The Structure, Characteristics And Formation Of Ethnic Minorities' Psychological Stress And Coping In Southwest China

Construction of the Harmonious Socialism Society is an epoch topic in China today, while mental health is intrinsic requirement of the development of Harmonious Society. The problem of ethnic minorities'psychological stress and coping is related with individuals' mental health and self-harmony, and it influences national unity and social harmony as well. The area of Southwest China is the area with a diversity of ethnic minorities. Now, with the rapid change of society and exchange between multiple cultures, the problem of ethnic minorities'psychological stress and coping is emerging increasingly. At the same time, the studies of ethnic minorities' psychological stress and coping are seldom conducted. Moreover, the subjects and methods of the researches are relatively simple, lack an integration of multi-disciplines, the researches disengage from practices to a certain extent, and the contents of the researches were scattered, which haven't formed systemic viewpoints. Therefore, it is especially important and necessary to conduct a systemic and deep research on ethnic minorities' psychological stress and coping in Southwest China.In view of the defects in existed researches, this research takes ethnic minority people in Southwest China as subjects, according to the reality of ethnic minorities' living in Southwest China, follows on a multi-angles, multi-levels and multi-subjects idea, conducts a systematic study on the structure, characteristics, and forming mechanism of ethnic minorities' psychological stress and coping in Southwest China, hopes to achieve an effective combination between the research and the reality of ethnic minority people' living.This whole study includes four parts. Part One is based on the factual living of ethnic minority people, combines the outstanding character of ethnic minorities' social change in Southwest China that is peasants'working out of the rural area, explores the structure of psychological stress of ethnic minorities, develops ethnic minorities'psychological stress measurements both under common circumstance and special instance (minority migrant workers'urban adaption), takes a comprehensive investigation on characteristics of ethnic minorities'psychological stress in Southwest China. Part Two explores the structure of ways of coping stress of ethnic minorities, develops the related measurement, analyzes characteristics of coping ways of psychological stress of ethnic minorities in Southwest China. Part Three studies how optimism and ways of social comparison influence the formation of ethnic minorities'psychological stress and coping ways. Part Four, a field work, which is farther confirm, supplement and deepening to the questionnaire investigation, emphasizes on the reasons of formation of ethnic minorities' psychological stress and coping ways.Conclusions are made as follows:(1) The structure of ethnic minorities' psychological stress consists of six dimensions, which includes acculturation, daily life, job/employment, health and accident,burden and education, the problem in love and marriage. The sources of urban adaptive stress of ethnic minority migrant workers are society environment, nation and culture, job /employment, interpersonal stress and life stress. The ethnic minorities' ways of coping stress is a two dimensional structure consisted with negative coping which includes denial and withdrawal, restraint and oppression, venting of emotion and positive coping which includes problem-solving, seeking support, and positive explanation.(2) The questionnaire of ethnic minorities' psychological stress, the questionnaire of ethnic minority migrant workers'urban adaptive stress and the questionnaire of ethnic minorities' ways of coping stress developed in this research fit psychometric requirements.(3) The ethnic minorities' psychological stress is not serious on the whole, but daily life stress is heavy comparatively, also the major source of stress in ethnic minorities' life is daily life stress caused by economy and the problems of social environment. There are demographic differences in ethnic minorities' psychological stress.(4) Migrant workers'urban adaptive stress is moderate, and their stress fromed job/ employment, society environment, and life stress is comparatively heavy; there are differences of urban adaptive stress in variables as age, education, income, and living time in city, also the urban adaptive stress can ,to a certain extent, predicts migrant workers' urban adaption.(5) The four types of ethnic minorities' way of coping stress are un-coping, negative coping, dual-coping and positive coping. Face stress, ethnic minority people more use positive ways such as problems-solving, seeking support, and positive explanation, less use negative coping ways such as denial and withdrawal, restraint and oppression, venting of emotion.(6) On the whole, ethnic minority people are optimistic and inclined to compare positively with others. People with different optimism types and social comparison types have different feeling of psychological stress and coping ways. And stress level moderates the relation between pessimism, downward contrast, negative comparison, upward identification with negative coping. The important effect of optimism, social comparison on psychological stress and coping ways is further supported in this study.(7) In the rural ethnic areas of Southwest China which change rapidly, the problem of left-behind children and left-behind elder is becoming serious increasingly, and some negative things happened in the process of the development of ethnic minorities deserve attention. All these have become new stress sources of ethnic minority people with the society change in Southwest China.(8) Environment, education, culture, history and personal subjective factors interact on the formation of ethnic minorities' psychological stress in Southwest China, and regional economy and education play most important role among all factors.(9) The ethnic minorities' ways of coping stress are interacted by stress, social organization, culture and self factors in Southwest China, and the lead, example and education of diversified social organization as well as some good consuetude activities can be helpful to the cultivation of ethnic minorities'positive coping ways.On the whole, this study has the some development and innovation as follows:(1) On the aspect of subjects, we choose the ethnic minority public aged from 18 to 60 in Southwest China, which expands the scope of the subjects of the researches on stress and coping existed.(2) In the orientation of the research, according to the reality of ethnic minorities' living in Southwest China, on the basis of the outstanding character of ethnic minorities' social change in Southwest China, the study aims to the practical need for solving national problems, takes a systemic investigation on ethnic minorities' psychological stress and coping in Southwest China, therefore, enhances the research 'instruction on the practices.(3) As to the view, on the basis of inter-discipline and approach integration, the study explores the research deeply from the view of multi-culture.(4) As to the method, the study attempts to adopt the research idea of the integration of qualitative and quantitative research, uses various methods such as questionnaire survey, literature study, interview survey, filed observation and method of folk custom and artistry, explores the research from multi-angles and multi-levels, promotes the pluralism and integration of the methods of research on ethnic minorities' psychological stress and coping.(5) As to the content of the research, through the combination of generic and special, point and face, the study surrounds the structure, characteristics and formation of psychological stress and coping ways, takes a comprehensive and systemic research on the problem of ethnic minorities' psychological stress and coping.