International migration and social pain responses

•Host culture identification negatively predicts heightened social pain response.•Heritage culture identification does not predict the same response.•Diminished sense of control underlies this association.

International migration, arguably one of the most challenging life events, is an increasingly common psychological experience in the globalizing world. One novel approach in theorizing about wide-ranging psychological implications associated with international migration is to consider its effect in thwarting basic psychological needs. The focus of the current research is on a thwarted sense of control that migrants experience in their adjustment to a host society and its association with heightening pain responses. Among foreign-born residents in Canada (Study 1) and the United States (Study 2), a negative association was found between the participants' identification with the host culture and their social pain responses. Study 2 supported the role of a diminished sense of control in mediating this association.