsler
Digit Span
0.127
Wechsler
Math Test
-0.003
Wechsler
Immigrants
Symbol
Search
-0.035
0.027
Raven 20 test
0.068
-0.374* Wechsler
Similarities
0.13
0.162
Wechsler
Digit Span
-0.108
0.163
Wechsler
Math Test
0.119
-0.358*

0.349*
0.316

0.223
0.244

0.227
0.226

0.3

0.370*

0.285

0.259

0.042

0.218

0.077

-0.016

-0.077

-0.025
0.243

-0.209
-0.028

0.105
0.369*
0.145

0.169

0.011

0.18

0.098

0.151

0.073

0.254

0.154

Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

35
Correlations were also found between acculturation and cognitive functioning among
group 2 members. Similarly to group 1, members of group 2 who felt they had a
strong command of Hebrew, received higher scores on the Raven 20 test. Interestingly
the remainder of the correlations were negative correlations between those who felt
they had a strong English identity and their results on the Wechsler Maths and the
Raven 20 test (see table 8). In other words, those who still felt a strong English
identity, despite having lived in Israel for between 8-12 years, received lower scores
on these two tests.
5.11
Predictors of cognitive functioning
Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine predictors of cognitive
functioning, using each of the intelligence measures for all groups together and then
for groups 1 and 2 together with the immigration measures. Since acculturation

seemed to have the most overall effect on intelligence and is most related to moving
to Israel, the regression model used first examined whether acculturation could be
used to predict intelligence levels, with steps being added to examine the additional
influence of other elements (model 1: acculturation; model 2: acculturation and
damage to self; model 3: acculturation and damage to self and self esteem).
Significant results were noted with regards to the Raven 20 and Wechsler Symbol
Search tests. When looking at the ability to predict results on the Raven 20 test it was
seen that overall acculturation would appear to predict success on the test. On further
examination it appears that the control of the Hebrew language (Hebrew) appears to
more significantly predict results on the test than acculturation into Israeli society
(acculturation). When adding damage to self to the predictors, the model (2) continues
to predict results on the test, albeit slightly less significantly. Once again control of the
Hebrew language is the most significant predictor. When self esteem is added to the

36
model, results on the test are no longer significantly predicted by the model (3)
though a clear trend can still be noted (see table 11).
Table 11
Linear regressions using acculturation, damage to self and self esteem to predict
results on Raven 20 test.

Unstandardized
Standardized
Coefficients
R
Model 1

Coefficients
Std.
R
Square
B
Error
0.336
0.113*
29.180
5.647

Acculturation
Hebrew
Model 2

0.032
0.352

0.124*

Acculturation
Hebrew
Damage to
Self
Model 3
Acculturation

0.522
36.022
-0.021
0.506

0.362

0.131

0.118
0.306
9.625
0.133
0.307

-0.033
0.037
31.788
11.503
-0.033

0.134

Beta
0.048
0.299
-0.031
0.290
-0.137
-0.049

Hebrew
Damage to
Self
Self Esteem

0.527

-0.024
0.121

0.310

0.039
0.178

0.302

-0.100
0.094

Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

When examining the ability to predict results on the Wechsler Symbol Search test it
was seen that overall acculturation would appear to predict success on the test. On
further examination it appears that, in contrast to the Ravel 20 test, acculturation into
Israeli society appears to more significantly predict results on the test than control of
the Hebrew language. When adding damage to self to the predictors, the model (2)
continues to predict results on the test, even more significantly, with damage to self
have being the most significant predictor of results, followed by acculturation as the
next predictor.
When self esteem is added to the model, results on the test are even more significantly

37
predicted by the model (3) however here self esteem is the only predictor of results on
the test, with the other factors having no influence on the results (table 12).
Table 12
Linear regressions using acculturation, damage to self and self esteem to predict
results on Wechsler
Symbol Search test.
Unstandardized
Coefficients
R
Std.
Standardized
Coefficients
R
Square
B
Error
Beta
Model 1
0.311
0.097*
16.257
8.765
Acculturation
.0339
0.183
0.328
Hebrew
-0.066
0.474
-0.025
Model 2
0.370
0.137*
35.922
14.700
Acculturation
0.187
0.203
0.181
Hebrew
-0.111
0.468
-0.041
Damage to
Self
-0.094
0.057
-0.256
Model 3
0.532
0.283**
5.918
16.070
Acculturation
0.099
0.188
0.096

Hebrew
0.033
0.432
Damage to
Self
-0.031
0.055
Self Esteem
0.855
0.248
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 (2-tailed).

0.012
-0.084
0.435**

6. Discussion
The study examined 95 adults between the ages of 23 and 47, in three different groups
(immigrants to Israel from English speaking countries who have lived in Israel for
two years or less, immigrants to Israel from English speaking countries who have
lived in Israel between 8-12 years and Israeli born and raised) and considered the
extent to which immigration influenced their self-esteem, depression and feelings
about themselves and how far this, and their level of acculturation, effected their
cognitive and social functioning.
As a result of a sudden change of environment, immigrants often undergo a
culture shock (Ticho, 1971) which can result in a variety of psychological
manifestations (Garza-Guerrero, 1974). Indeed, in the initial phase following
migration, an immigrant may be considered to be emotionally vulnerable (Oppedal,
Roysamb &

