Behavioral assessment of communication competency and the prediction of cross-cultural adaptation

This study explores the relationship between interpersonal and social behaviors and patterns of success and failure in cross-cultural adaptation. Seven interpersonal communication skills often mentioned as being important to cross-cultural adaptation were studied: empathy, respect, role behavior flexibility, orientation to knowledge, interaction posture, interaction management and tolerance for ambiguity. For each dimension, behavioral observation indices were developed. Following a week-long predeparture training program, behavioral assessments were made on these dimensions for each person in a group of technical advisors and spouses assigned to two-year postings in Kenya. One year later, an in-the-field follow up study was conducted to assess shock dynamics, psychological adjustment, and vocational and interactional effectiveness of these individuals. Comparisons of pre and post-test measures indicated that each of the focal dimensions predicted patterns of success and failure in adaptation with varying degrees of adequacy. These results and implications for further research, and cross-cultural training and selection, are explored in the final section of the article.     

Does cross-cultural training in tertiary education enhance cross-cultural adjustment? A systematic review

The increasing cultural diversity within tertiary education and workplace environments requires students and graduates to be knowledgeable and effective in cross-cultural adjustment and managing potential acculturative stress. One of the ways to increase their cross-cultural adjustment is via cross-cultural training (CCT). Given the predominantly business-oriented nature of previous reviews, this paper systematically examined whether CCT was effective when applied to tertiary students. The analysis of different types of CCT and its outcomes was guided by Ward, Bochner, and Furnham’s (2001) ABC (Affective, Behavioural, and Cognitive) model that comprehensively explained the affective, behavioural, and cognitive facets of cross-cultural adjustment. We reviewed 35 CCT studies published post-1990 with control group design or pre-post training evaluation. CCT in tertiary education has become increasingly multi-method and experiential. CCT programs with behavioural components had the most consistent evidence of effectiveness. Programs with both behavioural and cognitive components were more effective than cognitive- and didactic-alone programs. CCT appeared to be particularly effective in enhancing tertiary students’ academic and career performance. Practical implication and suggestions for future research directions are discussed.     

Locus of control: A review of cross-cultural research

This paper reviews some 70 reports of cross-cultural research in locus of control done prior to 1981. Findings of cross-cultural and cross-ethnic similarities and differences are generally inconsistent and inconclusive. Neither do studies of antecedents, correlates, and consequents of the construct enhance our faith in its universal generality. Issues such as cross-cultural conceptual and functional equivalence, dimensionality, appropriateness of measuring instruments, modes of cross-cultural comparison, and theoretical contribution are raised. Potential fruitfulness of research on the control dimension is asserted, given that we attain some modifications in our methodology.     

Theoretical framework for evaluation of cross-cultural training effectiveness

The first part of this paper presents a theoretical framework which includes the independent and dependent variables that should be considered in studies designed to evaluate the effectiveness of cross-cultural training. Six kinds of training—general or specific, affective, cognitive or behavioral—plus self-insight training are considered. In addition, the quantity and timing of the training, and attributes of trainers and trainees are considered. The second part considers strategies for the evaluation of the effects of these independent variables. Controversies in evaluation research are reviewed to find out what can be learned from past experience that might be applicable to cross-cultural training. This review shows a trend toward the broadening of evaluation research, using many more dependent variables, with measurements obtained from many kinds of people. New methodologies that permit the incorporation of diverse points of view and a broad analysis of the effects of the training program are examined. Questions are also raised concerning who should have the information acquired during an evaluation study. Finally, the paper examines ethical problems that cannot be ignored by those evaluating cross-cultural training.     

Conceptual framework for the development and evaluation of cross-cultural orientation programs

This article describes factors which have hampered the development of effective cross-cultural orientation programs and discusses nine fundamental issues which orientation efforts ought to address: the role of expectation in coping with stressful situations, the selectivity of perception, cultural differences in behavior, the role of attributions, the centrality of values, the importance of social factors and context, erroneous assumptions about other cultures, the importance of social support, and the issue of effectiveness of the cross-cultural orientation program. The paper then describes the Intercultural sensitizer or culture assimilator as a method for cross-cultural orientation and discusses how the intercultural sensitizer addresses these issues.     

