“Cultural fit”: A new perspective on personality and sojourner adjustment

Abstract

One hundred and thirty-nine Americans resident in Singapore participated in the research which investigated the influence of “cultural fit” on sojourner adjustment. Subjects completed questionnaires including measurements of extraversion, psychological adjustment (depression) and sociocultural adaptation (social difficulty). To assess “cultural fit” discrepancy scores were calculated on the absolute differences between subjects' extraversion scores and host culture norms. Correlational analyses indicated that extraversion per se was unrelated to either psychological or sociocultural adjustment; however, as predicted, larger discrepancies in extraversion between subjects and members of the host culture were associated with higher levels of depression ( p < .01). Discrepancy scores were also analyzed in conjunction with a median split, dividing subjects into low and high discrepancy groups. T-tests further confirmed that the large discrepancy group experienced more symptoms of depression ( p < .01). There were no significant differences, however, in the amount of social difficulties experienced by low and high discrepancy groups.