Ireland: gender, psychological health, and attitudes toward emigration

Ireland is experiencing one of the highest periods of emigration in its history. The current study collected demographic and psychological data on 203 Irish men and women in Ireland and in Northern Ireland, including measures of self-esteem, depression, attitudes toward immigration, and expectancies of emigration. Analysis indicated that approximately 81% of this Irish sample are considering emigration; however, the prospect of emigration is psychologically experienced differently by men and women. While there were no significant differences over-all in scores on self-esteem between Irish men and women, men who contemplated emigration reported higher self-esteem scores, and women contemplating emigration reported lower self-esteem scores (relative to those who had no plan to emigrate). In addition, women who contemplated emigration had higher depression scores than women who did not contemplate emigration. This pattern was not evident for men. These results indicate that psychologically women view the prospect of emigration less positively than men.