38
Sam, 2004). Additionally, migration can pose threats to the immigrants sense of
identity. Differences in the new environment can be felt in many aspects of life, for
example language, as well as how to find his or her place, in the new community and
acquire
anew the social position and professional status s/he enjoyed in the homeland
(Grinberg
& Grinberg, 1984). This can lead to a shake-up in a sense of self and a decrease in an
individuals self esteem (Akhtar, 1999). Similarly, these changes can result in a
risk of mental health (Abebe, Lien & Hjelde, 2013), in particular depression (Chae,
Park & Sun Kang, 2014). Feelings of self esteem and depression can add to a
persons mental workload (Croizet et al., 2004, Bertilsson et al., 2013), and this in
turn can affect their cognitive and social functioning (Wylie, 1979, Baumeister et al.,
2003).
The study hypothesized that, as a result of the immigration process, newer immigrants
would have lower self esteem and higher levels of depression than veteran immigrants
and those Israeli born. In practice no differences in self esteem or depression were
noted between the groups. Differences in levels of damage to self between the two
groups were noted, as were levels of acculturation, with newer immigrants
experiencing more damage to self and less acculturation than veteran immigrants. In
addition, both damage to self and acculturation were connected to levels of self
esteem and depression with higher damage to self and lower acculturation correlating
with lower self esteem
and higher depression levels.

The damage to self questionnaire contains questions regarding the immigrants

relationship with Israel (e.g. feeling Israeli culture is rude, feeling excited to be in
Israel, feeling Israelis accept me, feeling I cant relate to Israeli culture) and
regarding the immigrants relationship with oneself (e.g. feeling sad, confused,
humiliated). On comparison of the scores of the two types of questions, participants
showed significantly
higher feelings of damage to self with regards to their relationship with Israel as
opposed

39
to with themselves. This would suggest that the significant effects of immigration
relate more to a sense of belonging and connecting to the new country rather than
affecting a persons relationship with himself. Similarly, immigrants that had been
in Israel for longer felt significantly more acculturated than those who had been in
Israel for less than two years. This was demonstrated through several areas including
feeling a connection with Israel, having a strong Israeli identity, feeling a part of
Israeli culture and demonstrating high levels of Hebrew.
As Grinberg & Grinberg (1989) point out, immigration is a stress-inducing situation,
often involving mourning over the loss of family, friends, language, music,
food, and so forth, which can involve a threat to the newcomers identity. The
results suggest that while the process of immigration does have a negative effect on
the sense of self, such as a loss of feelings of competence and a sense of belonging
(Walsh and Horencyzk, 2001) this is mainly related to adjusting to the new country
rather than changes with regards to a persons relationship with themselves.
Indeed recent research seems to support these findings. Marcus (2011)
examination of immigrants notes that getting out and learning about a new country,
job security, and integration into society, were all critical in finding a place in a new
country. Additionally, the themes that emerged in the re-construction of identity were
the sense of language, the sense of home, the fluidity of identity, personal ties and the
future. In his research, Goldman (2014) found that belonging indicated a process by
which immigrants gained a sense of identification with and inclusion in the new
society. Immigrants' perception of belonging was affected by two themes, forming
attachments and feeling acceptance (a reciprocal process of acceptance that revealed a
struggle to accept cultural changes as well as the significance of feeling accepted as
an equal member of society).
As such, the results of the study emphasized the centrality of feelings of belonging
and

41
attachment in the immigrant experience. It seems that it is these feelings which are
threatened as opposed to the immigrants feelings toward him/herself per se.

With regards to depression, it is possible that although, as studies suggest,

immigration has an impact on psychological distress (Mirsky, 1997, Abebe, Lien &
Hjelde, 2013) this distress shows itself through other symptoms rather than depression
thus explaining the lack of significant differences in levels of depression between the
three groups in the study. Indeed immigration has been related to anxiety disorders
(Aglipay, Colman & Chen, 2013), emotional and behavioural problems (Derluyn,
Broekaert & Schuyten, 2008) and PTSD (Foster, 2001).
The findings suggest that neither the act of immigration itself, nor the amount of time
since immigration occurred, affect self esteem, rather it was a persons sense of
identity and belonging with regards to the new country, in other words their levels of
acculturation, which was related to levels of self-esteem. The relationship between
acculturation, and in particular identity, and self-esteem has been found to vary in a
myriad of ways (Perez, 2011). In Sams (2000) study of immigrant adolescents in
Norway, immigrant ethnic identity and Norwegian (host culture) identity were found
to be positively correlated with self esteem. Benet-Martinez and KarakitapogluAyguen (2003) found that self-esteem among Asian-American college students was
positively related to American identity. Phinney et al. (1992) found that maintaining a
positive identification with both ones own culture and the mainstream culture
predicted higher levels of self esteem. A long standing position in ethnic studies is that
English proficiency has a strong impact on self esteem among individuals in the US
with immigrant backgrounds (Jackson & Lassiter, 2001). Indeed the regular use of
English is thought to increase self esteem by promoting a sense of competence
(Schnittker, 2002).
These studies help us to understand the relationship found between acculturation and
self

41
esteem in this study and once again suggest that the significant factor in immigration
and its effects on individuals relates to their sense of identity and the changes the
immigration process causes to it.
Acculturation levels were also found to correlate with depression levels. Sense of
belonging is a concept which has been explicated and associated with mental health
(Hagerty & Williams, 1999). Hagerty, Williams, Coyne, and Early (1996) posited that
a lower sense of belonging is related to depression. It therefore stands to reason that
those who feel they no longer belong to their home country but also are not
acculturated within Israel would be more depressed. However research in this area
appears to be sparse and further research is necessary to consider how far a sense of
belonging is a determining factor in the depression levels of new immigrants. In
summary, the research suggests that immigrants, when they first move to a new
country, go through a process of acculturation, which relates to their ability to create a
relationship with, and a sense of belonging within, the new country, and that those
who have trouble acculturating will experience lower self esteem and higher levels of
depression.
The study is one of the first to examine the effect of self esteem on cognitive
functioning. The study hypothesized that low self esteem would result in lower
performance on intellectual tasks as a result of added mental burden (Baumeister,

