The issue of foreign workers in Korea has been raised since Seoul Olympic Game in 1988. The typical social problems confronted by the foreign workers were illegal status, poor work conditions, and cultural misunderstanding. The number of foreigners in...
The issue of foreign workers in Korea has been raised since Seoul Olympic Game in 1988. The typical social problems confronted by the foreign workers were illegal status, poor work conditions, and cultural misunderstanding. The number of foreigners in Korea is over million now, and Korea gradually turns into a multinational country. Nevertheless, there are no many researches on the immigration issues such as cultural and work adjustment. The research objective is to find out some factors affecting work and cultural adjustment of the foreign workers and to investigate the differences in adaptation modes between Korean-Chinese and Han-Chinese workers. The correlations between work adjustment and cultural adjustment were also a focus of this study.
The samples were 395 Korean-Chinese and Han-Chinese workers in Korea(227 for Korean-Chinese, 168 for Han-Chinese). SPSS 12.0 and Amos 5.0 were used for statistical analysis. Interviews were also conducted to supplement the statistical data.
The research findings can be summarized as follows:
First, work conditions, social-cultural distance in workplace, role conflict, role ambiguity, and power distance have a significant effect on work adjustment. Interview data prove that the subjects have experienced social-cultural distance in workplace such as racial discrimination and a personal insult.
Second, the length of stay(in Korea), Korean language proficiency, and relational skills have a significant effect on cultural adjustment. Moreover, social support has a significant effect on work adjustment. Interview data reveal that a deficiency in Korean language is the most serious obstacle for the adjustment of Han-Chinese workers. Interview data also prove that those who stayed longer in Korea tend to understand Korean people and society better than those who stayed shorter in Korea.
Third, while cultural adjustment has a significant effect on work adjustment, work adjustment has no such effect on cultural adjustment.
Fourth, Korean-Chinese and Han-Chinese workers have significant differences in the following paths: work condition⇒cultural adjustment, power distance⇒cultural adjustment, social support⇒cultural adjustment, relational skills⇒cultural adjustment.
Fifth, Existence Need(E) has a bigger effect on the adjustment than Relational Need(R), and Relational Need(R) has a bigger effect on the adjustment than Growth Need(G). These results correspond with the interview data that most subjects said making money is the most important for them.
Sixth, the Relational Need(R) of Han-Chinese have a bigger effect on the adjustment than those of Korean-Chinese, and the Existence Need(E) of Korean-Chinese have a bigger effect on the adjustment than those of Han-Chinese. These results correspond with the interview data that Han-Chinese are less satisfied with the Relational Need(R) than Korean-Chinese because Han-Chinese are inferior to Korean-Chinese in the dimensions of Korean language proficiency and racial connections with Koreans. Since Korean-Chinese workers are ethnically connected with Koreans, they have much more expectation than Han-Chinese in the work conditions and legal status, and thus they are less likely to be satisfied with the Existence Need(E).
Seventh, while power distance and relational skills have a significant effect on cultural adjustment in the Han-Chinese model, role ambiguity and the length of stay have a significant effect on work adjustment and cultural adjustment respectively in the Korean-Chinese model. Moreover, while social support has a significant effect on cultural adjustment in the Korean-Chinese model, social support has a significant effect on work adjustment in the Han-Chinese model.
The theoretical and practical implications of this study can be summarized as follows:
First, the study could make a great contribution to the theories of cultural and work adjustment by finding out some factors affecting the adjustment. Moreover, the study has used the acculturation measurements of uni-dimensional and bi-dimensional model in the Korean setting for the first time and could provide basic guidelines for the use and development of the measurements. The triangulation research method, in which both interview and statistical data were used, is unique in this study and it could provide meaningful insights for the study.
Second, many significant findings of this study could be used as practical guidelines for managers and social workers. In order to improve the adjustment of foreign workers, special attention is needed for work conditions, racial discrimination, role conflict, role ambiguity, social support, language training, and relational skills. Moreover, Existence Need(E) is most important for the adjustment and Relational Need(R) is secondary, and Growth Need(G) is the least important for the adjustment. Besides, Han-Chinese workers need more relational support than Korean-Chinese for the work/cultural adjustment.
Third, the limitations of this study and future research tasks are as follows. Research findings of this study should not be generalized since the sample of Korean-Chinese and Han-Chinese workers does not represent the whole foreigners. Besides, the problems of Common Method Variance could exist because the same subject answered the whole questionnaire. Future research need to use different samples, such as other ethnic groups in Korea or expatriates, to verify the research model of this study. It is also necessary to use and develop the measurements of acculturation and work adjustment in the future research.
In conclusion, the study could provide useful guidelines for the development of theories and measurements of international adjustment as well as for organizational and welfare practice.
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