Eugene Tartakovsky

Tel Aviv University | TAU · School of Social Work

In the present study, we developed a bicultural model of social work with immigrants consisting of professional interventions rooted in the dominant and the immigrant cultures. We further developed scales measuring the two types of interventions and investigated their connections with acculturation orientations and burnout of social workers working...

In this study, we tested a model connecting the spouses’ assessment of the division of domestic ‎‎labour and their marital satisfaction. The suggested model was tested in a dyadic study using a ‎‎sample of heterosexual couples living in Israel and having at least one child (n = 479). The ‎‎spouses assessed the division of domestic labour in four do...

This study investigated the effect of the spouses' value preferences on the division of domestic labor in the family. Personal value preferences reflect general motivations and thus affect individuals' perception of reality and direct behavior. In the present study, I assumed that the personal value preferences of spouses motivate them to participa...

In this introduction to the special issue, we briefly describe the main themes of migration psychology, including the premigration conditions of immigrants, their acculturation orientations, adjustment to the new country and the receiving society's attitudes towards and contacts with the new arrivals. We frame the articles presented in the special...

The present study investigates the effects of group appraisal and acculturation orientations on burnout of social workers working with immigrants. The study is based on the Threat‐Benefit and the Acculturation Theories. The proposed theoretical model was tested in a sample of social workers working with immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU)...

The study goals The study examines the connection between exposure to terror attacks from the Gaza Strip, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, cultural identities, and social support among immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to Israel. Subjects The study was conducted using a community sample of immigrants from the FSU to Isra...

In this study, we examined the connections between exposure to traumatic events, contacts with ‎the majority society and the ethnic group, psychological well-being, and sociocultural ‎adaptation among Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel (n = 132). The obtained results demonstrate ‎the long-term destructive effect of exposure to traumatic events on th...

What can enhance positive inter-group contacts in a world of mass immigration is a subject high on the theoretical and practical agenda. However, there is a lack of research examining how contacts with different immigrant groups are related to characteristics of the group, as perceived by the receiving society. Using Threat-Benefit Theory (Tartakov...

In the present study, we tested the morbidity and salutary hypotheses of immigration investigating satisfaction with life (SWL) among Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel. The study was conducted using a random representative sample of first-generation immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel (N = 400) and a large geogr...

Purpose This study tests a new bicultural model of social work with ethnic minority clients. We examined how often social workers applied professional interventions rooted in the minority and majority cultures and how the choice of interventions affected the social workers' burnout. Methods: The study was conducted in Israel, and the research sampl...

In this article, we formulate a new bicultural model of social work with ethnic minorities. The suggested model connects acculturation orientations, professional interventions and burnout amongst social workers working with ethnic minority clients. We tested this model in a sample of Arab Israeli social workers (n = 299). The study results confirme...

The study examines a model proposing relationships between personal values, positive (i.e., benefits) and negative (i.e., threats) appraisal of immigrants, and social contact. Based on a values-attitudes-behavior paradigm, the study extends previous work on personal values and attitudes to immigrants by examining not only negative but also positive...

In the present study, we examined satisfaction with life (SWL), group identifications, perceived discrimination, and socio-economic status among immigrants and stayers. The study had two main objectives: 1) to test the morbidity and salutary hypotheses of immigration by comparing the psycho-social characteristics of immigrants and stayers; 2) to te...

Among the influences on the ability of immigrant groups to integrate and adapt in a new society, empirical studies have highlighted the role of attitudes of the host population toward the immigrant group. Based on previous social psychological theories, such as integrated threat theory (Stephan & Stephan, An integrated threat theory of prejudice. I...

Objectives: Using a threat-benefit theory (Tartakovsky & Walsh, 2016b, 2019; Walsh, Tartakovsky, & Shifter-David, 2018), we aimed to examine a new theoretical model in which the psychological well-being of immigrants is associated with the appraisal of their own immigrant group as bringing benefits (and not just threats) to the receiving society....

Few studies have examined to what extent commonly held stereotypes reflect real intergroup differences in motivational goals. Taking a values perspective (Schwartz et al., 2012), the study examines value preferences among Jews and Russians in Russia, to assess the extent to which commonly held stereotypes reflect values of group members. Results sh...

This research note addresses the current and potential future role of psychologists in the study of international migration. We review ways in which psychologists have contributed to the study of migration, as well as ways in which psychological scholarship could be integrated with work from other social science fields. Broadly, we discuss four maj...

The study examines the applicability of the Threat-Benefit Model as a means of conceptualising and measuring appraisal of diverse immigrant groups by a local population. A representative sample of adult Jewish Israelis (n = 1600, 52% women, mean age = 44.2) was used to examine locals’ attitudes toward four groups of immigrants: diaspora immigrants...

What predicts whether young people will establish contacts with immigrants? Students are at a pivotal point in which the campus environment can enable substantial contact with immigrants, and where world views and behavioural patterns are formed which can follow through their adult lives. Through a value‐attitude‐behavior paradigm we examine a conc...

