IDENTITY STRAIN - Research 2025

Source:
Hsu, L. & Tripathi, S. (2025). “After Midlife, What Next? Rethinking Future Orientations, Belonging, and Success Among Executive Expatriates.”
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
https://journals.scholarpublishing.org/index.php/ASSRJ/article/view/19555

Summary: Integrating insights from Hsu & Tripathi, 2025, applied to the EU expat experience)

Research Summary

1. What the Study Found

Recent qualitative research on midlife expatriates shows a consistent psychological pattern.

Around ages 40–55, many high-achieving expats reach a turning point where their sense of identity,

belonging, and success becomes less stable.
Although the study was conducted in Singapore, the underlying themes reflect experiences reported by European expats working across the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Belgium, Norway, and similar contexts.

Across interviews, participants described:

  • An achievement-driven identity that no longer feels sustainable

  • A mismatch between external success and internal satisfaction

  • Feeling partially connected to several places but fully at home in none

  • Uncertainty about long-term direction, retirement, or returning home

  • A growing interest in purpose, values, and relationships over status

  • A shift from identity based on roles to identity based on meaning

The researchers emphasize that this is not a clinical crisis. It is a predictable developmental transition that many midlife expats navigate with limited support.

2. Why the Pattern Is More Pronounced for EU Expats

Unlike corporate assignees who often have structured mobility programs and defined timelines, many EU expats relocate for personal, lifestyle, or career reasons. This creates several conditions:

  • Moves that begin as temporary often extend into long-term residence

  • Cultural adaptation happens gradually rather than through formal systems

  • Social networks tend to remain thinner than at home

  • Career performance becomes a primary anchor for identity

These dynamics can produce a “double displacement” effect:
a reduced sense of belonging in the home country and incomplete integration in the host country.

By midlife, many EU expats report:

  • An aging or plateauing career identity

  • Limited social depth

  • Unclear long-term plans

  • A fragmented sense of self

  • A diffuse feeling of belonging

The researchers refer to this as a form of identity strain.

3. The Identity Strain Arc (as Described in the Research)

The study outlines a general sequence experienced by many participants:

A. Midlife as a Point of Reflection
Individuals reassess the long-term effects of years spent prioritizing performance, mobility, and adaptation.

B. Success Feels Less Meaningful
External indicators of achievement lose their emotional impact, creating a gap between professional identity and personal fulfillment.

C. Ambiguous Belonging
Many no longer feel fully “from” their country of origin yet do not feel fully rooted in the host society. Home becomes more of an idea than a place.

D. Rising Priority on Meaning and Connection
Participants express increasing interest in purpose, contribution, emotional connection, and internal alignment.

4. Why These Findings Matter

The study concludes that midlife expatriates experience an identifiable psychological transition linked to long-term mobility, career-driven identity, and cultural displacement.

The researchers highlight several key points:

  • Identity strain is common rather than exceptional

  • It follows a recognisable developmental trajectory

  • It affects both personal well-being and career decisions

  • Existing support systems rarely address identity-level questions

  • The transition requires integrated attention to identity, belonging, purpose, and future planning

5. What the Research Suggests Is Missing

Participants in the study reported navigating this transition largely on their own. According to the authors, what is lacking is:

  • structured reflection

  • guidance on identity change

  • support in redefining success and belonging

  • help integrating personal, relational, and career factors

  • frameworks for planning the next life phase

The study notes that midlife expatriates often hesitate to discuss these issues with employers, partners, or peers, resulting in silent internal pressure rather than open support.

6. Overall Takeaway

This research provides a clear description of the psychological landscape of midlife expatriates. It identifies identity strain as:

  • real (commonly observed across participants)

  • predictable (linked to career-driven mobility and midlife development)

  • under-supported (rarely addressed in formal or informal systems)

The findings emphasize the need for comprehensive approaches that help expats reassess identity, belonging, purpose, and future direction during this developmental stage.