Nan M. Sussman

The Dynamic Nature of Cultural Identity Throughout Cultural Transitions: Why Home Is Not So Sweet

This article describes the social psychological process that underlies the cultural transition of sojourners. Herein the empirical and theoretical literature on cultural transitions (and in particular cultural repatriation and the relevant literature on self-concept and identity) is analyzed, critiqued, and synthesized in an attempt to understand the near ubiquitous distress experienced during repatriation. The relation among self-concept, cultural identity, and cultural transitions is explored, and in light of the paucity of comprehensive repatriation models, a new predictive model is proposed that explicates these relations. Shifts in cultural identity are classified as subtractive, additive, affirmative, or intercultural, and research directions are suggested.

Assessing changes in intercultural sensitivity among physician trainees using the intercultural development inventory

Abstract Intercultural sensitivity and competence is crucial to a successful medical practice with an increasingly diverse patient population. Twenty-four pediatric resident trainees, 10 American and 14 non-American, at a US medical center, had their intercultural sensitivity assessed, using the intercultural development inventory (IDI), before and after an intercultural training intervention. Demographic measures were taken to assess predictors of intercultural sensitivity. This study expands the use of the IDI to a new population, medical providers, and describes normative standards for this group. A profile emerged which showed low levels of Denial and Defense and moderate levels of Acceptance, Cognitive and Behavioral Adaptation. The Minimization factor was surprisingly high. In spite of small sample size, trends, using IDIs and clinical assessments, indicate that cultural training increased intercultural sensitivity. Discussions focus on the effectiveness of the IDI to measure subtle attitudinal changes and behavioral intentions, the need for multiple intercultural sensitivity measures, and the efficacy of a multi-modal training intervention.

Testing the cultural identity model of the cultural transition cycle: sojourners return home

Abstract A new theoretical model, which explores the relationship between cultural identity and repatriation experience, was tested among 113 American teachers who sojourned to Japan. Results indicated, unexpectedly, that overseas adaptation and repatriation experiences are not directly associated. Rather, home culture identity strength inversely predicted repatriation distress with repatriates experiencing high distress reporting weak cultural identity. Preliminary findings also indicated that repatriation experience is related to shifts in cultural identity. As predicted by the Cultural Identity Model, ratings of increased estrangement from American culture (subtractive) or feeling “more” Japanese (additive) following a sojourn are correlated with the high repatriation distress. Further, the more the global identity shift, the higher the life satisfaction. An innovative methodology was utilized in this study through the use of internet for participant recruitment and data collection.

Sex and power: gender differences in computer-mediated interactions

A preponderance of psychological literature indicates gender differences in written and oral communication. This study explores a new channel of communication, that of cybertalk. As this method of discourse is not gender-salient, one might argue that sex differences in communication style would be eliminated or reduced. However, we suggest that gendered power differentials in communication style transcend the medium. Archived electronic discussions (n=701) on sex-typed topics were selected and analyzed for length, frequency of communication and discourse content (fact vs. opinion). It was hypothesized that male communicators would display power behaviors by writing longer postings, by posting more frequently, and by writing more opinionated discourse as compared to female communicators. Congruent with the first prediction, mens discourse entries consisted of a greater number of words. However, women communicated more frequently than did men, a finding opposite to the hypothesized direction. The third gendered comparison, while not reaching statistical significance, indicated a modest trend with men writing more opinionated communications in two out of the three sex-typed categories (masculine and gender-neutral). Findings suggest that cyberspace, a context where gender of communicators is not salient, remains a male-dominated atmosphere, where gender differentiation and power displays in communication persist, similar to other communication modes.

Repatriation transitions: psychological preparedness, cultural identity, and attributions among American managers

Abstract The research examined preparedness for repatriation, cultural identity change, and attributions of causality on the repatriation experience. Forty-four American managers returning from 6 months to 4 years abroad participated in the study. In line with the predictions, preparedness for repatriation and cultural identity change predicted repatriation distress. Those repatriates who were the least prepared and had the most cultural identity change experienced more severe repatriate distress. Additionally, confirming a third hypothesis, sojourners attributed the cause of the distress more to situational locus of causality, more to external control and less to personal control. Preparedness and repatriation experience were assessed by several new author-designed measures. The repatriation preparedness scale, the psychological subscale of the repatriation experience assessment, and a scale of self-change as an outcome of overseas living were highly internally consistent.

Re-entry research and training: Methods and implications☆

Abstract This article reviews the literature on the process of re-entry or “going home” from an overseas sojourn. Its special focus is on student and business returnees, although the experiences of other types of returning sojourners are also examined. Drawing upon the review of the empirical literature base, the author suggests several hypotheses regarding the relationship between the initial overseas adaptation and the subsequent re-entry adaptation. The article also suggests a general content outline for re-entry training programs and workshops. If concludes with an examination of current re-entry training models for student and business repatriates.

The Positivity Bias in Attributions Two Cross-Cultural Investigations

Two experiments examined whether the attributions people made about others from their own or another culture were subject to a positivity bias, and whether these attributions were affected by a positive in-group bias. In Experiment 1, a Japanese sample made attributions to a person from Japan, the United States, or the Third World who was either promoted or demoted. In Experiment 2, a sample from the United States and the Third World made attributions to a person from the United States or the Third World who was either promoted or demoted. The attributions were not subject to a positive in-group bias. However, the attributions made by the Japanese, Americans, and people from the Third World evidenced a positivity bias, although with cultural variation on the measures on which it was obtained.

Body Image and Eating Disorders Among Immigrants

Eating disorders are generally defined in psychiatric terms as a disturbance in the perception of body shape and poor body image, resulting in restrictive or binge eating/purging patterns. Current literature had conceptualized eating disorders as culture-bound syndromes with nearly 7 million Americans and 1.15 million citizens of the UK, predominantly women, suffering from these syndromes. Idealized and normally unattainable body types of extreme thinness appear to be at the core of the syndrome. Although every culture has a normative body type associated with attractiveness, associated eating disorders had been found predominantly in Western countries. As worldwide immigration has reached historical highs with movement patterns from Asian, African, or Latin American countries to Western ones, the question has been raised as to the effects of immigration on women’s body image and risks for eating disorders. This chapter summarizes the extant literature on the effects of immigration and acculturation on body image and eating behavior. The effects are complex with home culture, level of acculturation, and other demographic variables affecting clinical dissatisfaction with one’s body and disordered eating. Methodological problems plague this research area and the inconsistent use of scales and other assessments impede rigorous comparisons or the ability to integrate the literature.

Perception of female and male success in the united states and third world nations

This study tested the proposition that the success of an intelligent female in the third world is attributed more to ability and less to nonability factors than the success of her male counterpart. To this end, subjects from developing nations attributed the success of an American or third world male or female of average or high intelligence to ability, effort, luck, and task ease. Results indicated that subjects attributed the success of the intelligent third world female more to ability and less to luck than the success of the comparable male. In addition, gender differences were found which indicated that under some circumstances the success of the female more than that of the male is attributed to task ease.

Reforming Family Among Remigrants: Hongkongers Come Home

Between 1984 and 1997, nearly that 800,000 Hong Kongers emigrated in advance of the handover of sovereignty from Britain to China. The majority settled in Western countries, primarily Canada and Australia. By 2005, it is estimated that 500,000 had returned to Hong Kong, either as permanent or temporary residents. This chapter explores the psychological experience of the cultural adaptation and re-adaptation of these immigrants, modifications in closely held values, and the profound consequences on self-identity and reforming family life.