The relationship between the process of acculturation and the perception of psychosocial risks in the workplace

Objective
The objectives of this study were to analyze the relationships between acculturation strategies and psychosocial risk factors, the acculturative stress and the psychosocial risks, and to assess whether there are differences in acculturative stress depending on the activity sector.

Material and methods
The sample consisted of 201 migrant workers living in the Community of Madrid (49%). Most of them were originally from countries from Eastern Europe and South America. Using a cross-sectional design, we applied Relative Acculturation Extended Model (MAAR) questionnaire to measure acculturation strategies; Barcelona Immigrant Stress Scale (BISS) was applied to measure acculturative stress and psychosocial risks were assessed through the DECORE questionnaire.

Results
The results showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the strategy used by men and women for each area of acculturation. Participants who used the Marginalization strategy perceived their salary as being low while those who adopted the Intermediate strategy perceived little control over their work. Those who adopted the Integration strategy perceive more work demands (higher job content). Acculturative stress is a predictor of adverse perception of work environment (low control, low rewards and low social support). On the other hand, older workers perceive more control over their work and employees in the home services sector have higher scores in Nostalgia and Psychosocial Stress than those in other sectors.

Conclusions
Within organizations, measures must be put in place to minimize acculturative stress, promote the integration of the workers and improve their perception of psychosocial work factors.