Effects of workforce integration on immigrants' psychological well-being and adaptation

Abstract

in this study, unemployment and economic integration, which are among the most important topics of industrial and organizational psychology, were examined in relation to acculturation. Participants were 110 Turkish immigrants to Canada. Despite high educational attainments, two-thirds of the sample were either unemployed or underemployed. there were three main objectives in this study. First, the study aimed at examining the relationships among employment difficulties, psychological well-being and adaptation. the conceptual model of the study was tested using LISREL VIII which confirmed that there were positive relationships among workforce integration, psychological wellbeing and adaptation. Second, the study examined the predictors of the three components of adaptation, namely psychological, socio-cultural and economic. Status loss, relative status, and acculturative stress predicted psychological adaptation; self-concept, Alienation, and personality predicted socio-cultural adaptation; status loss, relative status, unemployment, and migration motivation predicted economic adaptation. the final objective of this study was to explore the ways in which acculturation attitudes of Turkish immigrants influenced the relationships among employment difficulties psychological well-being and adaptation. Results showed that 'integration' and 'separation' were the most preferred acculturation attitudes among Turkish immigrants. Moderated multiple regression analyses revealed that acculturation attitudes helped immigrants cope with stressful life events resulting from employment difficulties.