1984). From the various cognitive tests the participants were asked to perform, a
correlation was found between scores on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and levels
of self esteem, with those with higher levels of self esteem scoring higher on the test.
With all other tests, no correlation was found. On further examination it was found
that levels of self esteem significantly predicted scores on the Symbol Search test. The
Symbol Search subtest is designed to assess information processing speed and visual
perception. Cognitive
psychology has extensively studied the processes underlying mental workload and
their

42
consequence on human information processing suggesting that increased mental
workload will negatively affect information processing (Croizet et al., 2004). It could
therefore be that self esteem indeed affects mental workload in a manner which
influences the ability to process information speedily, but does not influence other
cognitive functions, and this would explain the results. However since mental
workload was not examined directly it is not known if this is indeed the cause, or if
some other reason lies behind the results. Further research is clearly needed to further
determine which areas of cognitive function are specifically affected by a decrease in
self esteem.
Interestingly, when each of the groups was separated out, it was found that the
relationship between self esteem and performance on the Wechsler Symbol Search
test was only present for the immigrant groups, not the Israelis. In other words, self
esteem appears to affect the performance of immigrants on the Wechsler Symbol
Search test but not the performance of Israelis. Its possible that self esteem is
linked to different areas for those from English speaking countries opposed to Israelis.
Perhaps, outside of Israel more of an emphasis is placed on cognitive functioning (e.g.
academic performance, performance at work) whereas in Israel there are a greater
variety of methods that cause
self esteem to be boosted, for example serving in the army or physical agility. As a
result, the self esteem of immigrants may have more impact on cognitive tests than for
Israelis.
Indeed research has shown enormous cross-cultural differences in abilities to
comprehend text and to solve mathematical problems (Boehnke, 2005). Boehnke
(2005) proposes that high achievement value preferences can endanger performance
by increasing students anxiety levels: High achievement value preferences are
assumed to increase perceived achievement pressure from parents, which in turn
increases anxieties and lowers students self-esteem, which itself is central to
good academic performance.
Boehnke (2005) compares the high achievement values of students in Canada,
Germany

43
and Israel. He finds that in Canada the impact of high achievement value preferences
on mathematical self-esteem is substantially larger than in the other two countries,
thereby leading to a stronger indirect impact of values on grades. The role of parental
achievement expectations in Israel, however, differs from the other two countries.
While in Germany and Canada, high perceived parental achievement expectations are
a hotbed of manifest anxiety; this may not be the case in Israel.
This goes some way in assisting in understanding why self esteem for immigrants
would affect cognitive performance, whilst it doesnt for Israelis, but further
investigation needs to occur to fully understand. Similarly, research has shown that
educational achievement increases as acculturation increases (Won, 1989), therefore it
is possible that in the period after immigration when acculturation is lower, and is
burdening the individual, self esteem is much lower and therefore has much more of
an effect on cognitive functioning. Alternatively the differences between the groups
may be due to the small number of participants.
A negative correlation was also found between the scores on the Wechsler Symbol
Search test and levels of depression for all three groups. In other words, the higher the
level of depression, the lower the test scores. This would suggest that, as with self
esteem, depression influences the cognitive functions of information processing speed
and/or visual perception. In adults with major depressive disorder empirical evidence
supports the existence of moderate but significant cognitive deficits (Wagner et al.,
2014). However recent research has expressed that, due to divergent findings, a
picture consolidating which cognitive domains and functions are affected has yet to be
elucidated (Hammar et al., 2010). Some studies have shown that depression interferes
with automatic information processing (Suslaw et at., 2004). Further studies are
clearly

44
needed to determine why this particular test was affected by levels of depression
whilst others were not.
Since no differences were found in self esteem between the three groups, the
hypothesis that immigration effects self esteem which in turn affects cognitive
function was not proven. However differences in cognitive functioning between the
three groups were found, suggesting that other factors may affect the mental burden
and in turn the cognitive functioning of immigrants. Firstly, a difference was
identified between results of the Israelis versus the immigrants with Israelis scoring
higher on the Raven Full Test than their immigrant counterparts. The Raven test
measures problem solving ability
(Raven et al., 1993), fluid intelligence (Cattell, 1963) and analytic intelligence
(Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990).
Since this difference does not appear to be related to self esteem, the cause of this
difference needs to be examined. According to Kaniel and Fisherman (1991) there is a
consensus amongst psychologists that minority and immigrant groups score lower

than dominant groups in IQ tests. They explain this in two ways. One approach
suggests that ethnic differences and genetic makeup are a source of variation in the
timing of cognitive development. The other approach suggests that differences are due
to differences in culturally-induced psychological, cognitive and behavioral strategies.
Additionally, it may be that stress, in particular acculturation stress, is causing the
differences between the groups. Indeed stress has been found to be cause cognitive
impairments (Robinson et al., 2003), and interfere with cognitive control and tasks, in
particular verbal and spatial working memory (Koric et al., 2012), and controlled task
focused thinking (Kivimaki & Lusa, 1994). Alternatively, differences in education
systems and methods, of the various countries could also be of influence here. For
example the Israeli education system involves psychometric testing for entrance into

