Stress, reactions and coping behaviors of returnee Filipiino domestic helpers from the Middle East

• Main Authors: Enriquez, Kristine D., Gana, Victor Edzel S., Garcia, Mary Anne Q.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1996
• Subjects: Stress (Psychology); Coping behavior; Overseas workers; Filipinos in foreign countries > Employment; Domestic helpers; Filipinos in the Middle East; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/9072
• Institution: De La Salle University

In this study, the researchers looked into the sources of stress of the returnee Filipino domestic helpers, their reactions, and how they coped with it. The researchers were able to interview 30 subjects using a general interview guide. They also employed the indigenous methods, pagtatanong-tanong and pakikipagkwentuhan. The results revealed that the different sources of stress in the environment are due to the changes and unfamiliarity of the situation in all the aspects. The stress from the socio-cultural are the change and the unfamiliarity of the tradition, food, and religion in the Middle East. In the physical environment, the difference or change in the climate and weather while in the work place is the difference in the attitude of the people and their regulations. In the psychological aspect, the stress stems from the difference in the situation, such as being away from their families and also the lack of accurate information about things. In the variable of reaction, it is evident that there are three general categories that emerged: active reaction, passive reactions, and physical manifestations of the body to stress. In terms of the coping behaviors used by the subjects, their actions were mostly directed to their problem. Some new types of coping which is not found in the Western context include praying or asking God for help and accepting their conditions since they could not do anything.