Yanina Zhuk

University of Gdańsk,

Gdańsk, Poland

ORCID 0009-0000-9393-5902

Economic status, emigration, and life satisfaction: Strategies of acculturation among Belarusian and Ukrainian migrants in Poland before and during the war

Svitlana Bilan

Rzeszów Institute of Technology,

Rzeszów, Poland

e-mail: s.bilan@prze.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0001-9814-5459

Marcin Brycz

University of Gdańsk,

Gdańsk, Poland

E-mail: marcin.brycz@ug.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0002-9017-8915

Hanna Brycz

University of Gdańsk,

Gdańsk, Poland

E-mail: hanna.brycz@ug.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0001-7003-9793

Abstract. The main aim of the study was to investigate the acculturation strategies and life satisfaction of Belarusians and Ukrainians living in Poland. The study participants (N = 423) provided socio-demographic data about themselves, when they came to Poland (before or during the Russian invasion of Ukraine), and filled in the acculturation and the life satisfaction questionnaires. The results indicated no difference in acculturation, education, or economic status between the Belarusians and the Ukrainians. The positive relationship between economic status and life satisfaction, unsurprisingly, was evident. However, it was found that marginalization, discrimination, and assimilation as acculturation strategies were salient among participants who came to Poland before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The migrants who entered Poland during the war showed sedate attitudes towards Poland. The relationship between the migrants’ economic status and the moment of migration (before vs. during the war) and attitudes towards integration became clear. Poor and middle-class migrants consistently show a rather high degree of preference for the best acculturation strategy - integration. Meanwhile, the rich participants showed the highest integration before the war, but the rich who came during the war exhibited the lowest level of integration. This is explained based on the economic literature.

Received: December, 2023

1st Revision: August, 2023

Accepted: December, 2023

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2023/16-4/16

JEL Classification: D06, E24

Keywords: acculturation, war in Ukraine, income