Home country economic, political, social push factors and intention to migrate in Iraq: psychological distress as mediator

Figures & data

Figure 1. The theoretical framework of the study.

Table 1. Demographic profile of the respondents.

Demography	Description	No. of responses	%
Gender	Male	211	70
	Female	89	30
Age	35 Years and below	111	37
	36–45 Years	145	48
	46–60 Years	44	15
Marital status	Married	253	84
	Single	47	16
Experience	5 Years and below	102	34
	6–10 years	143	48
	11–15	49	16
	16 and Above	6	2
Salary	1,000,000–1,500,000	133	44
	1,500,001–2,000,000	149	50
	2,000,001–Above	18	6
Education	Fellowship	81	27
	M.B. Ch.B	219	73

Table 2. Descriptive statistics.

	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. deviation
Financial difficulties	300	1	5	3.9993	1.02852
Economic instability	300	1.2	5	3.6863	0.80912
Life dissatisfaction	300	1.8	5	3.8421	0.72739
Problems of family well-being	300	1.33	5	3.6845	0.87537
Political instability	300	1	5	3.7967	0.83473
Corruption	300	1.5	5	3.6722	0.74833
Psychological distress	300	1.26	4.84	3.4223	0.76156
Intention to migrate	300	1.25	5	3.5719	0.99002
Valid N (listwise)	300

Table 3. Internal consistency reliability.

Constructs	Factor loadings	Cronbach’s alpha	Composite reliability	Average variance extracted (AVE)
CRP1	0.662
CRP2	0.808	0.725	0.748	0.5
CRP3	0.639
EI1	0.769
EI2	0.681	0.728	0.822	0.581
EI3	0.633
EI4	0.719
EI5	0.656
FD1	0.807
FD2	0.818	0.906	0.93	0.727
FD3	0.885
FD4	0.883
FD5	0.868
FW1	0.807
FW2	0.725	0.816	0.879	0.645
FW3	0.835
FW4	0.839
ITM1	0.870
ITM2	0.869
ITM3	0.851	0.876	0.915	0.728
ITM4	0.823
LD1	0.803
LD2	0.760
LD3	0.790	0.774	0.855	0.596
LD4	0.732
PD1	0.528
PD11	0.765
PD13	0.786
PD14	0.791
PD15	0.706
PD17	0.680
PD18	0.688	0.918	0.93	0.59
PD19	0.676
PD3	0.521
PD4	0.786
PD5	0.714
PD6	0.732
PD8	0.653
PD9	0.722
Pl2	0.761
PI3	0.717
PI4	0.742	0.77	0.852	0.591
PI5	0.849

Note: political instability (PI), corruption (CRP), life dissatisfaction (LD), problems of family well-being (FW), financial difficulties (FD), economic instability (EI), psychological distress (PD) and intention to migrate (ITM).

Figure 2. The measurement model.

Table 4. Discriminant validity.

IVS	CRP	EI	FD	FW	ITM	LD	PD	PI
CRP	0.707
EI	0.511	0.694
FD	0.448	0.608	0.853
FW	0.427	0.691	0.540	0.803
ITM	0.393	0.503	0.460	0.370	0.853
LD	0.507	0.544	0.393	0.685	0.382	0.772
PD	0.572	0.582	0.491	0.568	0.659	0.508	0.700
PI	0.482	0.670	0.346	0.677	0.371	0.501	0.550	0.769

Note: Political instability (PI), corruption (CRP), life dissatisfaction (LD), problems of family wellbeing (FW), financial difficulties (FD), economic instability (EI), psychological distress (PD) and intention to migrate (ITM).

Figure 3. The structural model.

Table 5. Direct relationship.

Hypothesis	Relationship	Original sample (O)	Standard deviation (STDEV)	T statistics (|O/STDEV|)	p Values	Decision
H1	FD –>ITM	0.161	0.067	2.459	0.015	Accepted
H2	EI –>ITM	0.198	0.089	2.191	0.026	Accepted
H3	PI –>ITM	−0.037	0.084	0.440	0.658	Rejected
H4	CRP –>ITM	−0.049	0.057	0.842	0.393	Rejected
H5	LD –>ITM	0.046	0.083	0.564	0.576	Rejected
H6	FW –>ITM	−0.174	0.070	2.450	0.013	Rejected
H7	PD –>ITM	0.589	0.067	8.823	0.000	Accepted

Note: financial difficulties (FD), economic instability (EI), political instability (PI), corruption (CRP), life dissatisfaction (LD), problems of family well-being (FW), psychological distress (PD), and intention to migrate (ITM).

