Abstract

Introduction. In the developing world, the acculturation learning process is usually associated with high levels of stress due to ethnic discrimination and difficulties in satisfying basic needs. Latin America is unique in terms of its process of acculturation due to its high level of inequality and similar cultural traits. Chile has shown the largest growth in the number of new immigrants during the last years in the region, from 746 thousand to 1.46 million between 2017 and 2020. Objective. The objective is to comprehend how immigrant women living in the Metropolitan Region of Chile perceive the acculturation learning process and how this influences their affective quality in different areas, such as subjective well-being, social support, coping strategies, and protective factors. Methods. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with immigrant women in the labor market in Chile and analyzed with the grounded theory. Results. Two main results are found: (a) high levels of acculturative stress among female migrants related to disappointment due to unmatched expectations of achievement and experiences in the country and, at the same time, (b) resilience of migrant women seems to help them handle acculturative stress. Discussion and conclusion. The study contributes to the knowledge about the adaptive learning response to acculturative stress in immigrants in the developing world, emphasizing resilience as a protective factor against such stress enhancing affective quality. Concurrently, it increases cultural contribution of immigrants to the receiving society and helps to break down the stigma associated with migration. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.