45
university which tests, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and English. It is
possible that the training and preparation for these tests assisted the Israelis in
performing better in the Raven test. This area remains unstudied and requires further
research.
Cognitive functioning was found to be effected both by damage to self and
acculturation. The results suggest that those will higher levels of damage to self
perform less well on the Wechsler Symbol Search test and the Raven 20 tests with
those more acculturated scoring better on these tests. On further examination it was
found that levels of acculturation are the most significant predictor of results on the
Raven 20 test. In particular the control over Hebrew language is the largest predictor
of higher results on the test. With regards to the Wechsler Symbol Search test,
although levels of acculturation and damage to self do seem to predict results on this
test, it would appear that self esteem is the most significant predictor here.
There are several possible explanations for the finding regarding acculturation levels
and results on the Raven 20 test. It may be that, as previously suggested, the
immigration process effects mental burden, which is turn has an effect of the areas of
cognitive functioning that the Ravens test measures. Indeed Herrera (1998) found
that acculturation is an important moderator variable in relation to the Raven's
Standard Progressive Matrices even after controlling for education and age. As stated,
further examination of this area needs to be carried out in order to understand this
relationship better.
An alternative explanation may be related to language. The Ravens Standard
Progressive Matrices is a widely used test of non-verbal reasoning ability (Stone,
Wong
& Lo, 2000). Indeed the Ravens Progressive Matrices epitomize one of the first
and most successful attempts to present inductive reasoning and analogical tasks in
non- verbal format (Cockcroft & Israel, 2011). However, some studies have shown
that the

46
Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices include the assessment of a verbal-analytic
factor (Lynn, Allik & Irving, 2004). The verbal element measured appears to involve
using rules for analysis, coding and transforming relationships (Olson, 1986).
Cockcroft and Israel (2011) found a modest, but statistically significant relationship
between verbal- analytic ability and the Raven Advanced Matrices. It may therefore
be that the results on the Ravens test are related to the participants language
skills as opposed to their levels of acculturation. Further research needs to be carried
out to determine whether or not
results on the Ravens test can be predicted by control of the Hebrew language as
a factor
of acculturation or as a result of language abilities. In addition, since Israelis scored
higher on the Raven 20 test than both immigrant groups the connection between the
Hebrew language and this test definitely warrants further consideration. In summary,
it can be seen that those immigrants who have trouble acculturating and whose self
esteem is low as a result, and whose Hebrew is not of a high level, will demonstrate
poorer cognitive functioning.
As was expected a relationship was found between levels of self esteem and
depression and social functioning with those with lower self esteem and higher
depression levels functioning less well. Interestingly though, on further examination
this was only found for the new immigrants and Israelis but not the case for the
veteran immigrants. Similarly a link was found between damage to self and social
functioning, however for veteran Israelis this was linked to levels of damage to self in
their first two years in Israel as opposed to their current levels. With regards to
acculturation, a significant correlation was found for new immigrants between strong
Israeli identities and higher scores on social functioning tests. For veteran immigrants
however, only those who felt a stronger control of the Hebrew language, scored
higher on the social
functioning tests.

47
The differences between the groups, with regards to the effect of self esteem and
depression, on social functioning, are difficult to interpret. It is unclear as to why the
veteran immigrant participants would function differently to the other two groups.
Some studies have shown that peoples own evaluations of their ethnic group are
likely linked to their personal self-esteem (Perkins, Wiley & Deaux, 2014). Another
study has shown that this is true of first-generation immigrants (i.e., for those born
outside the United States), but not of second generation (i.e., those born in the United
States to at least one immigrant parent), (Wiley, Perkins, & Deaux, 2008). Perhaps
veteran immigrants are closer in status to second generation immigrants, and their
evaluation of their immigrant group drastically changes over time, and therefore their
levels of self esteem are significantly different from newer immigrants in regards to
how they evaluate those around them, which in turn effects their social functioning.
It is possible that the small number of participants in each group accounts for the
differences. Or perhaps, having lived in Israel for a longer period of time, the veteran

immigrants have juggled enough trials and tribulations that their self esteem has
strengthened and is not in any way related to outside factors. Little if no research
appears to have been carried out examining this area and therefore further
consideration of these factors needs to occur.
With regards to damage to self, it is possible that levels of damage to self only effect
social functioning when damage to self levels are particularly low, as would be
expected in the first two years of immigration, and that once levels reach a certain
point there is no longer a link to social functioning. Since we found that self esteem is
connected to social functioning and that acculturation levels effect self esteem it is not
surprising to find that acculturation levels also effect social functioning. Indeed one

48
would expect that those who felt a strong identity with Israel and a better control of
Hebrew to find it easier to form relationships.
Migration scholars have paid little attention to the relationship between language
skills and feelings of belonging or exclusion for immigrants and refugees (Nawyn et
al.,
2012). Some exceptions include Warriner (2007) who found that ESL instruction
neglected language learning that would help Sudanese refugee women engage with
their new surroundings, and Allen (2007) who found that in communities without
sufficient language support, refugees can experience significant social isolation. It is
therefore unsurprising that control of Hebrew language has an effect on social
relationships, however this area requires further examination.
The findings of this research have several implications. With regards to the effect of
self esteem and depression on certain cognitive functions, it would be beneficial to
utilize this information within educational systems (such as schools and universities)
in order to examine how far these elements are effecting students abilities. If
educational systems would take this into account and provide students with help
dealing with their self esteem and depression issues, not only would this positively
affect their well being but it would also enable them to advance rather than creating
experiences of failure.
The research also has implications for countries that deal with a large influx of
immigrants, in particular Israel. Since the study suggests that an immigrants
sense of identity and belonging with regards to their new country, will affect their self
esteem and depression levels, efforts should be made to assist the immigrants in
adjusting to the new country in order to help increase their state of well being and
decrease the possibility of psychological distress. This in turn will assist in both their
cognitive and social functioning which will have wider implications in terms of
finding work and becoming
active and contributing members of society.

