Psychophysiological Reactions to International Adjustment

Ingrid Anderzén · Bengt B. Arnetz

103 citations0/0 files storedPsychotherapy and Psychosomatics

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

International Student and Expatriate Challenges Workplace Health and Well-being Migration, Health and Trauma

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This controlled prospective study examines psychophysiological reactions in employees during their first and second year abroad to identify individual as well as work-related factors predictive of positive adjustment. METHODS: Employees (n = 47) relocating from Sweden to a foreign country on a work-related assignment were followed. The subjects completed a questionnaire before relocation and after 1 and 2 years abroad. Blood samples were collected for determination of the stressor-related hormones prolactin, cortisol and testosterone. A matched non-moving reference group of employees (n = 35) responded to the questionnaire at similar time periods, and also provided blood samples. RESULTS: During the years abroad, the expatriate employees experienced increased psychosocial stress as well as negative adjustment as reflected in circulating levels of prolactin and testosterone, worse mental well-being and worsening subjective work environment, as compared with the non-moving group. The greatest change occurred during the first year. Individual factors such as social support, internal locus of control, self-esteem and sense of coherence modified the stress response and predicted employees' ability to adjust to foreign assignments. Negative changes in the psychosocial work environment explained to a large degree the decrease in work adjustment during the first year and these findings were also reflected in physiological stress indicators. CONCLUSIONS: The study emphasises the importance for multinational organisations to look at these individual characteristics before sending employees abroad. They also need to get more involved in supporting employees to manage stressors characteristic of the first year of foreign work.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 103 citations exist upstream.

References

1965Society and the Adolescent Self-Image 2013Stress: Appraisal and Coping 1981The Stress Process 1985If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination.1984Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York, NY: Springer;1986International dimensions of organizational behavior 1992Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research and Applications 2010Psychological Well-Being: Meaning, Measurement, and Implications for Psychotherapy Research

Cited by

2014Nostalgia counteracts self‐discontinuity and restores self‐continuity 2006The Impact of Military Lifestyle Demands on Well-Being, Army, and Family Outcomes 2022Self-Continuity 2010Sabbatical leave: Who gains and how much?2012Managing the Stress of Hong Kong Expatriate Construction Professionals in Mainland China: Focus Group Study Exploring Individual Coping Strategies and Organizational Support 2015The elephant in the room: the role of time in expatriate adjustment

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.