| The employment of Mexican migrants in the border area Mexico shares with the United States has increased exponentially in recent years. A serious problem among employers of these new workers is the employee withdrawal behaviors of absenteeism and voluntary turnover.; This study examines the relationship between the lack of cultural fit between migrant workers and their new work environment and employee withdrawal. A number of antecedents to this lack of cultural integration, called acculturative stress, are also examined for their effect on this central variable,; Regression techniques were used to analyze interview responses from 124 migrant workers to test relationships among variables expected to explain withdrawal in this cross-cultural, borderland, situation. The identification of the proposed antecedents of acculturative stress should be useful in understanding and controlling resultant damaging outcomes—outcomes, which are due to a lack of cultural synthesis. Of particular interest, in this regard, is one finding of the present work which involves such an antecedent—the powerful influence of self esteem on the process of acculturation.; Limitations of the study are discussed, as are managerial implications of findings. Suggestions for future research are also presented. |