49
Additionally, of particular importance are the effects of learning Hebrew when
moving to Israel as this appears to be a predicting factor in elements of cognitive
functioning. As well as ensuring that immigrants are assisted in learning the language,
this should also be a consideration with regards to any tests that new immigrants may
take, for example matriculation or psychometric tests as this may significantly affect
their ability to succeed. A program currently exists that provides alternative
psychometric testing for Ethiopian-Israeli students applying to Bar Ilan University.
Similar such
projects should be considered for other immigrant groups. English speaking
immigrants may not usually be provided with such assistance since they are often
from educated backgrounds (Rebhun & Waxman, 2000). However this research
suggests that they too, may need additional assistance.
This study has several limitations. First and foremost the number of participants. In
order for the finds to be examined in more depth a wider study will need to be carried
out. Since the study is examining levels of self esteem and depression of immigrant
groups, it would have been beneficial to have been able to measure immigrants
levels of self esteem and depression before the immigration process as well as during,
in order to better identify the influential factors. Similarly for cognitive and social
functioning, the study would have more impact had the levels of cognitive and social
functioning of the immigrants been measured before and after immigration in order to
determine how far any differences are in fact related to the immigration process.
Future research should be carried out which examines immigrants over time, from
before immigration until several years after, in order to better determine which factors
are influenced by the immigration process and which are related specifically to the
individual.
The study finds the control of Hebrew language is a significant predictor of
scores on the Raven 20 test. This is thought to be within the context of acculturation.

51
However it is possible that this is linked to a persons language skills and their
ability to acquire a new language. Once again research that looks at immigrants before
as well as during the immigration process, in particular their scores on the Raven 20
test and their knowledge and acquisition of the Hebrew language, would better assist
in determining the influential factors. It would also be beneficial to carry out similar
studies with
immigrants from other countries and also to other countries in order to determine how
far these factors are characteristic of all immigrants and for all languages or specific
to Israel and to the Hebrew language.
In conclusion, this study has found that immigrants moving to Israel from English
speaking countries seem to be tackling the issue of creating a sense of belonging with
the new culture and environment, noted through their levels of acculturation. This

process appears to be affecting their levels of self esteem and depression, with those
struggling to acculturate experiencing lower self esteem and higher levels of
depression. In addition their levels of acculturation have an influence on their levels
of cognitive functioning in certain areas, as well as their social functioning. In
particular, within the acculturation process, success at learning Hebrew appears to
have the most influence on cognitive functioning levels. Additionally self esteem and
depression were also found to have a direct link with cognitive and social functioning,
although this appears to be
unrelated to the immigration process.

51
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, .)9111( . ,
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61

Appendix

Appendix 1: Demographic Questionnaire Appendix 2: Rosenbergs Self-Esteem

Scale (1965) Appendix 3: Walshs Damage to Self Questionnaire (2008)
Appendix 4: Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI)
Appendix 5: Acculturation Scale
Appendix 6: Social Functioning Test

62
Appendix 1: Demographic Questionnaire

1. Sex: (1) Male (2) Female

2. Age:
3. Where were you born? (1) Israel,
(2) Abroad state which country:
4. How many years have you been in Israel?
5. Where do you live? (1) Kibbutz (2) Moshav
Town
6. What is the status of your biological parents?
1. Married
2. Divorced or separated

(3) Community settlement (4)

3. Only one of them is alive

4. Neither of them is alive
7. What is your highest level of education?
1. I didnt study or Primary school
2. Secondary school
3. I finished secondary school and received a qualification (A-level, Bagrut etc)
4. Partial academic education no degree
5. Academic degree (BA)
6. Graduate level studies (MA/PHD)
8. Status: (1) Single (2) Married (3) Divorced (4) Separated (5) Widow/er

9. How many children do you have?

10. Do you have a partner? (1) No (2) Yes. How many years have you been together?
11. Who do you live with? (1) Parents/siblings (2) Partner (3) Friend(s) (4) Alone
(5) Flat mate/ Lodger
12. Occupation: (1) Full time (2) Part time (3) Unemployed
13. What is the nature of your occupation?
1. Professional
2. Manual Labour
3. Secretarial/clerical
4. Service Industry
5. Agriculture
6. Student
7. Other (please expand)
14. What is your monthly income?
1. Up to 3000 shekels
2. Between 3000 and 4500 shekels

63
3. Between 4500 and 8000 shekels
4. Between 8000 and 10,000 shekels
5. Over 10,000 shekels
15. How would you define yourself? (1) Charedi (2) Religious (3) Traditional (4)
Secular
16. How you ever suffered from depression? (1) No

(2) Yes. When?

17. How you ever suffered from hyper activity or attention deficit disorder? (1) No
(2) Yes. When?

64
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?/ / .11
)5(
)4(
/ )3( / )2( / )1( ?
.11
)3(
)2(
)1( : .12
? .13 .1
.2 / .3
.4
.5 .6
.7
? .14 3,111 .1
4,511 3,111 .2 8,111 4,511
.3
11,111 8,111 .4
11,111 .5
)4(
)3(
)2(
)1( : .15
? , )2(
)1(
? .16
? , )2(
)1(
? .17

65
Appendix 2: Rosenbergs Self-Esteem Scale (1965)

On the whole I am satisfied with myself

Strongly agree
1

Agree
2

Disagree
3

Strongly disagree
4

At times I think I am no good at all

I feel that I have a number of good qualities
1
2
3

I am able to do things as well as most other people

1
2
3

I feel I do not have much to be proud of I certainly feel useless at times

1
2
3
4
1

I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others

I wish I could have more self-respect for myself
1
2
3
4

All in all, I am inclined to think that I am a failure

1
2
3

I take a positive attitude towards myself

1
2
3

66


4
3
2

4
3
2

4
3
2
1
4
3
2
1
/ /
/
/

/

/
, /

4
3
2
1


4
3
2
1
4
3
2
1
,

/

67
Appendix 3: Walshs Damage to Self Questionnaire (2008)
When you think about the period of 2 years after you made Aliyah, how far are the
following sentences relevant to you?
5 I felt this almost all the time
4 I felt this often
3 - Sometimes I felt this
2 I rarely felt this
1 I didnt feel like this at all
1
2

