Cultural competences of international students: Its role on successful sociocultural and psychological adaptation

CASTRO SOLANO ALEJANDRO, ARISTEGUI, INÉS

Positive Psychology in Latin American Countries

Springer

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2014; p. 89 - 110

The main goal of this chapter is to assess cultural competence (CC) of expatriate leaders and international students. CC are skills that people display when facing cultural diversity. CC predicts job performance and academic achievement of those who have to interact in different contexts other than their own (e.g., expatriate leaders, military personnel, diplomats and international students). The first segment of this chapter outlines the design of instruments for the assessment of cultural constructs and the main results obtained in Latin American international students and Argentine leaders in global assignments (e.g., a test of cultural sensitivity; a cultural personality inventory; an instrument to assess cultural climate in organizations). These studies show that the greater use of CC at any of its forms (cultural sensitivity, personality, strategies that promotes integration, etc) the better sociocultural and psychological adaptation. The second segment introduces the role of acculturative strategies of Latin American international students in Argentina in order to predict psychological adjustment (life satisfaction) and sociocultural adaptation. The third segment verifies the predictors of psychological adjustment, sociocultural adaptation and academic achievement of Latin American international students. Sociodemografic variables (sex, age and time of residence in host country); cultural variables (cultural distance, contact, intercultural anxiety and perceived discrimination) and psychological variables (social support, life satisfaction and symptoms) were included as predictors. Results demonstrate the importance of cultural variables in positive adaption to culture