Life Satisfaction, Hopelessness, and Attitudes Toward Irregular Migration among Young Adults: The Moderating Role of Risk-Taking

Migration is an inevitable aspect of human existence, but youth attitudes toward irregular migration have recently become a growing concern among policymakers, researchers, and government officials in developing countries like Nigeria, where challenging living conditions and lack of opportunities to achieve an individual’s potential often influence migration-related attitudes. While previous studies have largely focused on economic and structural factors, limited research attention has been given to the influence of psychological parameters on attitudes toward irregular migration. Thus, this study examined the impact of life satisfaction and hopelessness on attitudes toward irregular migration among Nigerian young adults, with risk-taking propensity as a moderator. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 564 undergraduates from federal, state, and private universities in Nigeria, and four standardized psychological instruments, which include: Satisfaction With Life Scale, Attitudes Toward Unauthorized Migration Scale, General Risk-Taking Propensity Scale (GRiPS), and Hopelessness Scale, were used for data collection. The collected data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM, version 3.0). The results showed that life satisfaction had a significant negative influence on attitudes toward irregular migration. The result further indicates that hopelessness had a significant positive effect on attitudes toward irregular migration. Again, risk-taking propensity also had a positive effect on migration attitudes and equally served as a positive moderator in the relationship between hopelessness and attitudes toward irregular migration among young adults. Hence, the findings highlight the role of these psychological parameters as important promoters of youths’ attitudes toward irregular migration in a developing country like Nigeria.