A study on Expatriate's adjustment stressors and coping strategies

Abstract

Adjustment to the cross-cultural environment is inherently taxing for expatriates. Researchers have investigated the implications of cultural stress on occupational stress. However, gaps remain, as follows: (i) There are not many studies available in the literature which focuses on the theoretical model of stress and coping to understand expatriate's adjustment, (ii) Previous studies focus on adjustment on only three dimensions, namely, general adjustment, social interaction and workplace adjustment, there are limited studies on stressors of adjustment, (iii) Majority of the studies captures the positive and negative form of stress in work-stress literature; however, limited studies on the distinct effect of positive and negative forms of stress on expatriate's adjustment, (iv) There are minimal studies which have examined the coping strategies specifically linking with stressful situations, (v) There are no adequate studies which have explored expatriate's adjustment pattern in Indian and Japanese context. The thesis aims to develop a model to guide successful expatriate adjustment through the lens of the popular model of stress and coping, including the challenge –hindrance framework and the transactional model of stress. The following research objectives are explored, namely, 1. Explore the factors related to challenge and hindrance stressors, expat's overall adjustment, and coping strategies, 2. Explore the demographic variations in challenge and hindrance stressors, expat's overall adjustment, and coping strategies used by expatriates, 3. Determine the influence of challenge and hindrance stressors on expat's overall adjustment, 4. Study the relationship between challenge and hindrance stressors with coping strategies, 5. Explore the expatriate adjustment pattern in the Japanese and Indian context. Measures were captured using a questionnaire, on a Likert scale, point allocation method, multiple-choice and open-ended questions. We have used various statistical methods to analyze the data, such as; 1. Exploratory factor analysis to identify the underlying structure of challenges & hindrance stressors, 2. Kruskal-Wallis test to analyze demographic variations and regression analysis to understand influences on expat's overall adjustment. The study identifies a new set of variables related to expatriates' everyday adjustment, family’s adjustment, language comfort, problems-faced, and discrimination-faced by expatriates in a foreign environment. The study highlights the type of stressors faced and coping strategies used and the relationship between them. We have proposed a new framework for understanding the adjustment stressors, emphasizing non-work day-to-day adjustment in the host society