Seven researchers from Erasmus University Rotterdam and Erasmus MC have been awarded NWO Open Competition-SSH grants. NWO Social Sciences and Humanities aims to promote excellent free, curiosity-driven research with a primarily social science or humanities research question and problem statement. One of the laureates is Thijs van den Broek, assistant professor at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management. He receives the grant for his research project: Loneliness as a Driver of Emigration (LoneDrivE).
Loneliness as a Driver of Emigration (LoneDrivE)
Many migrants suffer from loneliness. This is typically ascribed to the challenges that come with migration, such as the separation from friends and family in the country of origin and struggles with settling in the destination country. This project breaks new ground by exploring an overlooked additional explanation: selection of lonely people into international migration. The wish to escape experiences of loneliness in the country of origin may contribute to people’s intentions to emigrate. This project analyses multiple, complementary data sources to gain insights into the extent to which loneliness is a driver of emigration.
- Assistant professor