Adaptação sociocultural de imigrantes brasileiros a residir em Portugal

Abstract

The sociocultural adaptation of immigrants is a complex phenomenon which includes behavioral aspects of acculturation. The aim of this study is to analyze the level of sociocultural adaptation of Brazilian immigrants living in Portugal and how socio-demographic factors and acculturation factors can influence the levels of sociocultural adaptation. Regarding the methodology, the sample consisted of 241 Brazilian immigrants living in Portugal with mean age of 35.73 years (SD=10.13). The instruments used were the application of scales using a structured questionnaire: language proficiency, cultural identity, social interactions, perceived discrimination and sociocultural adaptation. In addition to these scales were also collected sociodemographic data: age, sex, place of birth, length of stay, religion, ethnicity of the neighboring population, nationality, education level and employment status. The results show that given the cultural proximity between Portugal and Brazil, the Brazilian immigrants living in our country showed a low level of sociocultural adaptation difficulty. We found that Brazilian immigrants with a lower education level showed more difficulties in sociocultural adaptation than those who have a higher level of education. It was also supported the hypothesis that sociocultural adaptation of immigrants is influenced by sociodemographic factors and intercultural contact factor.
However the results point to a greater influence of intercultural contact factors on the sociocultural adaptation than sociodemographic factors. This may imply that an earlier intervention on psychosocial factors may facilitate the sociocultural
adaptation of immigrants, since they are more likely to change than the sociodemographic factors.

Date of Award	2012
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Américo Mendes (Supervisor)