ACCULTURATIVE STRESS IMMIGRANT FEEL IN

REGARDS TO ASSIMILATION IN NEW COMMUNITIES

IN ORDER TO EXPERIENCE LESS DISCRIMINATION

RESEARCHERS NAME:
GURION, CHERILYN S.
HERMANES, LAURICE Q.

BSED 1-FILIPINO
 April 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………………………i

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….ii

CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background

1.3 General Problem

1.4 Specific Problem

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

1.1 Foreign Literature

1.2 Local Literature

1.3 Foreign Studies

1.4 Local Studies

CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS AND REFLECTION

1.1 Results and Discussion

1.2 Reflection
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

1.1 Findings Of The Study

1.2 Conclusion

1.3 Recommendation
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

People have their own community that they built

their identity and personality. People are feeling better

with their own community, but when people migrate from

one community or culture to another, they will carry

their knowledge and expression of distress with them. On

settling down in the new culture, their cultural identity

is likely to change and that encourages a degree of

belonging, they also attempt to settle down by either

assimilation or biculturalism.

Immigration is a complex process that results in a

transformation of identity. Depending on contextual,

individual, and societal differences this transformation

can have either positive or detrimental results.

Initially, the immigrant will be faced with an intense

culture shock while settling into a new country. During

this time, cognitive functioning becomes increasingly

jumbled amidst the new context, resulting in immense

identity confusion. This process of acculturation

involves two specific issues regarding identity for each

individual. These two issues include the delicate balance

between remaining ethnically distinct by retaining their

cultural identity and the desire to maintain positive

relations with the new society. A variety of risk factors

can contribute to the success or failure at effectively

acculturating. Thus, those that directly experience more

risk factors experience an even more delicate and complex

transition often resulting in high levels of stress,

confusion, social anxiety, and declined mental health.

This study will help the future researchers to

know the variety kind of problems and stress that

immigrants feel or encountered when they are arriving to

another country or community, and it will help the

immigrants to know the perfect ways to avoid the

discrimination, and also to fight the possible problems

that immigrants will encountered. This study was

conducted to know the level of acculturative stress that

immigrants feel, what is the effects of it through their

lives, and what are their ways to resist it?.

 Background

Migration becomes common all over the world and

adapting to new environment is quiet difficult. Changes in

such major areas functioning like values, beliefs,

behaviors, and attitudes foster a unique form of stress

marked by anxiety and negative emotions had been labeled as

"acculturative stress".

Learning a new language and foreign customs is

extremely hard, especially when you have to go it alone.

Immigrants experience social, psychological, and cultural

change when adapting to their new home – a process called

acculturation. Acculturation occurs when a person or group

comes to adopt the practices and values of another culture,

while still preserving aspects of their own. This is a

challenging process, one that involves considerable

psychological adjustment associated with tension and

stress.

According to Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter, Gruen,

and De Longis’s (1986) cognitive theory of stress and

coping, individuals are likely to experience stress when

they encounter events or circumstances (stressors) that

they believe are detrimental to their well-being and for

which they lack the resources to cope with. It takes time

for the immigrants to adapt to his new home, work place or

environment especially when the usual doings and

surroundings are varied. Acculturative stress in turn was

influenced by social support. Social support has been shown

to protect against the negative mental health effects of

acculturative stress in studies of Korean Americans Kim,

Han, Shin, Kim, & Hochang (2005). Immigrants needed social

support in coping to new environment so that he can relieve

snd feel the sense of belonging.

General problem:

The process of navigating and adapting to a new

culture unquestionably entails some levels of stress.

Stress caused by the acculturation process had been

labelled as "acculturative stress" and Lueck and Wilson

(2010,p.48) defined it as "a reduction in mental health

and well-being of ethnic minorities that occurs during

the process of adaptation to a new culture". Berry (1992,

1997) identified physical, social, cultural and

functional elements that cause acculturative stress.

According to Berry (1992, 1997), physical stressor are

related to a new social environment such as different

social structures and systems. Limited social supports,

social networks and homesickness create social stressors

like. Cultural stressors occur due to differences in

culture, languages, customs, and traditions. Last

functional stressors are accompanied with financial

situations, transportation, language barriers, and

changes in family structure.

Specific problem

Immigrants experience a problem in social,

psychological and cultural change, when adapting to their

new home, and it is a process of acculturation.

Acculturation occurs when a person or group comes to

adapt the practices and values of another culture, while

still preserving aspects of their own. This is

challenging process, one that involves considerable

psychological adjustment associated with tension and

stress.

Research questions:

Specifically, this study aims to answer the following

questions.

1. What are the immigrants reasons in migrating to

another community?
2. What kind of challenge that immigrant faced, from a

month or a year indwelling to another community?

