Copying Strategies and Attitude to the World in Voluntary Emigration
The article considers the problem of sociocultural adaptation of voluntary emigrants through the prism of stress-related behavior and the specifics of their attitude to the world. Specific features of coping strategies and characteristics of the external and internal world of Russian citizens living abroad in the United States, Britain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Austria (N = 70) are determined. It was revealed that women in voluntary emigration more often than men use the strategy of seeking social and emotional support. Employed emigrants are prone to active coping, while they evaluate the outside world more positively, which, combined with an aspiration for the future, leads to an effective overcoming of the problem situation. “Initiators” of departure to another country often think about actions to resolve a difficult life situation, develop strategies of behavior for the purpose of their practical application. “Not initiators” are slopes to form a dependent position and / or excessive expectations in relation to the world, hoping for the help of surrounding people. Persons who are in exile for a period of one to five years are more likely to have “negation” and “behavioral withdrawal” strategies in order to reduce emotional tension. We can assume a five-year period of stay in the situation of voluntary emigration as a certain boundary, leading to a rethinking of behavioral approaches to solving the emerging problems in voluntary emigration.
1. Samsonova M. S. Strategii sovladayushchego povedeniya pri adaptatsii k inokulturnomu okruzheniyu (Coping strategies in adapting to the environment of other cultures). Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie (Psychological Science and Education: e-journal), 2013, no. 4. Available at: http://psyedu.ru/journal/2013/4/ Samsonova.phtml (accessed 27 May 2017) (in Russian).
2. Ward C. The ABCs of acculturation. The handbook of culture and psychology. Ed. by D. Matsumoto. New York, 2001, pp. 411–445 (Russ. ed.: Uord K. Azbuka akkulturatsii. In: Psikhologiya i kultura. Pod. red. D. Matsumoto. St. Petersburg, 2003, pp. 656–709).
3. Furnham A., Ota H., Tatsuro H., Koyasu U. Beliefs about overcoming psychological problems among British and Japanese students. The Journal of Social Psychology, 2000, vol. 1, no. 140, pp. 63–74.
4. Donnelly T.T. Contextual analysis of coping: implications for immigrants’ mental health care. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2002, no. 23(7), pp. 715–732.
5. Smolina T.L. Sotsialnaya podderzhka kak strategiya preodoleniya kulturnogo shoka [Social support as a strategy to cope with culture shock]. Sotsiosfera [Sociosphere], 2012, no. 1, pp. 656–709 (in Russian).
6. Usova N. V. Sovladayushchee povedenie v situatsii dobrovolnoy migratsii [Coping behavior in a situation of voluntary migration]. Izv. Saratov Univ. (N. S.), Ser. Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2016, vol. 16, iss. 1, pp. 96 – 99 (in Russian).
7. Odintsova M. A. Psikhologiya zhiznestoykosti [Psychology of hardiness]. Moscow, 2015. 296 p.