Study of Variables Related to the Stress in the Strait Crossing Operation

Abstract

From the 1950's long waitings ranging from hours to days take place every summer in the Port of Algeciras Bay during the so-called Strait Crossing Operation (North-African immigrants massively travelling from Europe to their countries of origin). The Strait of Gibraltar constitutes a bottle-neck that forces automobile occupants to endure long periods of waiting, in a situation that to date has not been studied from the Psychology point of view.

This study aimed at covering that gap. Our basically descriptive purpose was to identify and categorise: (a) those stimular sets present in the port facilities which are somehow related to the users' emotional discomfort; (b) cognitive schemas in that group that are associated to stress reactions during the wait; and (c) behavioural coping patterns as developed by the travellers.

With a base in the Field Theory and with a transactional approach to the study of stress, we applied qualitative (observational) and quantitative (comparative) techniques, thus improving the obtained data by the integration of both methodological approaches.

From our results, we conclude that: (a) with regards to physical variables, information is the most powerful tool for the waiting management team; (b) as per cognitive variables, “perception of justice in the line” appears as the most influent variable on the stress reactions associated to the wait in the port; and (c) the observed coping patterns are associated with environmental and cognitive mediating variables, as described in the study.

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A partir de los años 50 se suceden cada verano en el Puerto Bahía de Algeciras largas esperas que van desde horas hasta días durante la denominada Operación Paso del Estrecho (inmigrantes norteafricanos viajando masivamente desde Europa a sus países de origen). El Estrecho de Gibraltar constituye un cuello de botella que obliga a los ocupantes de los automóviles a soportar largos periodos de espera, situación que hasta el momento no ha sido estudiada desde el punto de vista de la Psicología.

Este estudio pretendía cubrir ese vacío. Nuestro propósito básicamente descriptivo fue identificar y categorizar: (a) aquellos conjuntos estimuladores presentes en las instalaciones portuarias que de alguna manera están relacionados con el malestar emocional de los usuarios; (b) esquemas cognitivos en ese grupo que se asocian a reacciones de estrés durante la espera; y (c) patrones conductuales de afrontamiento desarrollados por los viajeros.

Con base en la Teoría de Campos y con un enfoque transaccional para el estudio del estrés, aplicamos técnicas cualitativas (observacionales) y cuantitativas (comparativas), mejorando así los datos obtenidos mediante la integración de ambos enfoques metodológicos.

De nuestros resultados, concluimos que: (a) con respecto a las variables físicas, la información es la herramienta más poderosa para el equipo de gestión de espera; (b) en cuanto a las variables cognitivas, la “percepción de justicia en la fila” aparece como la variable más influyente sobre las reacciones de estrés asociadas a la espera en el puerto; y (c) los patrones de afrontamiento observados están asociados con variables mediadoras ambientales y cognitivas, tal como se describe en el estudio.