This research aims to analyze the conceptualization of migration in the discourse of the wives and children of expatriates through the use of metaphors, applying the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and a qualitative analysis by thematic axes. Migration is a traumatic experience; therefore, its meaning can be favored by the use of metaphorical expressions. Furthermore, the migratory movements of expatriates have special characteristics, as they are usually sudden, transitory, the destination does not always respond to their own desire, and in the case of adolescents it does not respond to their own need either. From what was expressed by expatriate’s wives and adolescents, six categories were found: uncertainty, difficulty, yearning, not belonging, movement and temporality.
Achotegui, J. (2012). Emigrar hoy en situaciones extremas. El síndrome de Ulises. Revista de Psicologia, Ciències de l ’ Educació i de l ’ Esport, 30, 79-86.
Ahmed, S. K. (2025). Sample Size for Saturation in Qualitative Research: Debates, Definitions, and Strategies. Journal of Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health, 5, Article ID: 100171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glmedi.2024.100171
Aldulaimi, S., Muttar, A. K., Abdulkarem, M., & Jameel, A. S. (2021). Examine the Influence of Expatriate Personality Traits on Cultural Intelligence: Evidence from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Strad Research, 8, 39-57. https://doi.org/10.37896/sr8.1/005
Arcimavičienė, L. (2008). Conceptualizing Migration through Metaphor: A Voyage by Odysseus or Crusoe? LCC Liberal Arts Studies, 1, 43-52.
Arcimaviciene, L., & Baglama, S. H. (2018). Migration, Metaphor and Myth in Media Representations: The Ideological Dichotomy of “Them” and “Us”. Sage Open, 8 . https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018768657
Arnett, J. J. (2002). The Psychology of Globalization. American Psychologist, 57, 774-783. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.57.10.774
Barrera, M. D. M., Tonon, G., & Alvarado Salgado, A. (2012). Investigación cualitativa: El análisis temático para el tratamiento de la información desde el enfoque de la fenomenología social. Universitas Humanística, 74, 195-225.
Bauman, Z. (2005). Liquid Life. Olity Press.
Bednarova, L., Chovancová, J., Pacana, A., & Ulewicz, R. (2018). The Analysis of Success Factors in Terms of Adaptation of Expatriates to Work in International Organizations. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 17, 59-66. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2018.17.1.05
Binotto, M. (2015). Invaders, Aliens and Criminals. Metaphors and Spaces in the Media Definition of Migration and Security Policies. In E. Bond, G. Bonsaver, & F. Faloppa (Eds.), Destination Italy : Representing Migration in Contemporary Media and Narrative (pp. 31-58). Peter Lang.
Burnard, P. (1991). A Method of Analysing Interview Transcripts in Qualitative Research. Nurse Education Today, 11, 461-466. https://doi.org/10.1016/0260-6917(91)90009-y
Dewaele, J., & van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2009). The Effect of Multilingualism/Multiculturalism on Personality: No Gain without Pain for Third Culture Kids? International Journal of Multilingualism, 6, 443-459. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790710903039906
Dohrenwend, B. S., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1974). Stressful Life Even ts: Their Nature and Effects . John Wiley & Sons.
Doka, K. J. (1999). Disenfranchised Grief. Bereavement Care, 18, 37-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/02682629908657467
Earley, P. C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions across Cul tures. Stanford University Press.
Engbersen, G. (2018). Liquid Migration and Its Consequences for Local Integration Policies. In P. Scholten, & M. van Ostaijen (Eds.), Between Mobility and Migration (pp. 63-76). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77991-1_4
Erez, M., & Gati, E. (2004). A Dynamic, Multi‐level Model of Culture: From the Micro Level of the Individual to the Macro Level of a Global Culture. Applied Psychology, 53, 583-598. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2004.00190.x
Fail, H., Thompson, J., & Walker, G. (2004). Belonging, Identity and Third Culture Kids: Life Histories of Former International School Students. Journal of Research in International Education, 3, 319-338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240904047358
Fechter, A. (2009). Living in the Gap : Foreigners in Yogyakarta, Java. https://hdl.handle.net/10779/uos.23431634.v1
Fechter, A., & Walsh, K. (2010). Examining ‘Expatriate’ Continuities: Postcolonial Approaches to Mobile Professionals. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36, 1197-1210. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691831003687667
Fetterman, A. K., Bair, J. L., Werth, M., Landkammer, F., & Robinson, M. D. (2016). The Scope and Consequences of Metaphoric Thinking: Using Individual Differences in Metaphor Usage to Understand How Metaphor Functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110, 458-476. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000067
Fiorito, M. P., Liguori, G., & Covalschi, A. (2023). Expatriate Children and Adolescents: An Approach to the Antaeus’ Syndrome. In 27th Regional Conference of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology .
