Cross-cultural Backgrounds Research Articles

“How We Think, Who We Are, and Who We Want to Be”: Authentic Participatory Action Research for Social Studies

Two high school students interviewed their peers to understand what they perceive to be the benefits and challenges of having cross-cultural backgrounds and shared these findings at an academic conference. Analyzing the qualitative data through the frameworks of Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) and Participatory Action Research (PAR), I demonstrate that while the project was well-aligned with the key characteristics of both frameworks—that students constructed social studies knowledge, learned research and other skills, took a central role in a research project, and presented their findings through elaborated communication—the project could have been more powerful if I had guided the youth to more deeply explore social studies concepts such as bias and stereotypes and more explicitly highlighted justice-oriented goals. Through the above analysis, I provide a case study of what AIW and PAR look like in K-12 social studies education and how they can support social studies learning, teaching, and research. Further, as the AIW and PAR frameworks complement each other, I propose their synthesis as Authentic Participatory Action Research (APAR), which can guide high-quality, justice-oriented social studies instruction and research. APAR can be especially effective when it is offered with focused mentorship and when students leverage existing opportunities/events in their immediate communities to share their research findings with relevant stakeholders. Given that our world and nation are increasingly polarized and fraught with social and political conflicts, high-quality, justice-oriented social studies education can support our diverse children and youth to understand and confront issues of equity, power, and opportunity. This research is a case study of such high-quality, justice-oriented social studies.

Gendered Peer Friendships and Romantic Relationships Among Youth with Cross-cultural Upbringings: Exploring Social Control

Research and political discourse primarily emphasize social control within minority families, overlooking a broader perspective concerning diverse agents and contexts. This study examines how 15 youths with cross-cultural backgrounds experience and navigate social control in relation to gendered friendships and romantic relationships in Norway. We applied a framework by Honkatukia and Keskinen (2017) that proposes a four-dimensional approach to social control. Our findings reveal an interplay of normative social control from parents, informal control from minority communities and peers from the majority community, as well as formal control from the broader majority society. The participants adopt several strategies in navigating social control, including internalizing, conforming, contesting, and resisting control. These findings provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the complex dynamics of ethnic, religious, gendered, age-related, and cultural social control exerted by several agents thereby challenging the predominant culturalist perspective on friendships and romantic relationships among cross-cultural youth.

Research on the Current Status and Optimization Strategies of Chinese Culture Dissemination under Cross-Cultural Backgrounds

To analyze the current status of Chinese culture dissemination under a cross-cultural context, this study targeted African international students from a university, utilizing questionnaire surveys and interviews to investigate the channels through which they acquire knowledge of Chinese culture, their perceptions and identifications towards it. The research delves into the deficiencies in the dissemination of Chinese culture and proposes corresponding optimization strategies. It is found that issues such as teachers' lack of cross-cultural awareness, the monotony of school cultural activities, and low cultural identification among international students hinder the cross-cultural dissemination of Chinese culture. Consequently, optimizations can be made from three aspects: the communicators, communication channels, and communication content, thereby effectively promoting the dissemination of Chinese culture within a cross-cultural context.

A Study on Strategies of Translation Teaching in Colleges and Universities in Cross-Cultural Backgrounds

As the process of economic globalisation accelerates, there are constant cultural conflicts and fusions among countries in communication, so it is necessary to cultivate students' cross-cultural translation ability in translation teaching in colleges and universities. Colleges and universities should adopt an open and inclusive teaching method to improve translation ability, especially in the classroom, paying attention to the actual communication and cultural cultivation among students. This paper aims to cultivate a group of excellent translators who can be recognised in the workplace and can serve the society through cross-cultural translation. Meanwhile, reforming the teaching of translation is also conducive to improving the quality of teaching and the teaching conditions.

