motivation

According to a United Nations report, 3.2% of the world population or 258 million people, live in a country other than their country of birth. Between 1990 and 2017, the number of international immigrants increased by 69% or 105 million, with the majority of immigration taking place between 2005 to 2017. The phenomenon of cross-border immigration is an important aspect of international relations and modern life. People migrate from their country of origin for a variety of reasons: to avoid conflicts or violence, or distressed environmental challenges; to escape poverty, to provide better opportunities for their children, to reunite with families, to obtain a better education and to find employment. They face tough and challenging decisions and take life-threating risks to make a move domestically or across the borders. 

Why do people migrate from their home country and what are the motivational factors that lead to such an unforeseeable journey? How do they choose their destination? This paper applies motivational theory to this migration. I investigate the personal, social, economic, and cultural variables that are the critical basis of these motivations. Europe, with 78 million immigrants, holds the 2nd place in the world, and Germany, with the most immigrants, holds the 1st place among European countries. More than 1.6 million new immigrants arrived in Germany in 2014. I have employed the motivation theory to immigrants in Germany in order to determine why people emigrate to other countries.

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Data from Syrian, Afghans, Polish, and Chinese immigrants in Germany were critical to the investigation of general motivational theories of migration. I have applied three different theoretical motivations — motivational theory of preservation, the motivational theory of self-development, and motivational theory of materialism — to the data and have confirmed the validity of all three theories. It means, moving forward, that ever more attention needs to be paid to motivation theory, across many other cases and diverse global regions, as it seems to have that magical intellectual quality of being both flexible and accurate.

Ebad Mobaligh is an entrepreneur, IT professional, community organizer, and a doctoral student with  American Military University’s Global Security program. He loves playing and watching soccer. He lives in the San Francisco area with his wife and four children.

source: Modern Diplomacy