Gilbert, K. R. (2008). Loss and Grief between and among Cultures: The Experience of Third Culture Kids. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 16, 93-109. https://doi.org/10.2190/il.16.2.a
Golden, A., & Lanza, E. (2013). Metaphors of Culture: Identity Construction in Migrants’ Narrative Discourse. Intercultural Pragmatics, 10, 295-314. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2013-0013
Grinberg, L., & Grinberg, R. (1984). Psicoanálisis de la migración y del exilio. Alianza Editorial.
Guinsberg, E. (2005). Migraciones, exilios y traumas psíquicos. Política y Cultura, 23, 161-180.
Halpern-Felsher, B., Baker, M., & Stitzel, S. (2016). Decision-Making in Adolescents and Young Adults. In M. Diefenbach, S. Miller-Halegoua, & D. Bowen (Eds.), Handbook of Health Decision Science (pp. 157-167). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3486-7_12
Hayden, M. C., & Thompson, J. J. (2001). International Education : Principles and Practice . Routledge.
Hervey, E. (2009). Cultural Transitions during Childhood and Adjustment to College. Journal of Psychology and Christianity , 28, 3-12.
Hofhuis, J., van Egmond, M. C., Lutz, F. E., von Reventlow, K., & Rohmann, A. (2023). The Effect of Social Network Sites on International Students’ Acculturation, Adaptation, and Wellbeing. Frontiers in Communication, 8, Article 1186527. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1186527
Keskin, S. C., Karaloğlu, İ., Tufan, S., Karatepe, Ö., & Keskin, Y. (2019). Perception of Migration in the Metaphors of 6th, 7th and 8th-Grade Students in Turkey. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 7, 1319-1332. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2019.070517
Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A Practical Introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh : The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought . Basic Books.
Lijadi, A. A., & Van Schalkwyk, G. J. (2017). Place Identity Construction of Third Culture Kids: Eliciting Voices of Children with High Mobility Lifestyle. Geoforum, 81, 120-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.02.015
Martínez Miguélez, M. (2006). Validez y confiabilidad en la metodología cualitativa. Paradígma, 27, 7-33. http://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1011-22512006000200002&lng=es&tlng=es
Meeus, B. (2012). How to ‘Catch’ Floating Populations? Research and the Fixing of Migration in Space and Time. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35, 1775-1793. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2012.659272
Nette, J., & Hayden, M. (2007). Globally Mobile Children: The Sense of Belonging. Educational Studies, 33, 435-444. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690701423614
Noble-Carr, D., Barker, J., McArthur, M., & Woodman, E. (2014). Improving Practice: The Importance of Connections in Establishing Positive Identity and Meaning in the Lives of Vulnerable Young People. Children and Youth Services Review, 47, 389-396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.10.017
Parreñas, R. S. (2010). Homeward Bound: The Circular Migration of Entertainers between Japan and the Philippines. Global Networks, 10, 301-323. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0374.2010.00288.x
Pollock, D. C., & Van Reken, R. (1999). Third Culture Kid s: The Experience of Growing Up among World . Intercultural Press.
Ramírez-García, T., & Lozano Ascencio, F. (2018). Inmigración calificada y desarrollo en México. Tendencias y modalidades contemporáneas. Norteamérica, 14, 313-340. https://doi.org/10.22201/cisan.24487228e.2019.1.358
Schaetti, B. F. (2002). Attachment Theory: A View into the Global Nomad Experience. In M. G. Ender (Ed.), Military Brats and Other Global Nomads Growing Up in Organization Families (pp. 103-119). Praeger Publishers.
Slobodin, O. (2019). “Out of Time”: A Temporal View on Identity Change in Trailing Spouses. Time & Society, 28, 1489-1508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463x17752283
Tharenou, P. (2015). Researching Expatriate Types: The Quest for Rigorous Methodological Approaches. Human Resource Management Journal, 25, 149-165. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12070
Türk, H., & Atasoy, E. (2020). Migration Phenomenon in the Mind of Middle School 8. Grade Students: A Metaphor Analysis. Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Education Faculty, 55, 26-44.
Zhu, J., Wanberg, C. R., Harrison, D. A., & Diehn, E. W. (2016). Ups and Downs of the Expatriate Experience? Understanding Work Adjustment Trajectories and Career Outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 549-568. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000073
Zwitter, A., Brglez, M., Šikonja, M., Škvorc, T., Vezovnik, A., & Pollak, P. (2022). Extracting and Analysing Metaphors in Migration Media Discourse: Towards a Metaphor Annotation Scheme. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (pp. 2430-2439). European Language Resources Association.