Team processes, team conflict, team outcomes, and gender: An examination of U.S. and Mexican learning teams

Team learning is growing rapidly in popularity in United States (U.S.) and Mexican universities. This instructional approach consists of using learning teams in which participants are required to work together regularly for a semester period of time and produce evaluated team outcomes. These team outcomes, along with their individual performance, have a significant impact on each individual's final assessment. We compare team processes, team conflict, team outcomes, and gender interaction in Mexican and U.S. student teams. U.S. teams report more team-oriented behavior and more cohesiveness, and Mexican teams report more self-oriented behavior and more conflict. Nationality (United States or Mexico) has a moderating effect on the relationship between gender heterogeneity and cohesiveness and conflict. Suggestions are given for applications and future research.     

Predictors of international students’ psychosocial adjustment to life in the United States: A systematic review

This review systematically examined predictors of psychosocial adjustment of international undergraduate and graduate students in the United States. Sixty-four studies published in peer-reviewed journals between January 1990 and January 2009 were reviewed. Statistically significant predictors of psychosocial adjustment were grouped by adjustment outcome variables (e.g., psychological symptoms and sociocultural adjustment). The methodological quality of each study was examined using an 11-point grading criteria, assessing the employment of theoretical framework, reporting of data's validity and reliability, study design, and analytic techniques, among others.The most frequently reported predictors included stress, social support, English language proficiency, region/country of origin, length of residence in the United States, acculturation, social interaction with Americans, self-efficacy, gender, and personality. The mean methodological score of the reviewed studies was 6.25 (SD = 1.8; maximum possible score = 11). The reviewed studies overcame selected limitations pointed out by Church in a previous review (1982), by employing a wide range of theories, employing longitudinal designs, and comparing among countries/regions of origin. This review also discussed implications for health promotion for international students and directions for future research.     

Intercultural Friendship: Linking Communication Variables and Friendship Success

International students often complain about the lack of friendships with host nationals. This study explores the relationship between communication variables, number of friendships, and friendship satisfaction. International students at a large urban university in the United States completed a survey on willingness to communicate, communicative adaptability, English language proficiency, loneliness, and friendship with the Americans. Results show that international students rated their American friendships lower than their home- or other-culture friendships. Friendship numbers and satisfaction were significantly related to communicative adaptability, language proficiency, and loneliness. There was no significant correlation between friendship success and willingness to communicate or length of stay.     

Willingness to Communicate in Intercultural Interactions between Chinese and Americans

This study investigated the differences in willingness to communicate (WTC) between Americans and Chinese living in China and the United States, and the factors affecting WTC between these two nationalities. A battery of questionnaires was administered to 47 American and 54 Chinese college students in China, and 51 American and 42 Chinese college students in the US. Overall Americans were found to be more willing to communicate with Chinese than were Chinese with Americans. Participants living abroad reported higher levels of WTC than those living in their home country. Among Chinese, WTC was positively related to self-perceived communication competence, language competence, immersion time and motivation being positively correlated and negatively associated with CA. Similar results were obtained from Americans, except that immersion time and language competence were not related to WTC.     

Intercultural engagement and relatedness: Examining mediation effects

Most research on student sojourners has studied students coming from the Majority World to Western countries, especially the United States, for undergraduate and graduate education. Though increasing greatly in numbers, shorter sojourn has not been the focus of attention. With regard to the adjustment of sojourners, research has tended to stress situational factors rather than personality. This study is different in terms of focusing on short term educational sojourn of Western students in a Majority World country and examining the effect of personal characteristics and cultural evaluation of the sojourners on their experience. Relatedness and country of origin were found to influence the cultural experience of exchange students through their cultural evaluation at baseline. Students with higher relatedness orientation had more positive cultural evaluations at baseline which then led to a more positive cultural experience in the receiving country.     

Patterns of interpersonal criticism in Japan and United StatesModes de critique interpersonelle au Japon et aux Etats-UnisNormas de critica interpersonal en el Japon y en los Estados Unidos

To investigate patterns of interpersonal criticism in Japan and United States, preliminary interviews were conducted. Three major variables: sources of dissatisfaction; the status of communicative partners: and modes of giving criticism were identified. These variables were incorporated into an Interpersonal Criticism Questionnaire and then administered to 149 Japanese and 168 American college students of both sexes, after establishing cross-cultural equivalence. The results demonstrated a significant difference between the two cultures, but no significant difference between the sexes. Both cultures favored expressing dissatisfaction in a direct way, but Japanese more frequently employed passive forms of criticism and Americans active forms. While Japanese consistently adapted critical messages to the status of their communicative partners, Americans consistently adapted their critical messages to the character of the provocation.     

