Cross-cultural Comparative Studies Research Articles

A review of multicultural communication dynamics in the U.S.: Highlighting challenges and successful strategies in a diverse society

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of multicultural communication dynamics in the United States, focusing on the challenges and strategies pertinent to diverse societal contexts. The main objectives were to explore theoretical frameworks, historical evolution, and current trends in multicultural communication, alongside identifying key challenges and effective strategies. The methodology encompassed a systematic review of literature, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and reports, with a focus on themes of anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and social justice in multicultural communication. Content and thematic analysis was employed to assess publication productivity and identify major themes. Key findings revealed the significance of various theoretical frameworks in understanding multicultural dynamics, with a historical shift from monolithic to inclusive communication approaches. Major challenges identified include language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and differing communication styles. Effective strategies highlighted include cultural sensitivity training, inclusive policies, and leveraging technology. The study also underscored the role of policy and regulation in shaping multicultural communication practices. The study emphasizes the complexity of multicultural communication in the U.S., suggesting practical recommendations for enhancing communication in diverse environments. These include implementing cultural competency training, adopting inclusive communication policies, and leveraging technology for barrier reduction. Future research directions proposed focus on longitudinal studies of communication strategies, the impact of emerging technologies, and cross-cultural comparative studies. This comprehensive analysis aims to contribute to a more inclusive and understanding society through improved multicultural communication practices.

SELECTED ENGLISH IDIOMS AND SIMILES WITH FARM ANIMAL ZOONYMS AS THE SOURCE DOMAIN AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN SERBIAN

This paper presents an exploration of figurative comparison expressions featuring farm animal zoonyms in the English language and their possible equivalents in Serbian. Farm animal idioms are integral to linguistic discourse, contributing to the richness and diversity of language use. Their complexity often necessitates a deep understanding of cultural and contextual factors for their accurate interpretation, highlighting the potential for cross-cultural comparative studies to enrich our understanding of idiomatic expressions. These expressions transcend mere linguistic curiosities and play a vital role in meaning construction and imagery formation within discourse.
 The paper provides an overview of expressions divided into five categories according to the type of farm animal used as the source domain: bovines (cows and their male counterparts, bulls and oxen), equi (horses and mules), pigs, sheep and poultry, and attempts to assign an equivalent phrase in Serbian, comparing the usage between the two languages, in order to shed some light on the intricate interplay between language, culture, and cognition in the realm of idiomatic figurative expressions involving farm animals.

Cross-cultural Study of Teacher Passivity through the Lens of Educational Transactional Analysis

This article was previously published in the European Research Studies Journal, Volume XXIV, Issue 3B, 72-95, 2021, and we acknowledge with thanks the permission given by that journal to reproduce it here due to its TA content.
 Like IJTARP, the ESJR is a refereed open access publication. It covers a wide variety of topics in the fields of business and economics, and can be accessed at www.ersj.eu.
 We have used minimal editing, which has included formatting and English spelling.
 Purpose: The purpose of the article is to present the research results based on the concept of passivity in accordance with the assumptions of transactional analysis – one of the psychotherapeutic modalities in the humanistic school of thought. Passivity is defined as behaviors that block constructive and solution-oriented actions.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: The main research methods included diagnostic surveys and questionnaire techniques. The study used the “Reality of an Educator” questionnaire by Anna Pierzchała (2013). 441 respondents provided their answers from Guatemala, Poland, the UK and Ukraine. The differences were identified using the Kruskal–Wallis test, the equivalent of a one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) that is commonly used for independent samples.
 Findings: The comparative cross-cultural research on teacher passive behaviours indicated significant educational differences between countries. The lowest levels of passivity were reported in Guatemala [1] and the highest in Ukraine. The Hofstede Model of Cultural Dimensions enabled the authors to outline some generic tendencies concerning passive behaviours in the countries studied. Individually reported levels of passivity were bridged with cultural determinants resulting from teachers’ social functioning.
 Practical Implications: The study offers some guidelines for tackling teacher passivity and identifies strategies of enhancing problem-solving skills. The most common passive behaviour across all countries was overadaptation, which underlined the importance of developing teachers’ awareness of interpersonal phenomena from the point of view of transactional analysis.
 Originality/Value: The research presented has not been carried out before and at this stage has an exploratory character, indicating certain inter-culturally declared patterns and at the same time determining areas for further investigation. Transactional analysis appears to be a useful theoretical construct in the design of cross-cultural comparative studies.