Table 6. Indirect relationship.

Hypothesis	Relationship	Sample mean (M)	T statistics (|O/STDEV|)	p Values	Decision
H8	FD –> PD –> ITM	0.071	2.054	00.04	Accepted
H9	EI –> PD –> ITM	0.097	2.258	0.024	Accepted
H10	PI –> PD –> ITM	0.129	2.749	0.006	Accepted
H11	CRP –> PD –> ITM	0.182	4.632	0.000	Accepted
H12	LD –> PD –> ITM	−0.075	1.481	0.139	Rejected
H13	FW –> PD –> ITM	0.116	2.755	0.006	Accepted

Note: financial difficulties (FD), economic instability (EI), political instability (PI), corruption (CRP), life dissatisfaction (LD), problems of family well-being (FW), psychological distress (PD) and intention to migrate (ITM).

Table 7. Hypothesis testing summary.

Hypothesis	Decision
H1: There is a significant and positive impact between FD and ITM	Supported
H2: There is a significant and positive impact between EI and ITM	Supported
H3: There is a significant and positive impact between PI and ITM	Not supported
H4: There is a significant and positive impact between CRP and ITM	Not supported
H5: There is a significant and positive impact between LD and ITM	Not supported
H6: There is a significant and positive impact between FW and ITM	Not supported
H7: There is a significant and positive impact between PD and ITM	Supported
H8: Psychological distress mediates the relationship between FD and ITM	Supported
H9: Psychological distress mediates the relationship between EI and ITM	Supported
H10: Psychological distress mediates the relationship between PI and ITM	Supported
H11: Psychological distress mediates the relationship between CRP and ITM	Supported
H12: Psychological distress mediates the relationship between LD and ITM	Not supported
H13: Psychological distress mediates the relationship between FW and ITM	Supported

Note: Financial difficulties (FD), economic instability (EI), political instability (PI), corruption (CRP), life dissatisfaction (LD), problems of family well-being (FW), psychological distress (PD) and intention to migrate (ITM).

Table A1. Items and description.

Item	Description
CRP1	I perceive people in my country can tolerate corruption.
CRP2	I perceive my country does not properly address the corruption issue.
CRP3	I perceive my country has high levels of bribery and corruption.
EI1	I perceive my country’s economic is poor.
EI2	I perceive the Iraqi Dinar is losing its strength in the global market.
EI3	I perceive my country’s economic is unstable.
EI4	I perceive my country lacks industrialization.
EI5	I perceive low employment opportunities in my country.
FD1	I am dissatisfied with the salary that I received.
FD2	Due to growing inflation (rising cost of living goods and services) in Iraq, I am not be able to save much for the future.
FD3	I may not continue to be economically prosperous over the next 10 years in Iraq.
FD4	I perceive I will not have a greater chance of financial success in Iraq.
FD5	I perceive I will not have greater job security in Iraq.
FW1	I believe my country is not safe for my family.
FW2	I believe my country cannot provide opportunities for my children’s future.
FW3	I believe my country cannot provide good education for my children.
FW4	I believe my country is not a good place to bring up my children.
ITM1	I am looking forward to go abroad to work.
ITM2	I have intentions to work abroad.
ITM3	There is a likelihood that I will go abroad to work.
ITM4	I am confident that I will work abroad.
LD1	In most ways, my life in Iraq is not close to my ideal.
LD2	The conditions of my life in Iraq are not excellent.
LD3	So far, I have not received anything important I want in my life here in Iraq.
LD4	I am dissatisfied with my life in Iraq.
PD1	I belittle myself, I put myself down
PD11	I have no patience
PD13	I feel preoccupied and uneasy
PD14	I feel sad
PD15	I feel depressed or ‘down in the dumps’
PD17	I feel stressed and under pressure
PD18	I feel that I am not interested anymore in things that I normally found interesting
PD19	I am less receptive to the ideas and opinions of others
PD3	I lack self-confidence
PD4	I stay away from others as much as possible
PD5	I have difficulty facing my problems
PD6	I have the impression that no one loves me
PD8	I am at odds with everyone around me
PD9	I am aggressive about everything and nothing
PI2	I perceive my country’s government is dysfunctional.
PI3	I perceive my country’s internal conflicts are growing.
PI4	I perceive my country’s parliament is dysfunctional.
PI5	I perceive my country has high levels of violence and crime rate.