Communication patterns among young Korean immigrants

The study examines diverse host and ethnic interpersonal and mass media communication patterns of 69 first-generation college Korean immigrants. A series of analyses of variance with length of stay in the United States and sex as prior independent variables was used for detecting diverse communication patterns. Differences in the host mass media use, except magazine, were not affected by length of star in the host society. In the use of ethnic newspaper, however, significant interaction effect was found. The main effects of sex and time in the United States and the interaction effects lacked significance in diverse interpersonal communication with Americans and Koreans. However, communication gaps between the adult immigrants and their children were significantly revealed over the years regardless of sex. English proficiency also eased the communication gaps between generations and general communication patterns. Related to relevant predictors, various differences in communication patterns are discussed.     

Causal ascription and evaluation of achievement-related outcomes: A cross-cultural comparison

Three experiments (replications) were conducted under a general program of testing the applicability of social psychological findings obtained in the United States to Brazil. Three samples of Brazilian students (college male undergraduates, lower-class training school male students, and female teachers graduating in education) were asked to ascribe either gold (reward) or red (punishment) stars to examination results. These results could be excellent, fair, borderline, moderate failure, or clear failure; the student's ability (high or low) as well as his or her effort (high or low) were also indicated.The results reproduced only in part those of the original study. As in the United States, effort and good outcomes influence the assignment of rewards and punishments to achievement-related outcomes. However, in the United States, low-ability students, when effort is held constant, are more rewarded for good results and less punished for bad ones than high ability students; in Brazil the opposite was found, that is, high ability students, holding effort constant, are rewarded more for good results and punished less for bad ones. The implications of this finding for individual achievement and nation's development are pointed out.     

War-exposed newcomer adolescent immigrants facing daily life stressors in the United States

For adolescents new to the United States, the experience of war and acculturative stressors may play complex roles during early stages of adjustment to a new culture and country. The overall purpose of this study was to deepen understanding of the experiences of adolescents who are new to the United States, also called “newcomers”, through the examination of pre-migration war exposure and post-migration acculturative stressors as predictors of psychosocial adjustment and academic achievement. The study sample included newcomer immigrant and refugee youth (N = 184) with an average of 3.5 years in the United States. Triangulated data were collected from youth, teachers, and official school records. Results indicated that the participants who were exposed to war (N = 57) experienced more self-reported and teacher-reported anxiety, more self-reported conduct problems, and had lower academic achievement than participants who had not been exposed to war. Acculturative stressors also predicted more self-reported anxiety, conduct problems, and lower academic achievement, but only for those adolescents without war exposure, suggesting that exposure to traumatic events like war may change newcomer adolescents’ response to acculturative stressors. This may be related to the development of coping or growth that follows after trauma, which enable youth to navigate other life challenges. Understanding potential risk and resilience associated with war exposure among newly arrived students can assist clinicians, educators, and researchers in creating solutions to difficulties in psychosocial adjustment and academic performance.     

An analysis of friendship networks, social connectedness, homesickness, and satisfaction levels of international students

International students continue to grow in number worldwide, prompting researchers to look for ways to make the study abroad experience more fruitful. One avenue of research has focused on friendship formation, the significant role it plays in the study abroad experience, and the unique friendship combinations made possible by the study abroad experience. International students form friendships with individuals from their own country, from other countries, and from the host country. Research has found that international students often have more friends from their home country; however, research has also demonstrated a relationship between having more host country friends and satisfaction, contentment, decreased homesickness, and social connectedness. The current study looks to further explore these relationships through a social network lens by examining friendship network ratios, strength, and variability of the three friendship groups. A friendship network grid was developed to assess where international students’ friends are from and how strong those friendships are. Eighty four international students completed a survey examining the relationship between friendship networks, social connectedness, homesickness, contentment, and satisfaction. Contrary to prior research, international students did not report having a higher ratio of individuals from their home country in their friendship networks. However, international students with a higher ratio of individuals from the host country in their network claimed to be more satisfied, content, and less homesick. Furthermore, participants who reported more friendship variability with host country individuals described themselves as more satisfied, content, and more socially connected. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

A First-Year Seminar Course that Supports the Transition of International Students to Higher Education and Fosters the Development of Intercultural Communication Competence

Colleges and universities in the United States and in other countries are admitting and educating an increasing number of international students. This trend creates both challenges and opportunities for modern higher education. While much of the early scholarship focused on understanding the various academic and social challenges faced by international students, both researchers and practitioners have recently shifted their focus to program development and assessment. This paper, then, examines a specialized first-year seminar course, which includes an out-of-class engagement component that allows international students to interact directly with host country peers. The course and the engagement component were designed to address the transitional academic and social needs of international students. More specifically, this is a report on a three-year study of cohorts of first-semester international students (N = 58) which examined the effectiveness of the specialized first-year seminar within a framework of intercultural communication. The results show that the program was not only a way to support students’ transition to the university, but also facilitated their development of intercultural communication competence.     

