Ethnic identity and close friendship in Chinese-American college studentsL'identité ethnique et l'amitié intime chez les étudiants chinoisaméricainsIdentidad etnica y amistad intima entre estudiantes chino-americanos

This article reports an empirical study on the relationship between ethnic identity and close friendship communication patterns in Chinese-American students. The friendship communication variables were: proximity, network size, frequency of interaction, perceived similarity, and degree of intimacy between subjects and close friends. Several hypotheses in this study were confirmed. Generation difference was a reliable predictor of ethnic identity on the 1st and 2nd generation subjects. Proximity was found to be a crucial factor that influenced the ethnicity of subjects' close friendship networks. All friendship variables were related on the zero-order correlation analyses. However, the relationship between ethnic identity and the ethnicity of subjects' friendship networks was not supported. This was explained in terms of sample bias, and the variable of friendship as a universal relational bond that transcends culture. The paper concludes with a set of research questions for future work on ethnic identity and cross-cultural friendship communication.     

Ethnic identity and close friendship in Chinese-American college students

This article reports an empirical study on the relationship between ethnic identity and close friendship communication patterns in Chinese-American students. The friendship communication variables were: proximity, network size, frequency of interaction, perceived similarity, and degree of intimacy between subjects and close friends. Several hypotheses in this study were confirmed. Generation difference was a reliable predictor of ethnic identity on the 1st and 2nd generation subjects. Proximity was found to be a crucial factor that influenced the ethnicity of subjects' close friendship networks. All friendship variables were related on the zero-order correlation analyses. However, the relationship between ethnic identity and the ethnicity of subjects' friendship networks was not supported. This was explained in terms of sample bias, and the variable of friendship as a universal relational bond that transcends culture. The paper concludes with a set of research questions for future work on ethnic identity and cross-cultural friendship communication.     

Using systemic functional linguistics as method in identifying semogenic strategies in intercultural communication: A study of the collocation of “time” and “different” by Swedish managers with international management experiences

Theoretical foundations to intercultural communication (ICC) are integrative and interdisciplinary but few have studied ICC from a systemic linguistics perspective. Viewing communication as a dialogic process, this study takes a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) view of language as a social semiotic where semogenesis (meaning making) is both construed and construed by context of situation which in turn is construed by culture. Using interview data collected from Swedish managers who have extensive international management experiences, this study aims to illustrate how SFL can be used as an adaptive theory and framework of discourse analysis in uncovering semogenic strategies in ICC processes.     

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.     

African Students’ Identity Negotiation and Relational Conflict Management: Being “Foreign”, Being “Careful”

ABSTRACT

International students face challenges associated with identity negotiation as they interact with others who may hold distinctly differing worldviews while operating from a position of cultural dominance. The current study explores how African students negotiate identity in interactions with domestic students within a relational-conflict context. Themes emerging include uncertainty in self-presentation, constrained relationships with domestic students, and avoidance as a response to relational conflict. The emergent concept is that of “being careful”, attributable to African students’ perception of power differences between foreign and domestic students, as well as risk associated with assertive conflict behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

“Oh,I’m Here!”: Social Media’s Impact on the Cross-cultural Adaptation of Students Studying Abroad

This study investigates the perceptions and interpretations of social media and online communication by students engaged in study abroad programs. In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed with 23 American and international students who completed or were engaged in a study abroad program. Results suggest that online communication enhanced the students’ experience, providing help with sociocultural skills, informational needs, relational bonds, and psychological well-being. Different platforms were preferred when communicating with friends versus family and intimates. Online communication between co-nationals from the student’s home country buffered both the sojourning student’s acculturative stress, and the stress and concern of distant family members.     

A comparative study of African American and European American ethnic identity

Differences between African Americans and European Americans were examined to find how ethnic identity salience was enacted in interethnic conversations, A sample of 126 African Americans and 78 European Americans was recruited from the community using a snowball sampling method. First, different factor structures for the two groups indicated that African Americans conceptualize sociocultural and political identity as separate constructs while European Americans express a singular and social definition of ethnic identity and experience less identity salience than African Americans. Secondly, although our sample is small, those who used the label “African American” expressed greater political ethnic identity salience than those who used the label “Black”. This finding is consistent with others' research indicating a continuing trend toward a positive political posture for African Americans. Third, ethnic identity was found to be negatively related to interethnic communication satisfaction for European Americans. Stronger European American ethnic identity was related to less satisfying interethnic conversational outcomes in less intimate relationships. Ethnic identity salience showed no significant relationship to interethnic conversational outcomes for European Americans communicating with friends nor for African Americans no matter the relational distance.     

Dissimilarity and learning in teams: The role of relational identification and value dissimilarity

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the relationship between team members’ demographic dissimilarity (race/ethnic origin and nationality) from their team and their learning in the team. Drawing from social identity theory and self-categorization theory, it is argued that relational identification with team members and perceived value dissimilarity moderate this relationship. Hypotheses were tested using a survey of individual team members in multiple organizations. Race/ethnic origin dissimilarity negatively influenced learning when relational identification with team members was lower. Race/ethnic origin dissimilarity and national dissimilarity were more negatively related to learning under higher perceived value dissimilarity. Finally, national dissimilarity most negatively influenced learning under lower relational identification with team members and higher perceived value dissimilarity.     