I felt lonely
I felt that there were things I wasnt able to do that I

could do in my home country

3 I felt anxious and/or stressed
4 I felt excited to be in Israel
5 I missed home
6 I felt doubt about my abilities to succeed in Israel
7 I felt that I had arrived home
8 I felt helpless
9 I felt different
10 I felt satisfied
11 I felt sad
12 I felt unstable
13 I felt that there were things I wasnt able to achieve
that I could achieve in my home country
14 I felt that I wanted to leave
15 I felt a type of calmness
16 I felt that people treated me with disrespect
17 I learnt Hebrew easily
18 I thought that Israeli culture is rude
19 I felt that people dont know me
20 I felt happy
21 I felt depressed
22 I felt that I relate to Israeli culture and am learning it
23 I missed people
24 I was happy that I made Aliyah
25 I felt like I didnt fit in
26 I felt confused
27 I felt humiliated
28 I felt lost
29 I missed places, scenery and weather
30 I felt that I couldnt relate to Israeli culture
31 I felt that Israelis accept me
32 I felt that I had lost my status
33 I felt that I was capable of succeeding
34 I felt unwanted
35 I missed home cooked food and food from my homeland.
36 I felt proud that I had made Aliyah
9
2
3
4
5
9
2
3
4
5
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

68
37 I felt ashamed to see the difficulties my parents were
9
2
having
38 I felt angry towards Israelis and Israeli culture
9
2
39 I felt that Israelis value me and my Aliyah
9
2
40 I felt frustrated that I wasnt able to speak Hebrew as
9
2
I would have wanted
41 I felt feelings of failure
9
2
42 I felt feelings of rejection from Israelis and Israeli
9
2
culture
3
4
5
3
3
3

4
4
4

5
5
5

3
3

4
4

5
5

How far are the following sentences relevant to you?

5 I feel this almost all the time
4 I feel this often
3 - Sometimes I feel this
2 I rarely feel this
1 I dont feel like this at all
1
I feel lonely
9
2
I feel that there are things Im able to do that I
could do in my home country
3
I feel anxious and/or stressed
9
4
I feel excited to be in Israel
9
5
I miss home
9
6
I feel doubt about my abilities to succeed in Israel
9
7
I feel that I have arrived home
9
8
I feel helpless
9
9
I feel different
9
10 I feel satisfied
9
11 I feel sad
9
12 I feel unstable
9
13 I feel that there are things Im not able to achieve
that I could achieve in my home country
14 I feel that I want to leave
9
15 I feel a type of calmness
9
16 I feel that people treat me with disrespect
9
17 I learnt/ am learning Hebrew easily
9
18 I think that Israeli culture is rude
9
19 I feel that people dont know me
20 I feel happy
9
21 I feel depressed
9
22 feel that I relate to Israeli culture and am learning it
9
23 I miss people
9
24 I am happy that I made Aliyah
9
25 I feel like I dont fit in
26 I feel confused
9
27 I feel humiliated
9
28 I feel lost
9
29 I miss places, scenery and weather
9
3
4
5
3
4
5
3
3
3

4
4
4

5
5
5

2
9

2
2
2

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
9

2
2
2
2
2
9
2
2

2
2

2
2
9
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

69
30 I feel that I cant relate to Israeli culture
9
2
31 I feel that Israelis accept me
9
2
32 I feel that I have lost my status
9
2
33 I feel that I am capable of succeeding
9
2
34 I feel unwanted
9
2
35 I miss home cooked food and food from my
9
2
homeland.
36 I feel proud that I had made Aliyah
9
2
37 I feel ashamed to see the difficulties my parents are
9
2
having
38 I feel angry towards Israelis and Israeli culture
9
2
39 I feel that Israelis value me and my Aliyah
9
2
40 I feel frustrated that Im not able to speak Hebrew
9
2
as I would have wanted
41 I feel feelings of failure
9
2
42 I feel feelings of rejection from Israelis and Israeli
9
2
culture
3
4
5
3
4
5
3
4
5

3
3
3

4
4
4

5
5
5

3
3

4
4

5
5

3
3
3

4
4
4

5
5
5

3
3

4
4

5
5

71
Appendix 4: Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI)
This questionnaire contains groups of questions. Please read each group of questions
carefully. After, please choose the sentence from within which group that best
describes how you felt over the last week including today.
Please mark with a circle the number next to the sentence you choose.
If more than one sentence in a group is appropriate then please mark each one. Please
make sure you read all the sentences in the group before you choose one of them.
1.
0. I don't feel sad.
1. I feel sad.
2. I feel sad all the time and can't get rid of this feeling.
3. I feel so sad or miserable that I can't bear it.

2.
0. I don't feel hopeless about the future.
1. I feel hopeless about the future.
2. I feel that I have nothing to look forward to.
3. I feel that the future is hopeless and that things will not improve.
3.
0. I don't feel a failure.
1. I feel that I failed more than the average man.
2. When I look back on my life all that I see is a lot of failures.
3. I feel that I am a total failure as a person.
4.
0. I enjoy things currently as I used to enjoy them in the past.
1. I don't enjoy things like I used to in the past.
2. I no longer get any real enjoyment from anything.
3. I don't enjoy anything or everything bores me.

5.
0. I dont feel particularly guilty.
1. I dont feel guilty a big part of the time.
2. I feel guilty a big part of the time.
3. I feel guilty all the time.
6.
0. I don't feel that I am punished.
1. I feel that I am likely to be punished.
2. I expect to be punished.
3. I feel that I am punished.
7.
0. I am not disappointed with myself.
1. I am disappointed with myself.
2. I disgust myself.
3. I hate myself.
8.

