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.     

Acculturation and cross-cultural adaptation: The moderating role of social support

Previous studies have consistently demonstrated the beneficial impacts of the acculturation strategy of integration and the detrimental impacts of the acculturation strategy of marginalization on adaptation outcomes. This study attempts to extend the existing literature by examining the potential moderating role of social support in the relationships between acculturation strategies and cross-cultural adaptation. Specifically, it was hypothesized that social support from family, local friends, and non-local friends would enhance the positive effects of the integration strategy and buffer the negative effects of the marginalization strategy on sociocultural and psychological adaptation. Participants were 188 Mainland Chinese sojourning university students in Hong Kong. Consistent with our predictions, social support from local friends was found to significantly moderate the effects of the integration and marginalization strategies on sociocultural and psychological adaptation. Unexpectedly, it was shown that social support from non-local friends significantly weakened the positive effect of the integration strategy on psychological adaptation. In addition, further analyses on the potentially domain-specific effects of acculturation strategies and social support on psychological adaptation showed that social support from local friends and non-local friends and acculturation strategies of integration and marginalization interacted to influence only one specific domain of psychological adaptation (mutual trust and acceptance). Implications of this study and possible explanations for the discordant findings are discussed.     

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.     

The role of communication,technology, and cultural identity in repatriation adjustment

The current study examines the influence of demographic factors, communication behavior, and cultural identity on the repatriation adjustment of 101 American sojourners returning from work assignments in 44 different countries. The results indicated that the demographic factors of age, marital status, length of sojourn, and attendance at debriefing had a significant relationship with repatriation adjustment. Levels of closeness in relationships and satisfaction with use of information and communication technology were also related to repatriation adjustment. In fact, several mediated forms of communication, such as email and the Internet, received as high or higher ratings than some types of face-to-face communication. Intercultural identity patterns (home favored, host favored, integrated, and disintegrated) were defined, and results on them demonstrated that integrated and home-favored patterns had the smoother repatriation adjustment, while disintegrated and host-favored patterns had more difficult repatriation experiences.     

Open- and closed-mindedness in cross-cultural adaptation: The roles of mindfulness and need for cognitive closure

Individuals who are high, relative to low, in mindfulness are more open when ascribing meanings to new experiences and more resilient under stress, suggesting that mindfulness may play an important role in cross-cultural adaptation. In contrast, those high in need for cognitive closure (NCC) seem to close one’s mind to new cross-cultural experiences. We tested these contrasting effects of mindfulness and NCC by examining Asian international students (n = 233) who study at an Australian university using several measures of psychological and sociocultural adjustment. The study found that more mindful sojourners develop greater sociocultural skills and superior knowledge of a unique local culture. The role of need for cognitive closure (NCC)―closed-mindedness spurred by a desire for clear-cut understanding―was found primarily in the domain of psychological adjustment. The results highlight the importance of these dimensions of open- versus closed-mindedness during cross-cultural adaptation.     

Cultural adaptation and societal context: The role of historical heterogeneity in cultural adaptation of newcomers

In today’s global world, it has become increasingly important for individuals moving to a different country for work, study, or permanent relocation to successfully adapt to this new culture. Responding to recent calls in the literature for more ecological approaches to the study of cultural adaptation, we examine the effect of host country historical heterogeneity—or, the extent to which a country’s current inhabitants descended from a diverse pool of ancestors—on newcomers’ cultural adaptation to that country. Across two studies, we find that higher levels of host country historical heterogeneity predict higher rates of cultural adaptation among newcomers. This relationship persists even when accounting for individual characteristics of the newcomers and sociocultural/economic characteristics of the home and host countries. These results suggest that a country’s historical levels of diversity may contribute to the successful adaptation of newcomers above and beyond their personal characteristics, their home country environment, or current conditions in the host country, including current levels of diversity. These results have practical implications for facilitating newcomers’ successful cultural adaptation.     

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.     

French-Muslims and the Hijab: An Analysis of Identity and the Islamic Veil in France

This article examines how Muslims living in France construct, and negotiate their identities in the wake of Law 2004–228, a French law banning the wearing of the Islamic veil in French public schools. This research finds that Muslims deem the Islamic veil or hijab to be a fundamental part of their identity. Muslims describe the hijab as being an important and salient symbol of Islam that runs counter to France's concept of secularism or laïcité. Moreover, French-Muslims assert regulations like Law 2004–228 represent France attempting to control Muslim identity and forcefully integrate this population.     