Research on the Perception and Dissemination of Tourist Attraction Images in Tourist Cities under Cross-Cultural Backgrounds: Data from International Tourists’ Online Reviews

This paper investigates the perception and dissemination strategies of tourist images in tourist cities from the perspective of international tourists with cross-cultural characteristics, coming from different countries. It selects 13 tourist cities in Jiangsu Province, China, as case studies. By analyzing online review data from international tourists entering the country, the study examines both positive and negative perceptions of tourist attraction images. The results reveal that the language and volume of the reviews reflect the origins and scale of the international tourists, while the content of these reviews indicates their preferences for tourist attractions. A comparative analysis of the review data suggests that there are differences in the perceived images of tourist cities. The conclusions of this study suggest that tourism city managers, tourism business operators, and local residents can make efforts to improve the city’s tourism development. These improvements can be achieved by utilizing international media platforms to disseminate tourism images, enhancing the quality of tourist attraction operations, and strengthening cultural exchanges in tourism.

Exploring cross-cultural and gender differences in facial expressions: a skin tone analysis using RGB Values

Facial expressions serve as crucial indicators of an individual's psychological state, playing a pivotal role in face-to-face communication. This research focuses on advancing collaboration between machines and humans by undertaking a thorough investigation into facial expressions. Specifically, we delve into the analysis of emotional variations related to changes in skin tone across different genders and cultural backgrounds (Black and white). The research methodology is structured across three phases. In Phase I, image data is acquired and meticulously processed from the Chicago face dataset, resulting in 12,402 augmented images across five classes (Normal case, Benign case, Adenocarcinoma, Squamous-cell-carcinoma, Large-cell-carcinoma). Phase II involves the identification of Regions of Interest (ROI) and the extraction of RGB values as features from these ROIs. Various methods, including those proposed by Kovac, Swift, and Saleh, are employed for precise skin identification. The final phase, Phase III, centers on the in-depth analysis of emotions and presents the research findings. Statistical techniques, such as Descriptive statistics, independent sample T-tests for gender and cross-cultural comparisons, and two-way ANOVA, are applied to RED, BLUE, and GREEN pixel values as response variables, with gender and emotions as explanatory variables. The rejection of null hypotheses prompts a Post Hoc test to discern significant pairs of means. The results indicate that both cross-cultural backgrounds and gender significantly influence pixel colors, underscoring the impact of different localities on pixel coloration. Across various expressions, our results exhibit a minimal 0.05% error rate in all classifications. Notably, the study reveals that green pixel color does not exhibit a significant difference between Anger and Neutral emotions, suggesting a near-identical appearance for green pixels in these emotional states. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the intricate relationship between facial expressions, gender, and cultural backgrounds, providing valuable insights for future research in human–machine interaction and emotion recognition.

Self-Reported Perspectives on Cultural Competence Education in Speech-Language Pathology.

Only 8% of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) members identify as members of an underrepresented racial group (ASHA, 2021); hence, little is known of the lived experiences and perspectives of these members. Critical investigation of cultural competence in the clinical education and training of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can illuminate problems and solutions with existing frameworks and provide innovative pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. The researcher's goal was to document the knowledge and lived experiences of SLPs from cross-cultural perspectives to meaningfully critique and evolve practice standards. Using self-reported perspectives in narrative case study approach, four SLPs from cross-cultural backgrounds engaged with the researcher in dialogic interviews. The interview audio recordings were transcribed and coded for themes that reflected the lived experiences and realities of the collaborators. The findings suggest that (a) this group of SLPs had critical and contrary perspectives on instruction and training in cultural competence, (b) their lived experiences through their interpersonal environments largely influence their clinical decision-making, and (c) they learned to navigate cross-cultural perspectives in their graduate education mostly through comparative framings (i.e., language difference vs. language disorder). The data gathered from the self-reported perspectives of SLPs in this study can serve as preliminary reference for future qualitative research on how curriculum and training frameworks may shift to support both underrepresented practitioners of color, the diverse populations SLPs serve and provide guidance for nuanced discussions of systemic factors that can impact research, teaching, and practice in the field.

