444 CHAPTER 11
a lack of variety or meaningfulness in work, lack of control over decisions, long hours,
poor physical work conditions, racism, sexism, and lack of job security (Murphy, 1995).
Stress at work can result in the same symptoms as stress from any other source:
headaches, high blood pressure, indigestion, and other physical symptoms; anxiety, irri-
tability, anger, depression, and other psychological symptoms; and behavioral symptoms
such as overeating, drug use, poor job performance, or changes in family relationships
(Anschuetz, 1999; Chandola et al., 2006).There are times when I feel like I’ve just had it with school and
all the work the teachers pile on—is that something like workplace
stress?One of the more serious effects of workplace stress is a condition called burnout.
Burnout can be defined as negative changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior as a
result of prolonged stress or frustration, resulting in both mental and physical exhaus-
tion (Bakker et al., 2014). In addition to exhaustion, symptoms of burnout are extreme
dissatisfaction, pessimism, lowered job satisfaction, and a desire to quit. Although burn-
out is most commonly associated with job stress, college students can also suffer from
burnout when the stresses of college life—term papers, exams, assignments, and the
like—become overwhelming. The emotional exhaustion associated with burnout can be
lessened when a person at risk of burnout is a member, within the work environment,
of a social group that provides support and also the motivation to continue to perform
despite being exhausted (Halbesleben & Bowler, 2007; Li et al., 2015).
HOW CULTURE AFFECTS STRESS When a person from one culture must live in another
culture, that person may experience a great deal of stress. Acculturation means the pro-
cess of adapting to a new or different culture, often the dominant culture (Sam & Berry,
2010; Sodowsky et al., 1991). The stress resulting from the need to change and adapt
to the dominant or majority culture is called acculturative stress (Berry & Kim, 1998;
Berry & Sam, 1997). Some of the more obvious sources of acculturative stress include
dealing with prejudice and discrimination.
The way in which a minority person chooses to enter into the majority culture can
also have an impact on the degree of stress that person will experience (Berry & Kim,
1988; Ramos et al., 2015). One method is called integration, in which the individual tries
to maintain a sense of the original cultural identity while also trying to form a positive
relationship with members of the majority culture. For example, an integrated person
will maintain a lot of original cultural traditions within the home and with immediate
family members but will dress like the majority culture and adopt some of those char-
acteristics as well. For people who choose integration, acculturative stress is usually low
( Ramdhonee & Bhowon, 2012; Rudmin, 2003; Ward & Rana-Deuba, 1999).
In assimilation, the minority person gives up the old cultural identity and com-
pletely adopts the majority culture’s ways. In the early days of the United States, many
immigrants were assimilated into the mainstream American culture, even changing their
names to sound more “American.” Assimilation leads to moderate levels of stress, most
likely due to the loss of cultural patterns and rejection by other members of the minority
culture who have not chosen assimilation (LaFromboise et al., 1993; Lay & Nguyen, 1998;
Rudmin, 2003).
Separation is a pattern in which the minority person rejects the majority culture’s
ways and tries to maintain the original cultural identity. Members of the minority cul-
ture refuse to learn the language of the dominant culture, and they live where others
from their culture live, socializing only with others from their original culture. An exam-
ple of this might be seen in many “Chinatown” areas across the United States, in which
there are some residents who do not speak any English and who rarely go outside theirburnout
negative changes in thoughts,
emotions, and behavior as a result
of Rrolonged stress or frustration
leading to feelings of exhaustion.
acculturative stress
stress resulting from the need to
change and adaRt a Rersonos ways to
the majority culture.
This Buddhist group is celebrating
Songkran, the New Year, by performing
their cultural ritual of pouring water
over their elder’s palms. Although they
are wearing clothing typical of people
living in Los Angeles, California, where
the ceremony is taking place, they still
maintain some of their former cultural
traditions. This is a good example
of integration.