Measuring communication patterns and intercultural transformation of international students in cross-cultural adaptation

This study attempts to develop a brief scale for measuring cross-cultural adaptation of international students in China and to explore the main pathways to promoting their cross-cultural adaptation. Based on Kim’s structural model of cross-cultural adaptation, this study examined a series of reliability and validity analyses and constructed a structural equation model for exploring the main pathways of cross-cultural adaptation. The findings reveal that the revised scale is reliable and valid for measuring international students’ cross-cultural adaptation. Moreover, the findings also suggest that there exist four main pathways (host communication competence, host social communication, intercultural transformation basic, intercultural transformation advanced) that are essential for the development of international students' cross-cultural adaptation, and the interlocking bilateral relationships among these pathways are significant and positive. This study provides insightful theoretical foundation for investigating international students' cross-cultural adaptation in non-western contexts and the compelling empirical support on the structural model of cross-cultural adaptation.     

Academia: A cross-cultural problem

This paper discusses strategies to help graduates in U.S. universities survive their thesis or dissertation. The assumption is that universities create their own unique cultural environments and all new students, irrespective of background, will experience some culture shock. Therefore cross-cultural orientation programs should focus less on individuals' cultural origins and more on their strengths and weaknesses as learners. The paper argues that a thesis or dissertation requires four different kinds of problem-solving behavior: experiential involvement in the research, reflective observation of the results, theorizing to and from the data, and applying data analysis to solve the research problem. Students are likely to find some of these activities less comfortable than others. They can be given guidelines to structure their research to maximize their problem-solving strengths and minimize potential weaknesses.     

Proactive personality and cross-cultural adjustment: Roles of social media usage and cultural intelligence

Proactive personality has been theoretically defined as a natural disposition that determines the manner in which an individual responds to social environmental changes. However, in cross-cultural context, knowledge about the role of proactive personality and its boundary conditions in expatriate cross-cultural adjustment remains limited. To address the gaps, this study aims to investigate whether and how proactive personality accounts for variance phenomena in expatriate cross-cultural adjustment with intervention of boundary conditions. A survey was conducted in three public universities in China, and 247 informative responses were obtained for hypothesis testing analysis. Results reveal that proactive personality contributes to expatriate cross-cultural adjustment. This contribution occurs through the conduit of cultural intelligence (CQ). CQ partially mediates the relationship between proactive personality and academic adjustment but fully mediates that between proactive personality and social adjustment. Moreover, social media usage for gathering information negatively influences the relationship between proactive personality and CQ. Implications and future research directions are discussed as well.     

Learning styles and their impact on cross-cultural training: An international comparison in France, Germany and Quebec

Every person has his or her own individual way to learn and to solve problems in day-to-day situations. These personal cognitive strategies, acquired in a long socialization process are called “learning styles” and may differ depending on gender, age or culture.In this study, the learning styles of over 300 students in business administration in France, Germany and Quebec are examined with the Learning Style Inventory (LSI). Representative and significant learning differences where found. This is why the LSI can be used in a first step for the illustration and comparison of typical patterns of learning. In a second step the results may be of use to international trainers in making decisions about course design and methods of cross-cultural training in relation to the learning profiles of the participants.     

No place to call home: Cultural homelessness, self-esteem and cross-cultural identities

This study examined relations between a cross-cultural geographically mobile childhood and adulthood cultural homelessness, attachment to cross-cultural identities, and self esteem. Cross-cultural identities are loosely defined identities (e.g., third culture kids, military brats, missionary kids) that describe some individuals’ childhood cross-cultural experience. The 475 participants spent at least two years before age 18 in a country different from their parents’ home culture, then returned to the latter. They completed an online survey which included general demographic information regarding cross-cultural experiences in childhood, as well as the Cultural Homelessness Criteria, the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, and items that evaluated the strength of affirmation, belonging, and commitment to a self-labeled cross-cultural identity. Cultural homelessness was related to lower self esteem scores; higher affirmation, belonging and commitment to any cross-cultural identity was related to higher self esteem and lower cultural homelessness. Furthermore, such affirmation, belonging, and commitment buffered the cultural homelessness-self esteem association, whereas just having a cross-cultural identity did not.     

