UNAIR NEWS – Understanding stress condition in a person is very useful for increasing an individual’s trust in his ability to deal with situations with certain demands. It must also be owned by Indonesian Workers (TKI). There have been many cases in the mass media where migrant workers often get unfavorable treatment resulting in stress.
Dean of Faculty of Psychology (FPsi) Universitas Airlangga, Dr. Nurul Hartini, S. Psi., M. Kes., with her student Trisha conducted a study that revealed the level of stress of migrant workers in their work. The acculturation stress on migrant workers is caused by the long placement process and this can burden the workers.
“Migrant workers will experience a series of processes in adjusting to the environment, culture and activities in new daily life,” she said.
Nurul also said that the adaptation process can lead to stress acculturation that can occur when workers experience difficulties in living life in the country where they are placed. Six factors of stress sources, including a very low economic level, difficulty in language, differences in perspective, problematic immigration status, the existence of rejection from the surrounding environment, and new things that are foreign related to the values and laws in the country they will be deployed.
She also revealed that migrant workers need to implement self-esteem. Self esteem is an important factor that helps individuals in adapting to new environments. Individual trust in his ability to deal with situations with certain demands can reduce stress and have a positive impact.
Individuals who have high self-esteem and optimism have the ability to adapt to stressful situations better. But on the other hand, low self-esteem will lead to acculturation stress, anxiety, depression, helplessness, and suicidal tendencies both in children and adults who migrate.
High and low self-esteem is influenced by social support from family, friends, and relatives. Collective cultural factors also have an important role in improving self-esteem, happiness, and mental health of migrant workers, especially women.
Nurul in her study also revealed that there were internal variables in the migrant workers, coping approach or approach in solving problems. Effective coping is stated as a factor that can prevent the effects of stress. Coping is an important factor that can improve the adaptability of migrant workers in a new environment.
Migrant workers will interpret the difficulties they face related to the adaptation process differently. The migrant workers who apply effective coping will be able to adapt quickly and successfully.
Author: Aditya Novrian
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
http://www.jardcs.org/archivesview.php?volume=1&issue=12&page=6 Nurul Hartini & Trisha Safira, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya – Indonesia. Stress Acculturation of Indonesian Workers in terms of Self-Esteem and Coping Strategy. Terbit pada Journal of Advance Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 11, Special Issue-05, 2019. P. 1341-1345