Socio-structural intergroup characteristics and group-based emotions in three countries

Participants from three countries (United States, India, and Bulgaria) rated the socio-structural context between their nation and China. We explored the relationship between the components of the intergroup context (permeability, stability, and legitimacy) and five group-based emotions (happiness, fear, contempt, jealousy, and disgust) across these three international relationships. Overall, the results showed that socio-structural intergroup characteristics interact to differentially influence the intensity of reported group-based emotions. The intensity and predictors of each group-based emotion were also found to differ for each country. Together, these results show that simultaneously examining different socio-structural variables yields a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between the intergroup context and the emotions derived from group membership.     

Cross-and same-race friendships of Vietnamese immigrant adolescents: A focus on acculturation and school diversity

The purpose of this study was to examine friendship developments of 153 Vietnamese immigrant adolescents who resided in an East Coast metropolitan area of the United States. We examined the influences of school diversity and acculturation on the quantity and quality of cross-and same-race friendships. Surprisingly, students who came from schools that are more diverse reported fewer cross-race friendships and lower levels of social support from their cross-race friends. American acculturation predicted greater levels of social support from cross-race friends. For same-race friendships, students who went to schools with higher percentage of Asian students reported more same-race friendships; however, percentage of Asian students was not a significant predictor of social support from same-race friends. Students who reported greater levels of Vietnamese acculturation reported greater levels of social support from their same-race friends. This study has implications for understanding the impact of school diversity and acculturation on friendship development of Vietnamese immigrants. Also, suggestions on how to better conceptualize and measure diversity are discussed.     

The role of adult attachment in international students’ acculturation process

International students face a variety of challenges in their acculturation process. Acculturation, the process of adapting to a new cultural environment, is highly variable and influenced by environmental and individual factors that exist before or arise during acculturation. Among the moderating personal factors existing prior to acculturation, adult attachment has received attention as an important variable impacting the acculturation process and adaptation outcomes. Based on the bi-dimensional model of acculturation (Berry, 1997) and the concept of adult attachment (Bowlby, 1977), the current study hypothesized that an insecure attachment (i.e., high attachment anxiety and avoidance) would predict more acculturative stress, less psychological adaptation, and less sociocultural adaptation. We also hypothesized that students who highly identified with their heritage culture and were highly acculturated to the U.S. culture would experience higher levels of psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Also, we examined if adult attachment moderated the effects of acculturation on international students’ psychological and sociocultural adaptation. International students enrolled in higher education institutions in different geographic locations in the United States (N = 221) completed measures of adult attachment, acculturation, acculturative stress, and psychological and sociocultural adaptation. The results suggested that attachment anxiety was a significant predictor of international students’ psychological adaptation. High acculturation to the U.S. significantly predicted more sociocultural adaptation. Attachment avoidance significantly moderated the effect of acculturation to the U.S. culture on international students’ psychological distress, while attachment anxiety was a significant moderator for the effect of acculturation to the U.S. culture on sociocultural adaptation.     

Short form measure of cultural intelligence: A Portuguese validation

More and more workplaces need employees who can work effectively with people of diverse cultural contexts. Cultural intelligence is a core social ability to interact successfully in cross-cultural environments. The Short Form measure of Cultural Intelligence (SFCQ) has been validated in several countries, although not for Portuguese-speaking countries. This paper describes the findings of three studies conceived to validate the SFCQ in the Portuguese language. The first study supports the SFCQ scale as unidimensional with three intermediate facets and possessing adequate internal consistency in a sample of college students (N = 217). In favor of construct validity, the instrument is weakly associated with but dissimilar to ethnocentrism and personality and is positively related to various markers of multicultural experience. Regarding criterion-validity, the SFCQ is related, as expected, to sociocultural adaptation and having a close friend from another culture. The second study supports the construct validity and the concurrent validity of the Portuguese SFCQ scale using a different sample of national college students (N = 195). The final study (N = 181) also supported the construct, the convergent, and the criterion-related validities of the Portuguese SFCQ scale in a sample of international students. It merits noting that in these three studies cultural intelligence emerged as a second-order single factor with three first-order factors, in particular, cultural knowledge, cultural skills, and cultural metacognition. These results substantiate the validity of the SFCQ and demonstrate this Portuguese version as a tool with substantial evidence for easily assessing cultural intelligence.     

