| dc.description.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 | en_US |