Development communication expectations in occupational contexts: A Comparison of U.S. and foreign graduate students

This study focuses on the communication approaches used by experts in development. In line with recent “paradigm shift” issues, this study asks whether foreign and U.S. graduate students have inculcated alternative communication approaches instead of, or in addition to, the predominant “top to bottom” communication approach in their occupational communication roles. A total of 24 foreign and 23 U.S. graduate students from various departments at the University of Washington were asked to describe their expected communication with contact groups above, at the same and at lower status levels. All graduate students showed a marked tendency to exhibit “top to bottom” approaches with contacts of lower status and alternative communication approaches (i.e., bottom to top or interactive) only with peers. Few differences were found between U.S. and foreign, but those that were found were attributed to differing societal and occupational structures. Discussion focused on the lack of a coherent communication approach showing inculcation of more user oriented approaches suggested by the “paradigm shift.”     

Boundaries of the unconscious, private, and public self in Japanese and Americans: a cross-cultural comparison

Since Japanese explore inner reactions less often and less thoroughly than Americans, they may be less well known to themselves than Americans (Barnlund, 1975). The present study has examined this hypothesis by comparing self-knowledge and self-disclosure by Japanese and Americans. This is the latter part of our study on self and culture, the first part having been printed already (Asai and Barnlund, 1993). Fourteen topics of self-disclosure were examined. Americans reported significantly higher levels of both self-knowledge and self-disclosure than Japanese. Americans reported having thought significantly more than Japanese about Grief, Religious feelings, Positive personal qualities, Physical attractiveness, and Death. In both cultures, levels of self-knowledge and self-disclosure were positively correlated, suggesting that cultures influence both knowledge of the inner self and disclosure to others. The limitation of our present approach is also briefly discussed.     

Warranting theory,stereotypes, and intercultural communication: U.S. Americans’ perceptions of a target Chinese on Facebook

Extending prior literature on stereotypes about ethnic groups and warranting theory, this experimental study examined the effects of exposure to a target Chinese international student’s Facebook page with self-generated (stereotypically positive or negative) and/or other-generated wall posts (stereotypically positive or negative) on U.S. participants’ (N = 550, Mage = 21.38, SD = 3.82) perceptions of task attractiveness and behavioral tendencies (i.e., willingness to communicate/ cooperate) toward the target. Supporting warranting theory, results demonstrated that when other-generated posts were present and disconfirmed the Facebook page owner’s self-generated posts, other-generated posts mitigated the effects of self-generated posts in most cases. However, when other-generated and self-generated wall posts were consistent, other-generated posts produced an averaging effect. In addition, the type of dependent measure, and the dynamic interplay between stereotype content and the valence of self-generated posts also mitigated the warranting effect of other-generated posts.     

Facilitating adaptation and intercultural contact: The role of integration and multicultural ideology in dominant and non-dominant groups

Research on acculturation has documented that adaptation to a receiving society is affected by both the immigrants’ acculturation strategies and the dominant group's expectations about how immigrants should acculturate. However, the acculturation expectations have received relatively less attention from researchers, and support for multiculturalism has rarely been examined from the perspective of immigrants. The present study used the framework of the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS) project to investigate the acculturation experiences and intercultural relations in Hong Kong by incorporating mutual views of both the dominant and non-dominant groups. It also tested the mediating role of the dominant group's tolerance towards different cultural groups and the non-dominant group's perceived discrimination. Two community samples were recruited, including Hong Kong residents (N = 181) and immigrants from Mainland China (N = 182). Among Mainland immigrants, the integration strategy predicted both psychological adaptation and sociocultural adaptation. Multicultural ideology predicted psychological adaptation and played a significant role in intercultural contact with Hong Kong people through the mediation of lower perceived discrimination. Among Hong Kong residents, the integration expectation predicted psychological adaptation. Multicultural ideology indirectly affected intercultural contact with Mainland immigrants through the mediation of greater tolerance. These results suggest that the integration strategy and expectation are more important to intrapersonal functioning, whereas multicultural ideology may be more crucial in facilitating social interactions between members of the society of settlement and immigrants in culturally plural milieus. Future research should test the proposed models of dominant and non-dominant groups in other cultures.     

Acculturation attitudes and adaptation among South Korean residents in Japan: The mediating role of coping strategies

Acculturation processes and intergroup experiences of minority groups have been little studied in East Asian societies, including Japan. The number of migrants in Japanese society is steadily increasing, suggesting that the country is a new immigration destination in the 21st century. Therefore, further research on the acculturation processes of immigrants in Japan is warranted. This study examined the relationships among acculturation attitudes, coping strategies, and psychological adjustment in a sample of South Korean newcomers living in Japan. The results of this study support the integration hypothesis, which states that balanced acculturation attitudes that favor engagement in both the host and home cultures lead to higher levels of psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Assimilation attitudes did not contribute significantly to adaptation. Different coping strategies employed by individuals during interethnic discrimination mediated the links between individual acculturation attitudes and the two aspects of adaptation. By linking acculturation attitudes and relevant social behaviors, this study sheds light on the role of coping strategies as mediators of the relationships between acculturation attitudes and psychological and sociocultural adjustment in ethnic minority groups.