The effects of psychoeducational intervention on the adjustment,coping self-efficacy and psychological distress levels of international students in Turkey

The global increase in international students’ population necessitates identifying their needs and engaging in practices that may support their adjustment. Along with excitement, positive attitudes and high expectations about higher education and life abroad, international students might also experience dread as they prepare to start a new life. Challenges in adjustment during the transition and developmental issues might contribute to such students’ susceptibility of intense emotional experiences, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. Nevertheless, limited research has been conducted on interventions to facilitate transition and adjustment. Indeed, there is a dearth of psychological interventions that enhance the adjustment of international students in Turkey. This study involves a program and examines how effective this program is in enhancing the adjustment levels of international students. With a 2 × 3 controlled quasi-experimental group design, the participants in the experiment group underwent eight weekly sessions of a cognitive-behavioral-oriented psychoeducational program. The posttest results indicated significant differences in coping self-efficacy favoring the experiment group. However, no significant differences were noticed between the two groups in terms of psychological adaptation and distress. Follow-up results revealed significant changes in all the three measures favoring the experiment group. The findings indicated a positive long-term effect of the psychoeducational program in enhancing the international students’ adjustment levels. Consequently, implications for college counseling service providers in terms of designing psychoeducational programs were discussed.     

The effect of vertical-horizontal individualism-collectivism on acculturation and the moderating role of gender

Based on a sample of 131 Chinese international students in Germany, the study examined (1) the influence of vertical-horizontal individualism-collectivism (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998) on mainstream and heritage acculturation and (2) the moderating role of gender on these relationships. It was hypothesized that both vertical-horizontal individualism would enhance mainstream acculturation and both vertical-horizontal collectivism would enhance heritage acculturation. From a gender role and a value-motivation perspective, a moderating effect of gender was also hypothesized. Since the vertical dimension is related to power and achievement values which is more important for men, men who scored high in this dimension would be more likely to acculturate than women. Since the horizontal dimension is related to universalism and benevolence which is more important for women, women who scored high in this dimension would be more likely to acculturate than men. The hierarchical regression analysis shows that (1) women's mainstream acculturation was higher than men's, but no gender difference was found in heritage acculturation; (2) the influence of horizontal individualism on mainstream acculturation was stronger for women than for men, but adopting vertical individualism has an equally positive effect on acculturation for both gender groups; (3) vertical collectivism had a positive influence on heritage acculturation for men but not for women, while horizontal collectivism had a stronger influence on heritage acculturation for women than men. These findings were discussed using a gender role perspective and the possible changes in cultural transitions.     

College Students’ Positive Strategic SNS Involvement and Stress Coping in the United States and China

Based on a self-administered online survey of undergraduate students, this study aimed to explore college students’ social media involvement in relation to their stress coping in the United States and China. A total of 262 survey responses were received from American participants and 265 survey responses were received from Chinese participants. Results indicated that American student users’ positive strategic social networking sites (SNS) involvement to a certain extent assisted in their adaptive coping with stress. However, the positive effect of positive strategic SNS involvement was not found as an adaptive coping strategy among Chinese student respondents. In addition, perceived support from friends on Facebook was the key mediator of positive strategic SNS involvement and adaptive coping for U.S. students.     

Gender,culture, and geography: A comparison of seating arrangements in the United States and Taiwan

The present study describes and compares seating preferences among Taiwanese and American respondents. Using a questionnaire method, seating preferences were obtained for 75 male and 100 female college students from the United Slates, and for 29 male and 54 female teachers of English in Taiwan. Responses were obtained for all possible combinations of sex of interaction partner, location (task or social), and six interpersonal activities. Results were summarized in the form of proportions of respondents choosing each of four possible angles of interaction: corner, opposite, diagonal, and side seating. Comparisons were made using Chisquare tests for independence.In general, results showed that Taiwanese respondents, when compared to Americans, are more likely to prefer side seating and less likely to prefer corner seating. Culture, sex of respondents, and sex of interaction partner interact in influencing preferences. In the United States, seating preferences function to unite males with females and to separate same-sex partners, while the opposite is true in Taiwan. Results are interpreted in terms of implications for intercultural communication.     

U.S. third culture kids’ identity and college success

Third Culture Kids (TCKs), people who spend a significant number of their developmental years in a country other than their parents’ passport (home) country, have many positive attributes. These include the ability to see other points of view, be open to people from different backgrounds, and be adaptable. This phenomenological study, based on interview data, explored how their identity as TCKs helped them succeed in college through an anti-deficit perspective. The population was nine participants (three men, six women) who had all lived outside of the United States of America (their parents’ home country) for at least seven years before the age of 18 and who returned to the United States. for college. The findings indicate a need for updated study on the experiences of Third Culture Kids and how they conceptualize and understand their own identities and its relation to the idea of a third culture. Recommendations are made for TCKs and their families, and institutions of higher education in supporting them.