The Acculturation Strategies Impact on the Mental Health Outcomes and Psychosocial Hazards Perception in the Workplace

Background/rational: It is well known that psychosocial factors are related to migrants’ social, cultural and psychological adjustment. However, previous studies did not widely refer to the effect of the acculturation process and the subsequent mental health outcomes on the psychosocial hazards perception at the workplace.

Methods: The main objective of this presentation is to analyze how the acculturation strategies and the acculturative stress can relate to the psychosocial hazards perception at work. Secondly, to examine the impact of the acculturation strategies on mental health outcomes. Participants: 201 migrant workers living in Spain.

Results: Our results show that migrant workers who adopted certain acculturation strategies in the work domain score higher on the cognitive demands and job control dimensions. One-way ANOVA analysis reveals that participants employed in the Home Services Sector score higher in the Homesickness acculturative stress scale than those who work in the Defense sector.

Conclusions: Our findings point out that migrant workers can have a different perception of the cognitive demands and job control based on their acculturation orientation at work. Furthermore, the work activity sector significantly influenced the level of acculturative stress expressed in terms of psychosocial stress and homesick feelings.

Action/Impact: The workplace context is relevant for the migrant workers’ acculturation dynamics and mental wellbeing. The findings reveal the need for researchers and practitioners to take into consideration the acculturative stress as a latent psychosocial hazard for the migrant workers and to support the design of preventive measures.