Ermira Kamberi

Bio: Ermira Kamberi is an academic researcher from Utrecht University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Subjective well-being & Ethnic group. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 30 citations.

Life Satisfaction and Happiness Among the Roma in Central and Southeastern Europe

Abstract: This study examines general life satisfaction and happiness as two indicators of subjective well-being among Roma and non-Roma populations in Central and Southeastern Europe. Using a sample of 11,997 participants (Roma N = 8,399, non-Roma N = 3,598) from the Regional Roma Survey in 2011 we test a structural equation model which considers self-rated health, income, education, quality of housing, perceived (ethnic) discrimination, and ethnic group identification as mediators of the relationship between Roma/non-Roma group membership and subjective well-being. Well-being was found to be lower among Roma compared to non-Roma and this was fully due to Roma’s lower health status, lower income, lower education, lower quality of housing, lower ethnic identification, and higher perceived discrimination. The findings confirm that Roma have fewer resources for the attainment of need-gratification which negatively affects their happiness and life satisfaction, thereby, refuting the romanticized image of the Roma as ‘poor but happy people’.

Intergroup contact and minority group empowerment: The perspective of Roma and non‐Roma adolescents in Macedonia

Abstract: This study focused on the endorsement of Roma empowerment in Macedonia among Roma (N = 187) and non-Roma (Macedonian, Albanian, and Turkish; N = 627) adolescents. Using structural equation modelling, we examined the mediating roles of out-group feelings, negative Roma stereotypes, and perceived social injustice towards the Roma in the association between out-group contact and endorsement of Roma empowerment. In line with the prejudice reduction model, we found for the non-Roma sample that the endorsement of Roma empowerment was higher among adolescents who had more frequent (as well as more positive) contact with Roma, and this was due to more positive feelings towards the Roma, less negative Roma stereotypes, and, in the case of Albanian and Turkish minorities, more perceived social injustice towards the Roma. There was little evidence for the collective action approach in the Roma sample.

A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change.

Abstract: Guided by the early findings of social scientists, practitioners have long advocated for greater contact between groups to reduce prejudice and increase social cohesion. Recent work, however, suggests that intergroup contact can undermine support for social change towards greater equality, especially among disadvantaged group members. Using a large and heterogeneous dataset (12,997 individuals from 69 countries), we demonstrate that intergroup contact and support for social change towards greater equality are positively associated among members of advantaged groups (ethnic majorities and cis-heterosexuals) but negatively associated among disadvantaged groups (ethnic minorities and sexual and gender minorities). Specification-curve analysis revealed important variation in the size-and at times, direction-of correlations, depending on how contact and support for social change were measured. This allowed us to identify one type of support for change-willingness to work in solidarity- that is positively associated with intergroup contact among both advantaged and disadvantaged group members.

Can I Sustain My Happiness? A Review, Critique and Research Agenda for Economics of Happiness

Abstract: Human beings want to live in a state of happiness and prosperity, but happiness is important not just for the well-being of individuals but for the well-being of society. To ensure the maximization of happiness, it is necessary to consider more than just money, and rather include the right understanding of happiness at the individual level, the family level, the society level, and the environmental (nature) level. This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by consolidating the findings of the literature; grouping those into major themes and sub-themes; describing the mechanisms based on the empirical papers by highlighting the independent, dependent, control, and moderating variables, to study the causal relationships between variables under study; proposing an agenda for future research; and informing the policymakers about decisions influencing the human happiness level through legislative rules and regulations. Our results suggest prioritizing the conceptualization of happiness while computing the happiness level at the individual or collective levels. Furthermore, the study recommends governments to establish the conditions enabling individuals to report happiness independently from the political pressure to answer strategically for impressive happiness level figures at the macro level.

What Makes a Satisfied Immigrant? Host-Country Characteristics and Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction in Eighteen European Countries

Abstract: Based on the data from six waves of the European Social Survey collected from 18 European countries between 2002 and 2012, we aimed at explaining the variation in immigrants’ life satisfaction across countries, by focusing on host countries’ characteristics. By adopting the multi-level analysis, we examined the national-level traits from three aspects: namely, the climate of immigrant reception, the extent of public goods provision and the level of economic inequality. Our findings suggest that immigrants are likely to be more satisfied in countries that offer more welcoming social settings. However, this association is significant only when the social setting is measured by attitudes of the native-born towards immigrants, rather than by legal immigration regulations and policies. When taking into account the extent to which host country is able to provide public goods, country’s wealth levels seems not to matter for immigrants’ life satisfaction, whereas countries’ levels of human development is associated with an increase in immigrants’ life satisfaction albeit only at the 10% significance level. The role of economic inequality varies with immigrants’ own socio-economic statuses. On average, immigrants are less satisfied with their lives in host countries with higher levels of economic inequality. However, highly educated immigrants tend not to perceive economic inequality of the country as an obstacle of their satisfaction.

“Healthy” Identities? Revisiting Rejection‐Identification and Rejection‐Disidentification Models among Voluntary and Forced Immigrants

Abstract: Rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification models propose that low-status groups identify with their in-group and disidentify with a high-status out-group in response to rejection by the latter Our research tests these two models simultaneously among multiple groups of foreign-born people living in two cultural contexts We examined these effects on representative samples of 2446 refugees in the Netherlands (Study 1) and 1234 voluntary immigrants in Spain (Study 2) We found that both ethnic and host national identification are ‘healthy’ and thus predominantly conducive to greater hedonic and eudaimonic well-being Further, perceived discrimination was associated with host national disidentification among refugees in the Netherlands and voluntary immigrants in Spain However, our findings regarding the rejection-identification link were less consistent We discuss the importance of ethnic and host national identification for the well-being of immigrants

The health of segregated Roma: first-line views and practices: a case study in Slovakia using ethnographic methods

Abstract: This thesis assesses the views and practices first of segregated Roma, i.e. Roma living in separated communities, and then of health system professionals in Slovakia regarding the poor health status of segregated Roma in the country. It aims to contribute to the understanding of the health inequalities between segregated Roma and the general populations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Based on four ethnographic studies, the thesis offers novel insights regarding three kinds of pathways. First, it adds that some CEE segregated Roma develop themselves ethnically framed racialized ideologies against the culture of local “non-Roma” standards of life, including care. Such social norms then shape health-endangering exposures of these Roma within the segregated enclaves in various ways, which vary by the household’s social level. Second, the thesis adds that frequently provided substandard healthcare to segregated Roma can be sustained by a poor understanding of their conditions and practices, and not-aligned organizational features. This can in turn lead to the Roma using healthcare services less effectively and to further exacerbation of specific health problems in this group. Lastly, the thesis adds that both pathways can be driven by an omnipresence of a specific form of racism targeting Roma: antigypsyism. In sum, the thesis suggests that to better understand and tackle inequalities concerning Roma, more focus is needed on the specific exposure pathways that we identified and on the fundamental underlying role of racism. Simultaneously, it shows that use of ethnographic tools within such research can be productive.