Training issues in cross-cultural orientation

In this article the author presents an overview of the subsequent articles in this special issue of IJIR. The articles were originally presented as papers at a seminar held in Minneapolis in November 1984: “Cross-Cultural Orientation: Theories, Practices, Problems and Solutions. ” The author first reviews each article, highlighting the major contribution of each author and then identifies common themes that emerge in the papers. Finally, she presents several areas that need to be addressed by researchers and practitioners in conceptualizing, designing, and implementing cross-cultural orientation training.     

Building friendship through a cross-cultural mentoring program

This paper examines the efficacy of a short-term mentoring program in building cross-cultural friendships between students at an Australian university. Using a quasi-experimental approach, our study found that the mentoring program (Local Aussie Mentoring Program—LAMP) increased cross-cultural interactions for mentees, but not for mentors. About 45% of both mentors and mentees wished to continue their relationship with mentoring partners after the completion of the mentoring requirements. Mentees spent significantly more time with cross-ethnic friends than did controls after the completion of LAMP. We examined whether multicultural aspects of personality, as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), would positively correlate with cross-cultural mentoring effectiveness and cross-cultural friendship interactions (the dependent variables). Multicultural personality aspects of mentors (as measured by the MPQ) had significant positive relationships with both mentee and mentor-rated mentoring measures. All mentor MPQ scales showed some significant but small and positive relationships, with mentor friendship items, particularly Open-mindedness, Cultural Empathy and Emotional Stability. We found a significant, positive relationship between mentee Cultural Empathy and Social Initiative with cross-cultural friendship. These results show some partial support for a positive relationship between MPQ scales and cross-ethnic friendships.     

Independent effectiveness: A reconsideration of cross-cultural orientation and training1

Despite the good intentions, high energy and unquestionable commitment of most people in the field, cross-cultural orientation and training programs are all too often ineffective because of unintended outcomes. There is a need for a new model, one which will move people toward developing/enhancing the skills they need to become independently effective cross-cultural sojourners. In order to achieve this aim, training and orientation programs must focus on “learning how to learn” rather than on learning a particular fact or set of information. The skill training, described in this article, allows sojourners to develop the means to deal with new situations after the program has ended. It grows out of rigorous experiential training methodology that is in turn based on sound principles of adult education. Rather than leading people toward conclusions (“Don't you think that…?”) or telling participants what they will learn from living abroad, this model requires of trainers an unusually disciplined combination of study, feedback and in-depth knowledge of the educational process.     

Enhancing trainee satisfaction with cross-cultural training programs via prior warning

A review of the cross-cultural training literature indicates that trainees frequently enter training programs with mental sets which are incongruent with the goals of the programs. This condition (termed in the literature the “Einstellung Effect”) sometimes results in substantial dissatisfaction with the training program experience on the part of the trainee. Prior warning has been used successfully in some areas of psychological research to counteract Einstellung effects, but it has yet to be utilized in an attempt to reduce the effect of negative mental set on a training program. This study examined the effect of prior warning in cross-cultural training programs on trainee satisfaction. Students enrolled in four “Missionary Preparation” courses at a large, church-related university served as subjects. Two of the groups (each receiving one of two training methods) had the prior warning treatment, while the other two groups (one receiving each method) received no prior warning and served as control groups. Consistent with the hypothesis that trainee Einstellung effects can be reduced via prior warning, it was found that the subjects' satisfaction scores in the prior warning conditions were significantly higher than those in the no warning conditions.     

