Abstract

The recent Greek economic crisis has affected hardest vulnerable social groups such as immigrants. Historically, economic downturns lead to dramatic socio-economic alterations which may further negatively affect individuals’ emotional and psychological well-being. The main rationale of the paper is to unravel the negative emotions towards the Greek economic conditions experienced by immigrants of different demographic and social class profiles during recessionary times. The study uses data derived from the LIVEWHAT (Living with Hard Times) project. Descriptive analysis portrays immigrants’ emotions of anger, disgust, fear, anxiety, sadness, and depression in relation to their demographic and social class characteristics. Multiple regression analysis evaluates the effects of demographic and social class attributes on the “Anxiety-Depression-Sadness” and “Aversion” emotional indicators. The findings underline immigrants’ similar demographic attributes predicting the emotional indicators under study; however distinct emotional reactions may arise across immigrants of different social standing. Whilst previous research has explored general population’s emotions during crises, to the best of our knowledge there are no quantitative studies focusing on immigrants. Since negative emotions may be central to determining individuals’ psychological well-being, the preliminary findings can stimulate future explanatory research. Such research may aid in the design of community intervention programs that target to promote immigrants’ positive emotional and psychological health during recessionary times.