The Psychological Assessment of Refugees
PhD project of Dan Asfar (started in September 2017) under the supervision of prof. dr. Marise Born (Erasmus University) and dr. Janneke Oostrom (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), in collaboration with NOA.
Empirical work from several disciplines has investigated the predictors of refugees’ integration outcomes. In the present PhD project, we focus on the importance of psychological individual differences. In collaboration with a psychological consultancy agency, NOA, we use data from several thousands of individual assessments to examine refugees’ socioeconomic outcomes, such as local (Dutch) language proficiency (see Asfar et al., 2019) and labor market integration (work in progress).
“Many psychological traits and skills that ensure that refugees successfully integrate can be developed through training in practice. I think it’s essential to study them!”
We aim to learn more about the relative importance of individual differences and psychological traits for refugees’ integration. For example, does cognitive ability affect integration success, and do personality traits and work values matter? The insights need to be used to improve individual refugees’ integration trajectories and promote programs for the development of relevant traits and skills.
Find out more
Asfar, D., Born, M. P., Oostrom, J. K., & van Vugt, M. (2019). Psychological individual differences as predictors of refugees’ local language proficiency. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(7), 1385-1400. Link