Different cultures, different images: a comparison between historic conservation area destination image choices of Chinese and Western tourists

ABSTRACT Using three Hangzhou Grand Canal historic conservation areas as the gaze fields, this study delineates differences in the image choices of visitors from cross-cultural backgrounds. Analysis of tourist-generated content, including destination image (DI) dimensions and frequency, suggests that Chinese tourists prefer human attractions and experiencing neighborhood life, while Western tourists prefer natural scenery and participating in tourist activities. The research also spotlights the phenomenon of the ‘tourist gaze circulatory.’ Tourists’ differentiated pursuits and on-site tourism experiences can influence the projection of DI, and the altered DI will in turn affect subsequent tourists. Based on this notion, suggestions are made for the in-depth development of the Canal’s historic conservation areas, differentiated for the different gazes of Chinese and Western tourists; and for a guide to help Western tourists experience Chinese urban life and enrich their gaze objects, with a view to protecting and enhancing world cultural heritage.

A room with a view: a metaphor analysis of Vietnamese women’s representations of living with depression using photo elicitation

Depression is complex and it is known that how people name and give meaning to this experience when they are from cross cultural backgrounds differs to that of dominant Anglo cultures. Yet surprisingly very little is known about the naming and meaning-making conventions particularly for Vietnamese communities. In Anglo cultures, people commonly describe their experiences of depression as ‘travelling through dark tunnels toward a light’; ‘climbing out of a hole’; ‘a black dog’, and the ‘descent of a black cloud’. These metaphoric representations provide us with visual messages and new meanings about the experience of depression and how it impacts individuals. In this article, we describe a study that aimed to examine if a photo elicitation method could provide a group of women from Vietnamese backgrounds with another language set by which to represent their experience of depression in the face-to-face interview context. Women were provided with a digital camera and asked to take a minimum of 10 photos about their everyday experiences of living with depression. Recruitment and face-to-face interviews were completed with an interpreter already known to participants employed at the community health centre. Participants were asked to select five key photos for discussion within the interpreted interview. In the following article, a metaphor analysis is presented to reflect on how the photos enabled further insight into Vietnamese women’s representations of living with depression and examine the application of this participatory visual method for cross cultural research settings.

A study of ethnic perception gap on consumer boycott of Korean and Canadian University students

Purpose In this paper, the authors aim to offer a cross-cultural comparison of the boycott intentions of university students in Canada with those of students in Korea. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from students at Inje University and York University via self-administered questionnaire. A t-test found that Canadian students’ answers showed significantly greater scores in ethnocentrism, boycott attitudes prior to reading the target article and motivations related to self-enhancement compared to those acquired from Korean students. However, the motivation of counterarguments and the boycott intentions of Korean students’ toward Rogers, the parent company of Maclean’s magazine, showed significantly higher scores than those gained from Canadian students. Findings The boycott case used in the study is Maclean’s magazine, a Canadian news magazine, which published a controversial article called, “Too Asian? Some frosh don’t want to study at an “Asian” University”. A noticeable gap in each group of students’ boycott attitude and intentions toward Rogers, the parent company of Maclean’s magazine was found. Originality/value In the multiple regression analysis, the boycott motivation of self-enhancement was the most influential variable on boycott intentions. The boycott case examined in this paper is a practical case study of cross-national grouping as well as the perceptional difference of the locus of corporate accountability that comes from cross-cultural backgrounds.

Cross-Validation of the Spanish HP-Version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Confirmed with Some Cross-Cultural Differences.