The current study examines value preferences of social workers in Israel. Using a theoretical framework of person-environment fit paradigm and theory of values, the study compared social workers (N = 641, mean age = 37.7 years, 91 percent female) with a representative sample of Israeli Jews (N = 1,600, mean age = 44.2, 52 percent female). Questionn...

The present study formulated a new theoretical model predicting emigration intentions in diaspora populations and tested it among Jews living in Russia. The study sample consisted of Jews and their relatives living in the vicinity of five large cities in Russia (n = 824). The results obtained demonstrated that a more negative attitude toward the co...

In the present study, we investigate value preferences of immigrants, comparing them with local-born populations in the receiving country and in the immigrants' country of origin. In addition, we test the effect of time in the receiving country on the value preferences of immigrants. Three groups of respondents took part in the study: Israeli-born...

The present study investigated the role of socio-demographic characteristics, social networks, and satisfaction with various aspects of life in predicting the emigration intentions of Jews living in Russia. The study’s subjects consisted of Jews and their relatives eligible for immigration to Israel under the Israeli Law of Return. The study’s part...

Background The military is a stressful environment, and many service persons experience army stress. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors affecting army stress and stress resiliency. Objective The present study examines the connections between personal value preferences and army stress, applying the value congruency paradigm. Meth...

The present study investigates the connection between personal value preferences, group identifications, and cultural practices among Palestinian Israelis working in close contact with the Jewish population in Israel. One hundred twenty-two Palestinian Israelis participated in the study. The participants were employed in different professional posi...

Burnout among service providers working with vulnerable populations can lead to a deterioration in well-being, high turnover of workers and a decrease in levels of services. The current study proposes a new threat-benefit theory (TBT) as predicting experiences of burnout and personal accomplishment among social workers working with immigrants. Base...

Burnout among service providers working with vulnerable populations can lead to a deterioration in well-being, high turnover of workers and a decrease in levels of services. The current study proposes a new threat-benefit theory (TBT) as predicting experiences of burnout and personal accomplishment among social workers working with immigrants. Base...

Background: The current study examined health care professionals (physicians, nurses, and psychosocial counselors) from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Israel, and focused on their attitudes (avoidance, empathy) toward people living with HIV/AIDS and burnout. Methods: 319 participants (125 from Kazakhstan, 147 from Russia, and 47 from Israel) completed th...

The present study investigated the motivational goals, group identifications, and psychosocial adjustment of Jews who returned to Russia after emigrating from the republics of the Former Soviet Union to different countries (n = 151). To gain a deeper understanding of these returning migrants, their traits were compared with those of Jews living in...

This study investigates social workers’ preferences regarding four main therapeutic orientations: psychodynamic therapy (PDT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), client-centered therapy (CCT), and eco-systemic therapy (EST). In total, 679 social workers (528 Jewish and 151 Palestinian) reported their beliefs regarding the efficacy of the four ther...

The present study proposes a new threat–benefit theoretical model explaining attitudes of local people toward immigrants. Based on the theory of human values and extending Integrative Threat Theory, the threat–benefit model suggests that the local population perceives immigrants as both threatening and beneficial for the receiving society. The mode...

The present study examines the connection between the personal value preferences of social workers and their burnout. A total of 512 Israeli social workers participated in the study. Findings Socio-demographic characteristics explained only a small proportion of the variance in the social workers' burnout; however, years of experience in social wo...

Objective: The present study investigates the relationships between therapists' value preferences and their beliefs in the efficacy of the four main therapeutic orientations (cognitive behavior, psychodynamic, client-centered, and eco-systemic). Method: The study was conducted in Israel. Social workers practicing individual therapy in different...

Previous studies internationally have highlighted that working with people living with HIV/AIDS may lead to nurses' stress and burnout. However, this topic has not been well explored in Russia, a country with an exponential growth in HIV/AIDS. This study focused on nurses' job satisfaction and their attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS in...

The present study investigated the value preferences of frontline workers and branch managers working in a large bank in Israel. Value preferences of bank workers (n = 98) were compared with those of a matching sample drawn from the Israeli general population (n = 152). In addition, value preferences of bank frontline workers were compared with tho...

Our study investigates the relationship between health care providers' personal value preferences and their attitudes toward people living with HIV (PLWH). The study was conducted among nurses (n = 38) and physicians (n = 87) working in HIV Centers in Kazakhstan. Significant relationships were found between the providers' personal value preferences...

This chapter summarizes the results of a series of studies conducted among adolescents emigrating from Russia and Ukraine to Israel. These studies examined the emigrants' cultural identities in the pre-migration period, investigated changes in the cultural identities from the pre-migration period and throughout the first three years in the receivin...

This collective volume provides information on issues at the heart of public discourse on immigration. It includes chapters written by prominent scholars from different countries. The studies presented use a wide array of methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative research, longitudinal studies, and analyses of macro-level data. The book...

