The effects of acculturation on commitment to the parent company and the foreign operation

Abstract

This study investigates the effect which the psychological acculturation of American expatriates in Korea has on their commitment to the foreign operation and the parent company, based on the premise that the attitudinal and behavioral dimensions of acculturation are distinct [J. Berry (1990) Psychology of Acculturation. In Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Proceedings of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1989, ed. J. Berman, pp. 201–234; G. E. Gao and W. B. Gudykunst (1990) Uncertainty, anxiety, and adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14, 301–317], and that expatriates' adaptation to the host culture influences commitment [H.B. Gregersen and J. Black (1992) Antecedents to commitment to a parent company and a foreign operation. Academy of Management Journal, 35, 65–90]. The effects of cultural attachment and social interaction with host nationals on the commitment to the foreign operation and to the parent company were decomposed into their direct and indirect associations through path analysis. It was found that commitment to the foreign operation was directly and positively related to both cultural attachment and social interaction, while commitment to the parent company was only indirectly (and positively) related to cultural attachment and social interaction.