Well-being and Sociocultural Adaptation in Relation to Return Intentions: The Case of Italian Retirees in Ticino

Giulia Laporta Parsaei , University of Florence, University of Milano-Bicocca
Claudio Bolzman, HETS – HES-SO Geneva
Camilla Matera, University of Florence
Elisa Barbiano di Belgiojoso, University of Milano-Bicocca

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between psychological well-being, sociocultural adaptation, and return intentions in the context of later-life migration. Although many older migrants express a desire to return to their country of origin, they often choose to remain in the host country upon retirement. The decision-making process is shaped by affective, identity-related, and contextual factors, whose complex interplay gives rise to return trajectories that do not always align with stated intentions. In this light, the article addresses two research questions: (1) What is the relationship between psychological well-being and return intentions? (2) How is sociocultural adaptation associated with return intentions? Although these questions have been extensively explored within distinct disciplinary domains, they have seldom been integrated into a unified theoretical framework. This contribution seeks to address this gap by combining psychological and sociocultural perspectives, thereby fostering a more nuanced and multidimensional understanding of return migration dynamics in later life. Empirical evidence is based on a survey of nearly 200 Italian immigrants aged 60 to 80 residing in the Swiss canton of Ticino. Preliminary findings indicate that sociocultural adaptation is negatively associated with return intentions, whereas the data do not support the existence of a relationship between well-being and return intentions. Finally, interaction analysis reveals that well-being plays a compensatory role among less integrated individuals, with its effect diminishing as sociocultural adaptation increases.

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 Presented in Session P4. Migration, Migrants, and Mobility