The roles of culture and fairness in maintaining relationships: A comparison of romantic partners from Malaysia,Singapore, and the United States

The present study concerns how culture connects to perceptions of equity and relational maintenance behavior in the United States (US), Malaysia, and Singapore. In doing so, this study extends findings that employed cultural modernization theory (CMT) and equity theory to explain cultural and individual variations in relational maintenance behavior. Sex differences were also examined. Three countries were selected for their proximity in Traditional (vs. Rational) Values and divergence in Survival (vs. Self Expression) Values, according to the World Values Survey (WVS) cultural map. Consistent with CMT assumptions, participants in the United States and Malaysia (i.e., countries that espouse self expression values) reported greater use of relational maintenance strategies than did those in Singapore (i.e., a country endorsing survival values). As hypothesized, curvilinear associations between equity and relational maintenance strategies were found for the US participants only. This finding concurs with CMT-grounded assumptions and facts that romantic partners in Western (vs. Eastern), high-income societies (e.g., the US) seek equitable relationships. Sex differences also emerged but only for the US participants.     

Bridging Cultures: Understanding the Construction of Relational Identity in Intercultural Friendship

This research aims to uncover the strategies/activities that shape the construction of relational identity through analyzing the turning points occurring during the process of intercultural friendship. Forty-five interviews were conducted with members in 15 intercultural friendship dyads. The results reveal that seven types of activities were identified: (1) positivities/providing assistance; (2) rituals, activities, rules, and roles; (3) self-disclosure; (4) networking; (5) exploring cultures and languages; (6) emphasizing similarities and exploring differences; and (7) conflict/conflict management. The strategies of exploring cultures and languages and of conflict/conflict management were thoroughly discussed to advance our understanding of the development and maintenance in intercultural friendship.     

A qualitative study of temporary reentry from significant others’ perspective

Using data collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews with 13 mothers of study abroad students in China, this study explores, from the mothers’ perspectives, patterns of social interaction between them and their children during their short-term reentry. It shows that the mothers’ confusion about their children's cultural identities led to their confusion about their motherhood identity and the renegotiated rules of interaction that virtually transformed mother–child relationships into host–guest relationships. The courteous and apparently friction-free interactions between mothers and their children were laden with latent relational distress and tension. The study suggests that reentry is not an individualized process of psychological and behavioral adjustment on the part of returnees only, as suggested by the existing literature; rather, it is co-produced by returnees and their significant others through communication. It also suggests that effective interaction between returnees and their significant others may be the key to reducing reentry stress.     

Bicultural Identity Negotiation,Conflicts, and Intergroup Communication Strategies

This qualitative study explores the significant yet understudied topic of bicultural identity and intergroup-intercultural communication. Ting-Toomey’s identity negotiation theory and Giles’ communication accommodation theory guide this investigation into the meaning construction of “bicultural identity” of Asian/Caucasian individuals and their intergroup communication strategies. Bicultural identity development is a multilayered, complex lived experience. Response analysis to the research questions revealed eight thematic patterns such as bicultural construction of integrated identity, distinctive communication practice, and identity buffering strategies. These patterns culminate to the proposed idea of a “double-swing bicultural identity” model. The study concludes with a discussion on contributions, limitations, and future directions.     

Answering a Call for Service: An Exploration of Family Communication Schemata and Ethnic Identity's Effect on Civic Engagement Behaviors

This study explored whether family communication schemata, in tandem with ethnic identity, predicted civic engagement behaviors. The study revealed several significant and positive relationships: among the family communication schemata and civic engagement, between ethnic identity exploration and ethnic identity affirmation, among family communication schemata and ethnic identity exploration, and between ethnic identity affirmation and civic engagement. A path model was used to demonstrate that expressiveness and structural traditionalism, two family schemata, predict ethnic exploration which in turn predicts ethnic affirmation which leads to one type of civic engagement, membership in formal groups.     

A Reexamination of Swedish and American College Students’ Communicative Attributes

This study examines the extent to which Swedish (n = 103) and American (n = 113) college students’ cultural background influences their communicative attributes. Students’ communication apprehension, self-perceived communication competence, willingness to communicate, out-of-class communication with instructors, in-class participation, and motives for communicating with their instructors were examined. Results of MANOVA tests indicate that American college students are more willing to communicate, perceive themselves as more communicatively competent, participate more in class, and are more motivated to communicate with their instructors for relational, functional, excuse-making, participatory, and sycophantic reasons. However, students’ communication apprehension and out-of-class communication with their instructors did not differ between the two cultures.     

Multiliteracies of Transnational and Immigrant Pre-teens: Meditating Intercultural Meaning

With the increase in cultural and economic globalization and technological advancements, the very nature of communication has become more fluid. As a result, communication practices move past defining socio-cultural identity to become intercultural capital from which a more constructive bi-cultural identity can emerge. This study compares immigrant and transnational migrant multiliteracies at the transitional age of pre-adolescence, comparing both global and socio-cultural types. The study utilised ethnographic collective case study observation of three Nepalese families in the United Kingdom. The year-long study comparatively investigated; what types of multiliteracies do immigrant and transnational pre-teens participate in? And do these multiliteracies better enable constructive identity through intercultural capital? The research utilised 150 hours of ethnographic observation, meta-historical narratives and semi-structured interviews with three case study families who were transnational Gorkha and immigrant Nepalese in the U.K. Moreover, the study newly categorized three types of multiliteracies relevant to both transnational and immigrant pre-teens: those that are transnational, global cultural and peripheral ritualised multiliteracies. Findings from this article revealed that while pre-adolescences transnationals participated in transnational cultural and globalized multiliteracies, immigrant pre-teens partook predominately in globalized multiliteracies.     

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.