EXPERIENCE OF LIVING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY: MIGRATION AND MEANING MAKING

Immigration is a stressful event, and immigrants go though an acculturation process as a result of being exposed to a new culture and having contacts with people who are different from them. As immigrants try to adjust to the new country, they encounter various challenges and experience many changes. Personal construct psychology (PCP), a theory of personality that emphasizes human choice and the creation of a personal meaning system, is one way to understand these changes. The sociality corollary in PCP theory emphasizes the importance of establishing a ROLE relationship, which involves understanding of the other person’s process of meaning making. In this study, I used PCP theory to understand immigrants’ experience of relationships, adjustment, and changes in a foreign country. This study explored five Korean immigrants’ and sojourners’ experiences of living in America in three topic areas: relationships, adjustment, and changes using the phenomenological approach of Amedeo Giorgi. The results indicate that participants experienced more difficulties in developing close relationships with non Koreans than Koreans in America although their quality of relationships with Koreans in America were not great compared to those in Korea. Participants found that their struggles with English, difficulties with fitting into American society, relationship issues, confusion caused by cultural differences, and other practical issues (e.g., financial problems) hindered their adjustment in America. Participants experienced changes in various areas including their life styles, relationships, attitudes, and opinions as a result of living in America. I discussed the implications for acculturation study, PCP as a way to understand immigration experiences, as well as the implications for working with immigrant population based on the finding of this study.