Acculturation and adjustment as a function of perceived and objective value congruence.

Abstract

Culture fit has been studied in numerous ways conceptually and methodologically, yielding conflicting results. This study explored it in terms of perceived and objective value congruence in relation to both acculturation and socio-cultural adjustment among 187 international students (or internationals, compared to 138 domestic students or locals) in the USA. First, for 9 out of 10 values, internationals' perceptions of U.S. values significantly differed from locals' actual values. Second, locals perceived greater stimulation and self-direction value congruence (i.e., when personal values are consistent with respondents' perceptions of U.S. values), but weaker benevolence, power, and universalism value congruence than internationals. Third, marginalised and/or separated internationals perceived incongruence on benevolence and/or tradition values. Moreover, objective value incongruence (i.e., when personal values are inconsistent with U.S. respondents' actual reported values) on power, tradition, conformity, and security values related with marginalisation. Finally, for internationals, perceived value congruence related to socio-cultural adjustment, and the correlations are opposite from expectations for locals' perceived value congruence.