This study investigates the therapeutic orientations of substance abuse social workers and the relationship between these orientations and burnout. Ninety-two social workers who provided outpatient treatment to people suffering from substance-related disorders in Israel participated in the study. The results obtained demonstrated that the substance...

This study aimed to understand patterns of physical and psychological violence and the system of social support among female immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel who are suffering from domestic violence. Immigrant women receiving help in Centers for the Treatment and Prevention of Domestic Violence and in shelters for battered women (n...

This paper studies associations between internal representations that adolescents hold for their mothers and internal representations of the country they belong to, and the extent to which such internal representations impact on psychological adjustment. Two studies were conducted: the first with 328 Russian adolescents in Russia, and the second wi...

The main goal of the present study was to examine how the coping strategies of mothers of children infected with HIV are related to the mothers’ psychological distress and their acceptance of their children. The study was conducted in Southern Kazakhstan in the wake of a children’s HIV-epidemic caused by the use of unsterile instruments and infusio...

The ethnic and national identities of Jewish high-school adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel were investigated about six months before their emigration. The national identities of adolescent emigrants (n = 243) were compared with those of non-emigrant Russian and Ukrainian adolescents (n = 740). The emigrants' attitude...

This study investigated the relationship between different components of national identities of immigrants (related to both the country of origin and host country), and psychosocial adjustment in pre-migration and post-migration periods. Adolescents who immigrated from Russia and Ukraine to Israel (N = 151) completed questionnaires at four time poi...

The present study examines the effect of having a child infected with HIV on the mother-child relationship. The study also examines how the mother's social axioms, psychological distress, and relationships with her partner affect her parenting of the child infected with HIV. The study was conducted in Kazakhstan in the wake of a children's HIV epid...

Over one hundred children and some of their parents were infected with HIV in state hospitals in the Chimkent region in Southern Kazakhstan. After this tragedy, the Regional Department of Public Health organized social services for these families and asked the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) to provide them with training and supe...

This study focuses on the national identity of high-school adolescents in Russia and Ukraine in the post-perestroika period. Adolescents studying in public high schools in 12 medium-size and large cities completed questionnaires in 1999 (n = 468) and 2007 (n = 646). Russian adolescents consistently reported a more positive attitude towards their co...

This article analyses well-being of adolescents immigrating from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to Israel without their parents. Immigrant adolescents were compared with the matched sample of non-emigrating adolescents living in the FSU. Several aspects of well being were measured: the number of emotional and behavioral problems, loneliness, general...

This article presents a personal narrative exemplifying acculturation processes and their theoretical analysis. The author describes the development of his Jewish identity in the Soviet Union, emigration, and adjustment to Israel. The author’s affiliations with his ethnic group, the country of origin, and the country of immigration are described an...

This article investigates the cultural identities of adolescent immigrants in the pre-migration period and during the first 3 years after immigration. The target population consists of high-school Jewish adolescents from Russia and Ukraine participating in an Israeli immigration program. In this program, Jewish adolescents immigrate to Israel witho...

This paper examines the psychological well-being of high school adolescents immigrating from Russia and Ukraine to Israel without parents. Data were collected in a 3-year longitudinal study that covered the premigration through postmigration periods. Immigrant adolescents were compared with nonemigrating adolescents in Russia and Ukraine. Psycholog...

The present study investigates how the changing socioeconomic conditions in Russia and Ukraine affect the psychological well-being of high-school adolescents in these countries. Six indexes of psychological well-being, the adolescents' perception of the economic conditions in their families, perceived parental practices (care and autonomy providing...

This study examines psychological well-being and ethnic identities of Jewish adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel. Measurements were conducted in 1999 (n = 654) and in 2005 (n = 243). The adolescents were questioned about half a year before they left their homeland. In Russia, adolescents who planned emigration in 2005...

Acculturative stress and homesickness are psychological reactions to cross-cultural transition. They may cause a decline in social functioning, increased psychological distress, and, in severe cases, psychiatric disorders among immigrants. This study examined changes in acculturative stress and homesickness over the first 3 years in the host countr...

The present paper investigates the acculturation attitudes of potential emigrants and their relationship to value priorities, cultural identifications, and psychological well-being. The results confirm that potential emigrants have a well-formed system of acculturation attitudes and that integration is the predominant acculturation attitude of the...

We conceptualize motivations to emigrate as expressions of basic motivations in the context of emigration. We propose three theoretically distinct motivations to emigrate: preservation (physical, social, and psychological security), self-development (personal growth in abilities, knowledge, and skills), and materialism (financial wellbeing, wealth)...

This article describes and analyzes the phenomenon of bullying gangs, which emerged in groups of adolescents who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union (FSU) without their parents. Such gangs typically consisted of a number of youth organized hierarchically, who attempted to control other members of the group. They created a group struct...

This article describes an incident of witchcraft and witch-hunting in a group of immigrant adolescents from the former Soviet Union living in a boarding school in Israel. The article analyses the specific conditions of isolations and alienation which caused this group to use witchcraft as a means for its empowerment. The analysis reveals the functi...