Indonesians not ready for stress of free trade: Experts

JAKARTA (JP): Psychology experts are concerned Indonesians may not be equipped to handle pressures accompanying the free trade era due to relatively poor competence, low competitiveness, and an absence of business ethics.

"They easily crack under stress," psychologists said at a seminar held on Saturday to mark the anniversary of their organization, Himpsi. They said one of the factors linked to their gloomy prognosis was the undue attention given to physical development at the expense of character building.

"Indonesia pays too much attention to (aspects of) physical development," said Shinto B. Adelar, the organizing committee chairwoman. "We strive to improve workers' technical competence, but we neglect the development of attitudes."

Ashar Sunyoto Munandar, a professor of industrial psychology at the University of Indonesia, said Indonesian workers' productivity was lower compared to workers from other countries. Insufficient skills, low motivation, poor attitudes and low morale were responsible for the low standards.

"Indonesian workers are easily satisfied with their achievements," he said.

Anugerah Pekerti of Management Education and Empowerment (PPM) reminded the seminar that competition in the free trade era would be intense and that players would have to give their best in order to survive. The situation, in turn, could cause stress which would also lead to low productivity, he said.

Although most of the speakers at the seminar described the negative impacts of stress, expert Soesmalijah Soewondo, who is also a professor of psychology, revealed that stress can be useful when managed properly.

At a certain level, stress could stimulate a person to achieve, she said. "When there's only a low level of stress, a worker will not be productive, because there is no challenge and motivation," she said. "On the other hand, stress that is too extreme can cripple a worker so that he or she is unable to carry out his or her job."

She believed stress could be managed by simple relaxation methods and suggested a program called progressive relaxation. The activity consisted of eight to nine sets of exercises that stretch and ease several muscle groups, enabling the individual to differentiate between a state stress and a state of relaxation.

"It's called progressive because we can reduce the number of exercises gradually," she said. "After trying for a month, for instance, we would be able to relax at the snap of a finger."

She said the method could be used not only to relieve stress, but also to reduce fears experienced by people suffering from phobias.(05)