Understanding Refugee Worries in the Integration Process

Abstract

This article presents policy related results of a data analysis conducted to understand the nature of refugee worries (concerns) during the integration process in Germany. Data comes from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (SOEP), which has a specific data subset collected from refugee population living in Germany. “Uncertainty” is the key concept that explains worry structure of refugees, indicating that most of the worries are related to uncertain conditions of refugee experiences. Our statistical analysis of the SOEP Refugee data shows that worries are not directly related to individual level, long-term personality characteristics, but mostly related to short-term, psychological impact of refugee experiences. Therefore, better policies reducing uncertainties and negative impact of displacement experiences will also reduce refugee worries in the integration process.