| The topic of immigration in the United States is at the forefront of social, governmental, and media attention, yet there is little psychological research indicating the experiences of immigrants themselves and especially of those who exhibit positive characteristics. In this qualitative study, lived immigration experiences of Peruvians in the United States were explored and described within a descriptive phenomenological context. Fifteen Peruvians, 12 males and three females, ranging in age from 25 to 56 years old, and living in three different regional areas of the United States, voluntarily provided personal appraisals of the experience of moving to and living in the United States. Qualitative, iterative analysis of the semistructured, in-person interviews cultivated four categorical themes of their immigration experiences: Emotional responses, immigration challenges, immigration facilitators, and perspectives. Specific data within these areas revealed both distinctive and commonly-experienced descriptions which indicated an overall eudemonic overtone, exposed possible legal and human rights violations taking place in the Northwestern United States, and provided foundational descriptive information applicable to the fields of immigration, forensics, positive psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, and international psychology. |