0. I don't feel that I am worse than anyone else.

71
1. I am critical towards myself as a result of my weaknesses and mistakes.
2. I blame myself all the time for my shortcomings.
3. I blame myself for every bad thing that happens.
9.
0. I have no thoughts of killing myself.
1. I have thoughts of killing myself but dont carry them out.
2. I would like to kill myself.
3. I would kill myself if I had the opportunity.
10. 0. I don't cry more than is normal.
1. I cry now more than I did in the past.
2. I cry all the time at the moment.
3. In the past I could cry, but now I can't cry even though I want to.
11. 0. I am not more aggravated now than normal.
1. I get aggravated not much more easily than I did in the past.
2. I get aggravated all the time.
3. I don't get aggravated at all over things that would have aggravated me in the past.
12. 0. I haven't lost interest in other people.
1. I am interested in other people less now than I was in the past.
2. I have lost most of my interest in other people.
3. I have lost all interest in people.
13. 0. I make decisions as I always did.
1. I try to postpone making decisions more than I did in the past.
2. I find it harder to make decisions than I did in the past.
3. I can't make decisions at all.
14.

0. I don't feel that I look any worse than I did in the past.

1. I worry that I look older than I am or that I am unattractive.

2. I feel that irreversible changes in my appearance have begun and they are causing
me to look less attractive.
3. I feel that I am ugly.
15. 0. I am able to work as I did in the past.
1. I need to make a special effort in order to start doing something.
2. I have to push myself a lot in order to do something.
3. I am not able to work at all.

16. 0. I am able to sleep as normal.

1. I don't sleep as well as I did in the past.
2. I wake up an hour or two earlier than normal and it is hard for me to get back to
sleep again.

72
3. I wake up a number of hours earlier than I did in the past and I
can't get back to sleep again.
17. 0. I don't become tired more than is normal.
1. I get tired more easily than I did in the past.
2. I get tired without doing almost anything.
3. I am too tired to be able to do anything.
18. 0. My appetite is no worse than normal.
1. My appetite isnt as good as it used to be.
2. My appetite is much worse now.
3. I don't have any appetite at all any more.
19. 0. I haven't lost a lot of weight, if at all, lately.
1. Recently I have lost more than 2 Kg in weight.
2. Recently I have lost more than 5 Kg in weight.
3. Recently I have lost more than 7 Kg in weight. I am trying to lose weight by eating
less: Yes
No
20. 0. I am not worried about my health any more than normal.
1. I am disturbed by physical problems such as: aches and pains, digestive problems
and constipation.
2. I am very disturbed by physical problems and it's hard for me to think about
anything else.
3. I am so disturbed by physical problems that I am not able to think about anything
else.
21. 0. I haven't noticed any difference in my interest in sex recently.
1. I am less interested in sex than I was in the past.

2. I am much less interested in sex now.

3. I have lost all interest in sex.

73
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/
.
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. / .9
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76
Appendix 5: Acculturation Scale
A. People can think of themselves in various ways. For example, they may feel that
they are members of various groups of immigrants (e.g. English) or that they are part
of the larger society, i.e. Israeli society. These questions are about how you think of
yourself in this respect. The questions refer to England, however if you are from a
different country originally please substitute in your country.

1. How do you think of yourself?

Not at all
A
little
Some- what
Fairly well
Very well
a I think of myself as English.
I think of myself as Israeli.
think of myself as English and Israeli.
d I think of myself as part of another group.
What group?

1
1

2
2

3
3

5b
5c I

4
4

How far do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Strongly disagree
Somewhat disagree
Not sure/neutral
Somewhat agree
Strongly agree
2
I feel that I am part of
English culture.
3
I am proud of being
English.
4
I am happy to be
English.
5
If I was born again I would want to be born English.
6
I feel that I am part of
Israeli culture.
1
2
3
4
5
1

1
2
3
4
5
7
I feel close to Israelis.
1
2
3
8
I am proud of being
Israeli.
9
I am happy to be
Israeli.
10 If I was born again, I would want to be born Israeli.
11 Being past of English culture is embarrassing to me.
12 Being English is uncomfortable for me.
1
2
3
4
5
1

77
13
14
15
16
1

Being part of English culture makes me feel happy.

Being English makes me feel good.
I feel that moving to Israeli was one of the most important things I've ever done.
If I could, I would have immigrated to another country and not Israel.
2
3
4
5

B. People differ in how important they consider aspects of themselves to be. How
important are the following aspects of yourself to you?
Not at all
A
little
Some- what
Fairly well
Very well
17 That I am English
18 That I am Israeli.
19 That I am a person/human being.
20 That I am Jewish.
21 That I am male/female.

1
1
1

2
2
2

3
3
3

4
4
4

5
5
5

C. Here are some statements about language, cultural traditions, friends etc. Please
indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement by checking the answer
that applies best to you.
Strongly disagree
Somewhat disagree
Not sure/neutral
Somewhat agree

Strongly agree
1
I feel that English people should adapt to Israeli cultural traditions and not
maintain those of their own.
2
I would rather marry an English man/woman than an Israeli.
3
I feel that the English should maintain their own cultural traditions but also
adapt to those of Israel.
4
I would rather marry an Israeli that someone English.
5
I would be just as willing to marry an Israeli as someone English.
1
2
3
4
5

1
6
5

2
3
I feel that it is not important

4
1

5
2

78
for the English either to maintain their own cultural transients or to adapt to those of
Israel.
7
I feel that the English should maintain their own cultural traditions and not adapt
to those if Israel.
8
I would not like to marry either an Israeli or an English person.
9
It is more important to be to be fluent in English than in Hebrew.
10 It is more important to me to be fluent in Hebrew than in English.
11 It is important to me to be fluent in both Hebrew and English.
12 It is not important to me to be fluent either in English or in Hebrew.
13 I prefer social activities that involve both Israeli and English members.
14 I prefer to have only Israeli friends.
15 I prefer to have only
English friends.
16 I prefer social activities that involve Israelis only.
17 I prefer to have both
English and Israeli friends.
18 I don't want to attend either Israeli or English social activities.

