Are the Consequences of Experiencing Discrimination the same for Immigrants of Differing Socio‐Economic Status in Japan?
| Date | 01 April 2018 |
| Published date | 01 April 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12370 |
Are the Consequences of Experiencing
Discrimination the same for Immigrants of
Differing Socio-Economic Status in Japan?
Shun Gong*
ABSTRACT
Scholars have identified the negative effects of discrimination on immigrants’well-being by
focusing on the nature of discrimination. However, whether the social status of immigrants
influences the effects of discrimination on well-being remains unclear. To answer this question,
this study extends current research by focusing on how immigrants’occupational status moder-
ates the effects of discrimination on well-being. Based on two sets of survey data, the results
show that skilled immigrants are more likely to be negatively affected by discrimination than
are unskilled immigrants. This phenomenon might be explained by the immigrants’compar-
isons of discrimination experiences prior to migration. The findings suggest that to explain the
mechanism underlying discrimination’s negative effect on immigrants’psychological well-
being, researchers should pay more attention to immigrants’characteristics and their experi-
ences before migration. The results of this study have important implications for immigration
policy in Japan and other ethnically homogeneous countries, such as South Korea.
INTRODUCTION
Discrimination has emerged as a salient factor affecting immigrants’integration during international
migration (Alba and Nee, 2005; Borjas, 1999; Portes and Rumbaut, 2006; Zhou, 1997). Much of
the existing research on immigrants’experienced discrimination and well-being focuses on the nat-
ure of discrimination. For instance, researchers found that discrimination implies being excluded
from mainstream society and is a psychological stressor for immigrants (Branscombe et al., 1999;
Dion, 2002; Dion et al., 2009). However, are the consequences of experiencing discrimination the
same for different immigrants? Existing studies have investigated how ascribed characteristics, such
as gender, race, and skin colour, moderate the effects of discrimination for immigrants (Dion et al.,
2009; Huynh et al., 2014; Kessler et al., 1999; Monk, 2015; Schmitt and Branscombe, 2002). This
study extends these insights by focusing on how immigrants’occupational status moderates the
effects of discrimination on well-being.
The present study contributes to the previous literature in two ways: first, it adds to the literature
on the effects of immigrant discrimination. The present study fills the gap in the existing literature
by discussing how the effects of discrimination differ among immigrants with different skill levels.
Second, to explain why discrimination differs in its impacts on immigrants, the present research
identifies two possibilities: identification and social comparison. However, the results show that
immigrants’identification is not sufficient to explain the differing impacts of discrimination. By
* Tohoku University, Sendai
doi: 10.1111/imig.12370
©2017 The Author
International Migration ©2017 IOM
International Migration Vol. 56 (2) 2018
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
looking at immigrants’situation before migration, the present work tries to determine why discrimi-
nation differently affects immigrants by considering the gap between immigrants’home countries
and destination countries. This provides another possible mechanism to explain why immigrants’
experiences of discrimination matter to their well-being.
Meanwhile, the analysis of how and why social status moderates the effects of discrimination on
immigrant well-being, and with whom immigrants in Japan compare themselves, provides insight
into why Japan’s immigration policy, despite its focus on attracting skilled immigrants, has yielded
low retention rates for this group. Labour shortages and an improved economy led Japan to begin
to accept immigrants in the 1980s (Tsuda and Cornelius, 2004). During the 1980s and 1990s,
Japan’s immigration policy retained strict control of immigration but accepted refugees and skilled
foreigners. Compatible with prior policy, the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act
came into effect in 1990. The immigration law strictly prohibits unskilled immigrants except for
“Nikkeijin”, who have Japanese ancestors, but admits skilled immigrants (Kondo, 2002). Although
Japan revised the act in 1997 and 1999, the policy continues to welcome skilled immigrants and
restrict unskilled immigrants. For example, to promote greater acceptance of highly skilled foreign
immigrants, Japan’s Ministry of Justice implemented a new policy in 2012 called “Points-based
preferential immigration treatment for highly skilled foreign professionals”, which gives advantages
to skilled immigrants and their family members (Ministry of Justice, 2012). However, despite
Japan’s immigration policy, its retention rates for skilled immigrants are extremely low compared
with those of other countries (Tsukazaki, 2008). Previous studies have mainly explored the reasons
for these low rates by studying factors such as the downward mobility of skilled immigrants and
the institutional barriers that inhibit the human or social capital of these immigrants from being
translated into income (Holbrow and Nagayoshi, 2016; Takenaka et al., 2015). The findings of the
present study imply that the lack of anti-discrimination legislation in Japan, which probably con-
tributes to the emotional deprivation of skilled immigrants relative to their pre-immigration experi-
ence with discrimination, may also influence their decision to leave or remain in Japan.
The present results also have important implications for other homogeneous and non-immigrant
countries, such as South Korea. As the problem of an ageing population is more severe in Japan
than in South Korea, the immigration policies implemented by the Japanese government since the
1980s have aimed to increase the retention rates of skilled immigrants; such policies are now being
considered by South Korea (Japan Statistic Bureau, 2014; Torneo, 2016). However, most of these
policies do not address the integration of skilled immigrants from subjective perspectives. The case
of Japan implies that to improve the retention rates of skilled immigrants, South Korea should
introduce anti-discrimination legislation. Furthermore, systems that do not exclusively consider
immigrants as substitute workers are required.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Immigrants in Japan
Japan began to accept immigrants in the 1980s. However, as mentioned by Japan’s Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe in 2016, Japan needs immigrants but is not an immigrant country (Peng, 2016). Com-
pared with the immigrant population in the US and other immigrant countries, the immigrant popu-
lation in Japan is small, and Japanese society is highly homogeneous: for example, in 2016 there
were approximately 2.3 million foreign citizens living in Japan, representing only approximately
1.8 per cent of Japan’s total population (Ministry of Justice, 2016). However, the context of immi-
gration in Japan provides an ideal case to investigate the impact of discrimination and how immi-
grants’social status moderates the effects of discrimination.
38 Gong
©2017 The Author. International Migration ©2017 IOM
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