Abstract

This study proposes to examine the relationship of stress and psychological distress among foreign migrant workers in Korea on the basis of the theoretical framework of job stress. The data for this study comes from a sample survey research on foreign workers from China and other four East Asian countries which was conducted in 1996. The subjects were sampled by an area-cluster sampling method and asked to answer a structured questionnaire. This study considers four stressor variables which assume to be influential on foreign workers' level of psychological distress- job stressor, cultural adjustment stressor, and family stressor. The individual, psychological, and social resources which assume to be supportive for overcoming stress are examined in this study. This study also examines the moderating effect of social resources on relationship of stressor and psychological distress. The three dimensions of psychological distress are analyzed as dependant variables: depression, anxiety, and somatization. As a result of analysis, it is found that the degree of job satisfaction is significant predictor on migrant worker's all three dimensions of psychological distress. The cultural stressor has important impact on somatization. The more troubles his/her family has, the higher level of anxiety and somatization the migrant worker has. The social supports from supervisor or coworkers moderate the impact of job stress and cultural adjustment stress on psychological well-being. The worker's ethnicity is found to be important in explaining the differential level of psychological adjustment among migrant workers. Lastly, the implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.