COUNTRY MATTERS: WELL-BEING AND EMIGRATION PLANS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SLOVAKIA AND BULGARIA: THE MEDIATION EFFECT OF ROOTEDNESS

The objective of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between well-being, rootedness and emigration plans (EP) among university students in Slovakia and Bulgaria. It also explored the mediation effect of rootedness in the relationship between well-being and EP. The data were collected throughan online survey (SLiCE 2016). The research sample consisted of 361 university students (M=22.4 years, SD=3.8) from Slovakia (141, 86.5% female) and Bulgaria (220, 69.1% female). Based on their emigration plans, the respondentswere dividedinto two groups;those who do not plan to leave (n=218, 60.4%) and those who plan to leave in the long term (n=143, 39.6%) after they finish university. ForSlovakia, all factors were significantly related toEP. Furthermore, the association between well-being and EP was fully mediated by two dimensions of rootedness with different psychological mechanisms. For Bulgaria, only well-being and onedimension of rootedness,desire for change,were significantly related to EP. It was also found that the association between well-being and EP was partially mediated by only one dimension of rootedness –desire for change. This study highlightsthat rootedness hasa different relationship with other examined factorsin different countries and also that it is necessary to respect the cultural and socio-economic featuresof acountry.