3. What are immigrant ways to overcome the challenges

that they may encountered?

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Foreign Studies

Julie F. Smart and David W. Smart (1995) stated

that acculturative stress is the psychological impact of

adaptation to a new culture

According to Yoon (2013) acculturation is a complex

course that involves an immigrant's socialization to a

new mainstream culture.

According to Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter,

Gruen, and De Longis’s (1986) cognitive theory of stress

and coping, individuals are likely to experience stress

when they encounter events or circumstances (stressors)

that they believe are detrimental to their well-being and

for which they lack the resources to cope with.

 Berry, Escobar & Vega (2000) Studies have generally

shown that greater acculturation is associated with

better psychological well-being, although the process of

change associated with acculturation is often perceived

as stressful.

Immigration is related to mental health and help-

seeking. For example, Takeuchi et al. (2007) examined

nativity and immigration factors that might be associated

with lifetime and 12-month rates of depressive, anxiety,

and substance abuse disorders among Asian Americans.

Converging evidence is available demonstrating that

older immigrant adults are particularly vulnerable

to acculturative stress and the accompanying depression.

For example, Mui and Kang (2006)analyzed interview data

of over 400 Asian immigrant older adults from six ethnic

communities in New York City (Chinese, Korean, Indian,

Filipino, Vietnamese, and Japanese) and found that 40% of

the sample met criteria for significant depression, as

assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale.

Jang and Chiriboga’s (2010) study with nearly 500

Korean American older adults in Florida suggested that

the effect of acculturation level on depressive symptoms

and anxiety in this population was mediated

by acculturative stress.
 Hwang and Ting (2008) they reported that lower US

acculturation was associated with greater psychological

distress and depression, and that these associations were

fully mediated by acculturative stress.

Acculturative stress in turn was influenced by social

support. Social support has been shown to protect against

the negative mental health effects of acculturative

stress in studies of Korean Americans Kim, Han, Shin,

Kim, & Hochang (2005).

Exposure to stress during childhood and young

adulthood may place Asian American immigrants at greater

risk for developing mental disorders than would occur if

the stress occurred during less psychologically

vulnerable developmental periods Takeuchi et al.,(2007).

Foreign Literature

For immigrant workers, stress does not stop with

workplace discrimination. Indeed, choosing to immigrate

for work implies a total change in lifestyle that brings

with it a series of social and economic stressors that

reach well beyond one’s place of employment and into all

facets of life .The challenges associated with the

process of adapting to a new social environment are

referred to as acculturative stress Sandhu & Asrabadi,

(1994).

The strong link between work and immigration

suggests that, for many Latin Americans, immigration can

be understood as a career path which puts them, and their

family members, in situations that can change their

physical, emotional, and social health as a condition of

their employment. Michael A. Flynn (2014).

Isolation and a lack of social support is a

significant challenge to social health for many

immigrants. Immigrating for work often involves

separation from one’s social network – family and friends

– for extended periods of time. Grzywacz, et al.(2006).

Even when entire families are able to immigrate

together, there are significant stressors related to

acculturation both as individuals and as a family group.

Often immigration confuses traditional family roles and

power dynamics. For example children often acculturate

and learn the language of the host country faster than

their parents. Rogler, (1994).

Antman (2010) found that elderly parents of migrants

have a greater probability of being in poor physical

health. This effect is independent of children’s

remittances, but the contributing factors could not be

identified.

Local studies

Local literature

The inability to provide financial help to their

family in the Philippines may cause feelings of anxiety

and inadequacy, leading to depression. Acculturative

stress and the professional Filipino migrants and

the Philippines becomes one of the largest exporters of

skilled professionals. Alburo & Abella(2002).

Eunice Miguel-Aclan (2018) stated that acculturation

presents numerous unique experiences that can influence

people’s well-being. The Philippines, with its

socialeconomic, political, and educational motivations,

hosts a vast number of internationally accredited higher

education institutions that attract many foreign students

who relocate for study with their families.

Two dimensional model of acculturation is based upon

the multicultural ideology where individuals and groups

are given the opportunity to choose among various

elements of ethnic and host cultures to form their own

unique blends of identity and culture Heinz Wimmer and

Levent Kiylioglu (2015).

According to International Journal of Culture and

Mental Health (2013) research using the Filipino

migrants, acculturative stress in three sub-population

groups in this community: family migrants, Filipino

spouses of Australian men and skilled, professional

migrants.

David, E. J. R., & Nadal, K. L. (2013) Studies

findings suggest that Filipino American immigrants

experienced ethnic and cultural denigration in the

Philippines prior to their U.S. arriv

al,ethnic and cultural denigration in the Philippines and

in the United States may lead to the development of

colonial mentality (CM), and that CM may have negative

mental health consequences among Filipino American

immigrants.