Attachment and Emotion Regulation: A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of Iranian and Dutch Gay Men

ABSTRACT Negative beliefs and stigmatization of all that is not heterosexual still have an adverse impact on the mental health of the homosexual population in many countries. The purpose of the present study was to comparatively assess how sociocultural differences regarding the level of homosexuality acceptance impact the adult attachment dimensions and emotion regulation strategies among three groups of Iranian and Dutch gay men. A community sample of 124 gay men (40 of Iranians residing in their home country, 41 of Iranians immigrated to the Netherlands and 43 Dutch) participated in the study and completed Revised Adult Attachment Scale (RAAS) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). MANOVA and follow-up post-hoc Tukey tests were conducted in order to analyze the data. Results demonstrated a noticeable difference in both studied variables, attachment dimensions (close, anxiety, and depend) and emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), among the three groups of participants. As the Iranian (residing in Iran) group showed the greatest levels of anxiety and emotional suppression with the lowest levels of close (convenience of getting intimate to others), depend (trust and depend on others to be availabale when needed) and cognitive reappraisal (ability to alter the emotion caused by an event, before experiencing it by reinterpreting the situation), while the highest levels of depend, close and cognitive reappraisal and the lowest levels of anxiety and emotional suppression were seen in the Dutch group. Finally, Iranian gay immigrants came half way between. This data highlights the role of cultural differences in terms of homosexuality acceptance or stigmatization, in the way gay men exhibit their attachment and manage their emotions either by reappraisal or suppression. Comparative cross-cultural studies are possibly able to open paths to new research on psychological factors of non-heterosexuals in different countries with various cultures and religions.

A Pragma- Stylistic Analysis of Formal Congratulatory Letters in English and Arabic

Politeness strategies are of significant importance to maintain the face of the addressee. Senders of formal congratulatory letters seek to create a positive image in the minds of their addresses by performing particular illocutionary acts and face-saving acts (FSAs) in the form of written texts. To the best knowledge of the researcher, this topic received little attention from linguistic researchers, especially on the pragma-stylistic level. The importance of this study arises from the fact that congratulatory formal letters are an effective tool in the successful performance of foreign relations and thus deserve investigation. The current study investigates the pragma-stylistic aspects of illocutionary acts and FSA Politeness Strategies in some selected English and Arabic formal congratulatory letters written by English and Arabic officials. Findings reveal that assertive constitutes the highest frequency in English data, while expressive occurs more in Arabic. Besides, the FSA politeness strategy (Use appropriate forms of address) includes most of the total frequency in both English and Arabic data, which still it appeared more in English. Additionally, (Exaggerate interest, sympathy with H) comes next in Arabic, while (Be optimistic) appeared more in English. In addition, results show that exaggeration (Hyperbole) is the prevalent stylistic device used in Arabic. Arabic officials usually exaggerate the glorification of people in authoritative positions, while English high officials tend to be more moderate. The findings will be helpful in cross-cultural comparative studies and other related fields.

Cross-cultural Study of Teacher Passivity through the Lens of Educational Transactional Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to present the research results based on the concept of passivity in accordance with the assumptions of transactional analysis – one of the psychotherapeutic modalities in the humanistic school of thought. Passivity is defined as behaviors that block constructive and solution-oriented actions. Design/Methodology/Approach: The main research methods included diagnostic surveys and questionnaire techniques. The study used the “Reality of an Educator” questionnaire by Anna Pierzchala (2013). 441 respondents provided their answers from the four countries mentioned above. The differences were identified using the Kruskal–Wallis test, the equivalent of a one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) that is commonly used for independent samples. Findings: The comparative cross-cultural research on teacher passive behaviours indicated significant educational differences between countries. The lowest levels of passivity were reported in Guatemala [1] and the highest in Ukraine. The Hofstede Model of Cultural Dimensions enabled to outline some generic tendencies concerning passive behaviours in the countries studied. Individually reported levels of passivity were bridged with cultural determinants resulting from teachers’ social functioning. Practical Implications: The study offers some guidelines for tackling teacher passivity and identifies strategies of enhancing problem-solving skills. The most common passive behaviour across all countries was overadaptation, which underlined the importance of developing teachers’ awareness of interpersonal phenomena from the point of view of transactional analysis. Originality/Value: The research presented has not been carried out before and at this stage has an exploratory character, indicating certain interculturally declared patterns and at the same time determining areas for further investigation. Transactional analysis appears to be a useful theoretical construct in the design of cross-cultural comparative studies.