In search of cross-cultural competence: A comprehensive review of five measurement instruments

The assessment of cross-cultural competence (3C) and related constructs is of vital importance for both theoretical and practical reasons. The present review was undertaken to evaluate the quality of instrumentation designed to measure individuals’ capabilities for living and working successfully in cross-cultural contexts. The psychometric properties of five instruments deemed most important, useful, and visible in the field were evaluated with a focus on 3C measurement literature that became available since the publication of reviews by Gabrenya and colleagues (2013) and Matsumoto and Hwang (2013). Findings regarding the quality of 3C measures were mixed. First, we found that convergent validity was generally good across instruments and most showed reasonable criterion validity. However, discriminant validity was lacking in several instruments. The internal structures of instruments claiming to assess multiple constructs through subdimensions was in most cases poor. Content and face validity varied widely. Cross-cultural measurement equivalence was found to be poor in the limited research conducted on this important issue, as adaptation of instruments for use outside the culture in which they were developed rarely extends beyond the use of back-translation procedures. We suggest alternate approaches to assessing 3C and evaluating the validity of 3C instruments based on modeling sojourner outcomes such as expatriate adjustment and performance.     

The prediction of psychological and sociocultural adjustment during cross-cultural transitions

This study attempts empirically to distinguish psychological and sociocultural forms of adjustment during the process of cross-cultural transitions. One hundred and five sojourners (Malaysian and Singaporean students in New Zealand) completed a questionnaire which examined psychological well-being (depression) and sociocultural competence (social difficulty) in relationship to the following variables: expected difficulty, cultural distance, quantity and quality of social interactions with both host and fellow nationals, attitudes towards hosts, extraversion, life changes and personal variables such as age, sex, length of residence in New Zealand, cross-cultural training, and previous cross-cultural experiences. Multiple regression analysis was employed to construct predictive models of psychological and sociocultural adjustment. Satisfaction with relationships with host nationals, extraversion, life changes, and social difficulty combined to account for 34% of the variance in psychological adjustment. Cultural distance, expected difficulty, and depression combined to account for 36% of the variance in sociocultural adjustment. It was concluded that although psychological and sociocultural adjustment are interrelated, there is a need to regard these factors as conceptually distinct.     

Schema adjustment in cross-cultural encounters: A study of expatriate international aid service workers

Based on a schema perspective, this study discusses the adjustment process of expatriate workers through their cross-cultural experiences. Employing a qualitative, semi-structured interviewing method, this study collected data from 22 interviews with Taiwanese expatriate workers for an international aid service and analyzed critical incidents faced by these workers during their international service. Extending the existing schema theory for cross-cultural encounters, the author found that cultural shocks help enhance expatriate workers’ awareness of their existing schemas. In addition, through mental tension, mental dialogue, and information regarding culturally relevant others, cross-cultural workers gradually modify their perspectives and interpretative frameworks to adapt to local situations in a different culture.     

Theoretical framework for evaluation of cross-cultural training effectivenessMacro teorico para evaluar la eficacia de la capacitacion transculturalDonnees theoriques pour evaluer l'efficacite de l'entrainement transculturel

The first part of this paper presents a theoretical framework which includes the independent and dependent variables that should be considered in studies designed to evaluate the effectiveness of cross-cultural training. Six kinds of training—general or specific, affective, cognitive or behavioral—plus self-insight training are considered. In addition, the quantity and timing of the training, and attributes of trainers and trainees are considered. The second part considers strategies for the evaluation of the effects of these independent variables. Controversies in evaluation research are reviewed to find out what can be learned from past experience that might be applicable to cross-cultural training. This review shows a trend toward the broadening of evaluation research, using many more dependent variables, with measurements obtained from many kinds of people. New methodologies that permit the incorporation of diverse points of view and a broad analysis of the effects of the training program are examined. Questions are also raised concerning who should have the information acquired during an evaluation study. Finally, the paper examines ethical problems that cannot be ignored by those evaluating cross-cultural training.