The negative effects of being a ‘late’ newcomer during an expatriation assignment

In some situations, expatriate managers and their families are encapsulated in expatriate enclaves for safety and social reasons. This type of living arrangement is frequently seen in the Middle East and other locations where safety for family members are of a high level of concern. Even in situations without strict compound-like arrangements, enclaves of expatriates are formed with their own group characteristics. It is anticipated that as MNCs focus on transition economies and emerging market countries, these enclaves and the adjustment of an expatriate to not only the cultural disparities but to these established groups will have an impact on expatriate success. This paper addresses the issues associated with being a ‘late newcomer’ to one of these self-contained compounds and the difficulties of becoming integrated into the social systems established in these enclaves. The appropriate type/level of social and organizational support is also examined.     

Personal reactions to ‘strange’ situations: Attachment styles and acculturation attitudes of immigrants and majority members

A growing number of studies examine the influence of individual factors on acculturation attitudes of immigrants, but few studies focus on majority members’ attitudes. In this paper, two studies are reported on the relation between attachment styles and acculturation attitudes of both immigrants (N=177) and majority members (N=243) in the Netherlands. Until now very few studies have associated cultural adjustment with attachment styles. This is remarkable, because attachment theory refers to interaction with others in new situations. Four different styles of attachment (the secure, dismissing, preoccupied and fearful attachment styles) are related to Berry's classification of acculturation attitudes. People, both immigrants and majority members, with a secure attachment style were positive towards integration, whereas people with a dismissing attachment style were not. Dismissing immigrants were more positive towards separation. Whereas both immigrants and majority members with a secure attachment style showed a similar pattern of correlations between attachment and acculturation, they seem to react quite differently, and even in opposite ways, when they have a preoccupied attachment style. Yet, the different reactions may be caused by the same psychological process: The existential ambivalence of preoccupied people may lead to diverse reactions.     

Stereotyping Hispanics: The differential effect of research method,label, and degree of contact

One hundred Anglo university students were asked to rate a number of ethnic/national groups (American, Chicano, Mexican American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Japanese, and German) on a Semantic Differential and to openly produce traits they identified with each group. As expected, the freely produced traits differed from those obtained in another study which used the Katz and Braly technique with students from the same university. Furthermore, differential evaluations were found for Chicanos and Mexican Americans in which the latter group was perceived more positively in the Evaluative Dimension, but not in terms of Potency or Activity. Also, as expected, having a member of the group as a friend produced the highest correlations with a positive perception of the group as a whole.     

The Last Laugh: Parasite,Joker, Dark Waters and the Outcasts’ Revenge

Subcultures can appear in multicultural societies not only by the contact of existing cultures but also by cultures that remain constant while the larger society changes. A recent movie, Dark Waters, is an example of this process. Parasite and Joker, two other recent movies, both Academy Award winners, differ from the first in the ways they present the process of subcultural development. Dark Waters shows a marginal community getting effective assistance from an established law firm, while Parasite and Joker show marginal subcultures that develop their own illegitimate methods of responding to marginalization, with disastrous results. The people with legal help remain bitter and pessimistic, while the people resorting to deviant resistance become cheerful and amused, untroubled by the mass homicide their comic attitude brings.