19 I prefer social activities that involve English members only.

20 I don't want to have either
Israeli or English friends.

D. The following questions concern your knowledge of English and Hebrew.

1. How well do you:
A
little
Some- what
Fairly well
Very well
a Understand English
Speak English
Read English
Write English

Not at all

1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4

5b
5c
5d
5

79
2. How well do you:

Not at all

A
little
Some- what
Fairly well
Very well
a Understand Hebrew
Speak Hebrew
Read Hebrew
Write Hebrew

1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4

5b
5c
5d
5

81

Appendix 6: Social Functioning Test

Please indicate your level of competence and comfort in handling the following type
of situations using the following scale:
1 Im poor at this; Id feel so uncomfortable and unable to handle this
situation, Id avoid it is
possible.
2- Im only fair at this; Id feel uncomfortable and would have lots of
difficulty handling this
situation.
3 Im OK at this; Id feel somewhat uncomfortable and have some
difficulty handling this
situation.
4 Im good at this; Id feel quite comfortable and able to handle this
situation.
5 Im EXTREMELY good at this; Id feel very comfortable and could
handle this situation very
well.

1 Asking or suggesting to someone new that you get together and do something,
e.g. go out together.
2 Telling a companion you dont like a certain way he or she has been
treating you.
3
Revealing something intimate about yourself while talking with
someone youre just getting to know.
4
Helping a close companion work though his or her thoughts and feelings about a
major life decision, e.g. a career choice.
5
Being able to admit that you might be wrong when a disagreement with a close
companion begins to build into a serious fight.
6
Finding and suggesting things to do with new people whom you find interesting
and attractive.
7
Saying no when a date/acquaintance asks you to do something you
dont want to do.
8
Confiding in a new friend/date and letting him or her see your softer, more
sensitive side.
9
Being able to patiently and sensitively listen to a companion let off steam
about outside problems s/he is having.
10 Being able to put begrudging (resentful) feelings aside when having a fight with
a close companion.
11 Carrying on conversations with someone new whom you think you might like to
get to know.
1 2 3 4 5
1

1 2 3 4 5
12 Turning down a request by a companion that is unreasonable.
1 2
3 4 5
13 Telling a close companion things about yourself that youre ashamed of. 1
2 3 4 5
14 Helping a close companion get to the heart of a problem s/he is experiencing.
15 When having a conflict with a close companion, really listening to his or her
complaints and not trying to read his/her mind.
16 Being an interesting and enjoyable person to be with when first getting to know
people.
17 Standing up for your rights when a companion is neglecting you or being
inconsiderate.
1 2 3 4 5
1

1
18
2
19
3
20
2

3 4 5
Letting a new companion get to know the real you.
3 4 5
Helping a close companion cope with family or roommate problems.
4 5
Being able to take a companions perspective in a fight and really
3 4 5

1
1

81
understand his or her point of view.
21 Introducing yourself to someone you might like to get to know (or date).
22 Telling a date/acquaintance that he or she is doing something that embarrasses
you.
23 Letting down your protective outer shell and trusting a close
companion.

2
1

1 2 3 4 5
24 Being a good and sensitive listener for a companion who is upset.
1 2
3 4 5
25 Refraining from saying things that might cause a disagreement to build into a big
fight.
26 Calling (on the phone) a new date/acquaintance to set up a time to get together
and do something.
27 Confronting your close companion when he or she has broken a promise.
28 Telling a close companion about the things that secretly make you feel anxious or
afraid.
29 Being able to say and do things to support a close companion when s/he is
feeling down.
30 Being able to work through a specific problem with a companion
without resorting to global accusations (you always do that).
31 Presenting good first impressions to people you might like to become friends
with (or date).
32 Telling a companion that he or she has done something to hurt your feelings.
33 Telling a close companion how much you appreciate and care for him or her.
34 Being able to show genuine empathetic concern even when a
companions problem in uninteresting to you.
35 When angry with a companion, being able to accept that s/he has a valid
point of view even if you dont agree with that view.
36 Going to parties or gatherings where you dont know people well in
order to start up new relationships.
37 Telling a date/acquaintance that her or she has done something that made you
angry.
38 Knowing how to move a conversation with a date/acquaintance beyond
superficial talk to really get to know each other.
39 When a close companion needs help and support, being able to give advice in
ways that are well received.
40 Not exploding at a close companion (even when it is justified) in order to avoid a
damaging conflict.
1 2 3 4 5
1

82
Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the following
statements:
Strongly
Agree

Moderately Slightly
Agree
Agree

Slightly
Disagree
4

Moderately Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
5

1 I dont have many people who want to listen when I need to

talk

1 2 3 4 5 6
2 I enjoy personal and mutual conversations with family members and friends
1 2 3 4 5 6
3 I often feel lonely because I have few close friends with whom to share my
concerns
1 2 3 4 5 6
4 It seems to me that most other people have more friends than I do
1 2 3 4 5 6
5 People would describe me as a giving person, willing to share my time with others
1 2 3 4 5 6
6

Most people see me as loving and affectionate

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 I know I can trust my friends, and they know they can trust me
1 2 3 4 5 6
8 Maintaining close relationships has been difficult and frustrating for me
1 2 3 4 5 6
9 I have not experienced many warm and trusting relationships with others.
1 2 3 4 5 6

83
.
,



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4
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5
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