It was a dull Monday morning last week, when I witnessed in the mirror a gray hair on my head. Oh no! My first thought was that I am aging rapidly but then I soon concluded that it must be the stress trying to adjust to a change in my environment. I started researching about acculturative stress among expatriates and I came up with a number of studies on the topic.
Most psychologists and social scientists conclude that the premigration experiences, post migration acculturative experiences, acculturation attitudes and individual characteristics -such as gender and age- contribute to acculturative stress in the expatriate individuals and families. Four types of acculturation style have monopolised the bibliography for the past decades: a) integration (interest in maintaining both cultural identities), 2) assimilation (only interest in maintaining mainstream cultural identity), 3) separation (only interest in maintaining ethnic cultural identity), and 4) marginalization (little interest in maintaining both cultural identities). Regardless, the idea is that you do have a choice for your actions. In my case, I am trying to integrate into Finnish society, which is a highly demanding task.
Acculturative stress is usually accompanied by behavioural, psychological, and somatic problems, as well as, self-esteem, life satisfaction and social difficulties. I think I have encountered many of these problems, for instance, insomnia, hair loss, and low self-esteem. The relationship between acculturation and psychological well-being is a complex issue since a lot of burden is placed upon the shoulders of immigrants trying to integrate into the new society. Psychological well-being is negatively related to discrimination, but positively related to language proficiency and parental support. Moreover, social interaction has been demonstrated to be a main predictor of expatriate adjustment and stress-reducing factor.
The following list is written on a post-it on my mirror:
1. Develop a positive outlook on life. Do you see the cup half-full or half-empty?
2. Think of change as a challenging and normal part of life.
3. See setbacks and problems as temporary and solvable.
4. Believe that you will succeed if you keep working toward your goals.
5. Build strong relationships with family and friends. They can form a support system, which you can turn for help.