Context: Medical educators agree that empathy is essential for physicians' professionalism. The Health Professional Version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE-HP) was developed in response to a need for a psychometrically sound instrument to measure empathy in the context of patient care. Although extensive support for its validity and reliability is available, the authors recognize the necessity to examine psychometrics of the JSE-HP in different socio-cultural contexts to assure the psychometric soundness of this instrument. The first aim of this study was to confirm its psychometric properties in the cross-cultural context of Spain and Latin American countries. The second aim was to measure the influence of social and cultural factors on the development of medical empathy in health practitioners.Methods: The original English version of the JSE-HP was translated into International Spanish using back-translation procedures. The Spanish version of the JSE-HP was administered to 896 physicians from Spain and 13 Latin American countries. Data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis (PCA) with oblique rotation (promax) to allow for correlation among the resulting factors, followed by a second analysis, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Two theoretical models, one based on the English JSE-HP and another on the first Spanish student version of the JSE (JSE-S), were tested. Demographic variables were compared using group comparisons.Results: A total of 715 (80%) surveys were returned fully completed. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the JSE for the entire sample was 0.84. The psychometric properties of the Spanish JSE-HP matched those of the original English JSE-HP. However, the Spanish JSE-S model proved more appropriate than the original English model for the sample in this study. Group comparisons among physicians classified by gender, medical specialties, cultural and cross-cultural backgrounds yielded statistically significant differences (p < 0.001).Conclusions: The findings support the underlying factor structure of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE). The results reveal the importance of culture in the development of medical empathy. The cross-cultural differences described could open gates for further lines of medical education research.

Supporting Identity Development in Cross-Cultural Children and Young People: Resources, Vulnerability, Creativity

Children and young people with cross-cultural backgrounds are significantly influenced by multiple cultures during their upbringing. They face the ambivalence and challenges of regularly dealing with multiple cultural frames of reference, norms and expectations, and often experience particular identity challenges. One might say that much of the ambivalence of modern intercultural societies may show up as internalized ambivalence in these “children of migration”. This article explores cross-cultural identity development. The aim is to further our understanding of how the identities of cross-cultural children and young people can be supported and their resources activated. This can both strengthen their resilience and well- being, and be of great value to society at large. Psychosocial/cultural interventions and creative projects in cross-cultural settings are potential arenas for this type of cultural health promotion. One example is the multicultural music project Fargespill (‘Kaleidoscope’). In a case study of Kaleidoscope, I describe and discuss how these participatory creative activities work, and ask how they may foster the development of constructive cross-cultural identities. Participant observation was conducted in Kaleidoscope throughout a year. In the light of theoretical perspectives from social and cultural psychology, the article analyzes identity issues and possibilities within this empirical context. Supporting cross-cultural identity development in a constructive manner is here operationalized as allowing, increasing and acknowledging identity complexity. The findings are categorized under the headings of resources, vulnerability and creativity. The project leaders make an effort to establish trust and a safe, supportive space. They apply a participatory method, in which the participants are seen as resources and their strengths and contributions are emphasized. In some situations, the vulnerability that may be caused by potentially being stereotyped is apparent, and identity definitions and complexities need to be negotiated. There are explicit expectations concerning creativity in the Kaleidoscope process, and the crossing of different cultural expressions, old and sometimes new, leads to the final creative product of the performance. To summarize, identity complexity is given space to play out, relating to both origins and current participation in culture in construction here in Norwegian society. Thus, at its best, Kaleidoscope sets the stage for a flexible and playful performance of identity. This may be one path towards appreciated and integrated intercultural identities.

Resident Cross-Cultural Training, Satisfaction, and Preparedness

ObjectiveTo describe the diversity of pediatric residents and examine relationships of cross-cultural training experiences with training satisfaction, perceived preparedness for providing culturally effective care, and attitudes surrounding care for underserved populations. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted of a national random sample of graduating pediatric residents and an additional sample of minority residents. Using weighted analysis, we used multivariate regression to test for differences in satisfaction, preparedness, and attitudes between residents with more and less cross-cultural experiences during residency, controlling for residents' characteristics and experiences before training. ResultsThe survey response rate was 57%. Eleven percent were Hispanic, 61% white, 21% Asian, 9% African American, 9% other racial/ethnic groups; 34% grew up in a bi- or multilingual family. Ninety-three percent of residents were satisfied with their residency training, 81% with the instruction they received on health and health care disparities, and 54% on global health issues. Ninety-six percent of residents felt they were prepared to care for patients from diverse backgrounds, but fewer felt prepared to care for families with beliefs at odds with Western medicine (49%) and families who receive alternative or complementary care (37%). Residents with more cross-cultural experiences during residency reported being better prepared than those with less experience to care for families with limited English proficiency (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40–3.17), new immigrants (aOR 1.91; 95% CI 1.32–2.75), and with religious beliefs that might affect clinical care (aOR 1.62; 95% CI 1.13–2.32). ConclusionsPediatric residents begin their training with diverse cross-cultural backgrounds and experiences. Residency experiences in cross-cultural care contribute to feelings of preparedness to care for diverse US children.