Epistemic diversity and cross-cultural comparative research: ontology, challenges, and outcomes

ABSTRACT This paper reflects on the transpositional comparison in Marginson and Yang’s article in this special issue, with a focused discussion on epistemic diversity and cross-cultural comparative research. It argues that in global research, epistemic diversity largely co-exists with epistemic inequity and injustice, despite long-standing normative appeals. Against this backdrop, cross-cultural comparative studies have significant value, albeit facing a range of challenges. There are five outcomes of cross-cultural encounters: assimilation, immiscibility, and being different together (including unity in diversity, harmony with diversity, and together with diversity). Although East–West encounters demonstrated all possible outcomes, being different together is both possible and valuable, not only for East–West encounters but also for cross-civilisational comparisons.

A Systematic Review on Cross-Cultural Comparative Studies of Sleep in Young Populations: The Roles of Cultural Factors.

Recent studies have shown that sleep is influenced and shaped by cultural factors, including cultural values, beliefs and practices. However, a systematic understanding of how cultural factors in countries may influence sleep duration and sleep disturbances is still lacking. Therefore, we focused on a comparison of sleep duration and disturbances in young populations between countries. We report cross-cultural differences between the child, parent and environmental factors, and their association with sleep duration and disturbances. The review is based on literature searches of seven databases published until December 2020. Studies were included if they investigated sleep duration and disturbances of individuals up to 18 years across at least two or more countries. The results of this review have shown that sleep duration and disturbances vary between countries and regions and certain factors (e.g., bedtime routines, sleeping arrangement, physical activity and psychological functioning) have been associated with sleep duration or disturbances. This review also demonstrates that certain factors which were associated with sleep duration or disturbances in one country, were not shown in other countries, suggesting a need for recommendations for age-related sleep duration and sleep interventions to consider cultural differences that influence sleep duration or disturbances in individual countries or regions.

Social Trust, Trust Differential, and Radius of Trust on Volunteering: Evidence from the Hong Kong Chinese

The promotion and development of sustainable volunteerism is crucial for quality social services. Previous studies on the relationship between social trust and volunteering is mixed and inclusive. This article aims to investigate the effects of the particularized trust, generalized trust, trust differential (i.e., difference in levels between particularized and generalized trust) and radius of trust (i.e., difference in levels between in-group trust and out-group trust), on volunteering. By interviewing 1,170 Hong Kong Chinese in a territory-wide randomized household survey, this article reveals that generalized trust facilitates volunteering, whereas particularized trust exhibits an inverse effect. The radius of trust could not facilitate voluntary participation. This article distinguishes between the reverse contributions of generalized and particularized trust among Hong Kong Chinese, thereby providing a clear and precise explanation for social trust-volunteering relationships. Future research should focus on the conceptualization and operationalization of radius of trust and cross-cultural comparative studies on the effects of particularized and generalized trust using longitudinal data.

Factors Influencing Consumers’ Decision to Purchase Food in Environmentally Friendly Packaging: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go from Here?

While many food producers invest in adopting sustainable and/or environmentally friendly packaging for regular foods, such as milk or juice, it remains unclear why consumers choose to buy regular food in such packaging, especially when it is more expensive and other alternatives are available. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic literature review of all studies on the predictors of consumer food purchasing in environmentally friendly packaging published in the period 1994–2019. The guiding research question of this study is: Which factors influence the consumers’ decision to purchase food in environmentally friendly packaging? To review the extant research on the factors influencing consumers’ decision to purchase food in environmentally friendly packaging, we employed a systematic literature review methodology. The review revealed that, although the extant research is growing, it is very limited in terms of the theories utilized to explain consumer purchasing behavior and in the range of the tested predictors of consumers’ purchasing of foods in environmentally friendly packaging. Among the existing explanations are demographics, consumer attitudes, knowledge about the environmental effects of packaging, visual designs, functionality, cross-cultural differences, and affordability. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the implications of this systematic literature review for future research and practice. Among the leading recommendations are: (a) to go beyond Ajzen’s theoretical explanations of consumer purchasing behaviors; (b) to examine a broader set of predictors; (c) to draw on more interconnected complex models that include both internal and external factors; (d) to conduct cross-cultural comparative studies; (e) to address the gap between attitudes and behaviors; and (f) to consider the role of organizations and government in the transition to more sustainable consumer purchasing behavior, rather than only searching for individual predictors of behaviors.