Lessons from a cross-cultural online learning community

This article seeks to explore the practical, cultural and educational effects of information and communication technology support and the computer mediated communication of doctoral candidates from cross-cultural backgrounds in an asynchronous online learning environment. The history of educational development is replete with technology-based projects that failed because of high operating costs, problems of adaptation to local conditions, lack of skilled personnel to operate the technologies, and lack of effectiveness. The challenge has been how to facilitate learning contexts that are productive for the individual learner. This investigation provided insights for the managers of the Norwegian Council for Higher Education's Programme for Development Research and Education (NUFU) Productive Learning Culture project on the challenges of such a project. Four lessons from this research emerged on cross-cultural learning communities, and have bearing on technology, project management, online learning communities, and cross-cultural issues.

Chinese paternalistic leadership and non-Chinese subordinates' psychological health

Past research on Chinese leadership, a style which is different from that practiced in the West, has demonstrated that paternalistic leadership within Chinese society is significantly related to employees' psychological health. This research contributes to the literature by providing results from the interaction between Chinese and non-Chinese society and examining the moderating role played by the cultural value of uncertainty avoidance (UA). Based on the bottom-up model of the subjective well-being theory, this study aims to disclose the relationship between Chinese leadership behavior and its effects on the psychological health of non-Chinese subordinates from cross-cultural and multi-national backgrounds. Results from the study sample of 160 non-Chinese subordinates from 31 overseas branches of the selected, large, Chinese multinational enterprise (MNE), showed that the moral and authoritarian styles of the Chinese paternalistic leadership contributed negatively to psychological health in the workplace, a different pattern of results from studies completed with Chinese subordinates in previous research. In addition, it also showed that UA partly moderated this unique leader-follower relationship. Specifically, when non-Chinese followers had a higher UA value orientation, the negative effects of their superior's moral style on their psychological health was weakened.

Community psychological support for children of cross-cultural backgrounds: Implications from the interviews of volunteer supporters

Community psychological support for children of cross-cultural backgrounds: Implications from the interviews of volunteer supporters

Parental expectation of early childhood education: comparison between China, Japan, and Korea

This study investigates 727 parents from China, Japan, and Korea by a self-devised scale and compares the differences in their expectation of early childhood education in cross-cultural backgrounds. The result shows that parents from the three countries have a positive attitude toward their children's development. The main effect of nations on such factors as individual development, close attention to diet, willpower training, moral judgment, and emotional exchange with adults is significant, while the two-way interaction between nations and child gender, nations and child age, and the three-way interaction between nations, child gender, and child age are not significant.

The Development of Emotional Competency through the use of Aboriginal Literature

The Emotional Competency Through the Use of Aboriginal Literature Project explored the development of emotional competency with students from cross-cultural backgrounds. The project focused on developing teachers’ abilities to plan and create learning opportunities for students to engage with the emotions of characters in Aboriginal literature as a means of developing their own emotional skills. In addition, the project created an understanding of how emotions are developed into values and enhanced respect for the diverse value systems represented by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students in the classroom as an aspect of emotional competency. The teachers attended a one-day workshop on emotional competency with an introduction to Aboriginal literature. Teachers were provided with an emotional competency curriculum development guide to help them apply the principles of emotional development to their lesson plans. In addition, they were provided with an introduction to the methods by which literature informs identity. This article will focus on the initial findings of the project. We will examine the implementation of the six principles of emotional competency into classroom practice. The article examines the difficulties and successes of using Aboriginal literature to develop emotional competency and explores the effect the project had on the emotional and identity development of those involved in the project.