Connecting research and knowledge on educational leadership in the West and Asia: adopting a cross-cultural comparative perspective

ABSTRACTThe field of educational leadership has yet to develop a coherent knowledge base that reflects the global diversity of policies and practices. This disconnect – for example between Asian and Western research, presents a major challenge, curtailing authentic knowledge production and transfer. Accordingly, a major objective for the field is the creation of a cross-culturally valid knowledge base with global relevance. This conceptual paper addresses the phenomenon of global knowledge construction in educational leadership and the challenges of achieving coherence and connectivity between bodies of research from diverse politico-socio-cultural settings. In achieving greater connectivity between Asian and Western educational leadership research, a cross-cultural comparative approach is advocated. A comparatively informed universal knowledge base would highlight current ethnocentricity characterizing the field, and the socio-cultural embeddedness of educational leadership. While acknowledging the benefits and challenges of such an approach, the paper advocates four types of cultural and cross-cultural comparative studies, namely, meta studies of large data sets, socio-educational studies placing leadership in a social milieu context; system reform studies based on initiatives to improve education systems; and indigenous studies of educational leadership reflecting the uniqueness of societal cultures. Finally, the paper suggests more robust research methods for achieving authentic cross-cultural connectivity across knowledge bases to secure authentic knowledge production and transfer.

Adaptation of the Couples Satisfaction Index into Russian

The commonly used double translation method fails to provide evidence for cross-cultural equivalence of instruments used in multicultural research thus increasing measurement error-variance. This study exemplified the rigorous acculturation steps needed to negate this cross-cultural error-variance by verifying cultural appropriateness and psychometric equivalence between the instruments. Through application of a cutting-edge adaptation methodology, we created a Russian version of the 16-item Couple Satisfaction Index (CSI; Funk and Rogge in J Fam Psychol 21:572–583, 2007) that is semantically, idiomatically, experientially, conceptually, and linguistically equivalent to the original scale. Next, using the data from 406 Russian-speaking respondents, we employed parallel and exploratory factor analyses to explore the factorial structure of the adapted version subsequently named CSI-16(Russian). Internal reliability and convergent validity with another measure used frequently in Russian scholarship were high. Additionally, results suggested that couples’ satisfaction—when assessed as a unidimensional phenomenon—is similar across the two cultures in spite of linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic differences between the cultures. The CSI-16(Russian) can be used in comparative cross-cultural studies with sufficient assurance of high convergent linguistic reliability and psychometric similarity with the original CSI scale.

Психологические предпосылки в детско-юношеском возрасте для интеркультурного воспитания и образования в поликультурной среде

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical studies by a number of authors and presents the outcomes of our own long-term cross-cultural comparative studies of children and adolescents, their parents and teachers, representatives of various ethnic and cultural groups. Among many alarming trends that can be observed in present-day Bulgaria, one of the most disturbing is emigration. Statistics show that since the 1990s around two million Bulgarian citizens left their homeland, and that 56 % of those emigrants were aged 20–39 years, in the prime of their employment and reproductive age. A number of psychological questionnaires enabled the researchers to establish the emigrants’ views and attitudes to the educational environment, their relationships and subjective evaluation of their own well-being, which allowed the authors to make a number of conclusions. The authors state that it is necessary to seek consensus between the various philosophical and methodological views of liberalism, conservatism, multiculturalism, etc. in socio-educational practices. The practices should have a systemic character and common goals based on real psychological prerequisites for the education of children and youngsters living in a multicultural environment. The authors suggest that it is necessary to apply the “spiral” principle to the construction of the educational content in both school subjects and schooling years; to involve and encourage pupils to actively apply their cultural knowledge in order to form and further enhance their abilities for intercultural interaction and cooperation; to teach teenagers and youngsters mutual respect, critical, objective, and independent thinking, and acceptance of ethno-cultural diversity as a personal and social value and as a responsibility. And it is vital that all these are supported by personal involvement of all who are involved in the system: teachers and students, parents and other relatives. Students should understand that all cultures are equally interesting and valuable despite their differences, so that they can accept the cultural and ethnic diversity around them as something objective, natural and beneficial for all.

Developments in Information Technology and the Sexual Depression of Japanese Youth since 2000

In Japan more young people became sexually inactive in 2000s, especially since around 2005.On the other hand, Internet and digital technology were spread in the same period. In this paper, five phases of Internet and digital technology are investigated to realize what happened to the sexuality of Japanese youth associated with the technology: e-mail and SNS, online pornography, fantasy world of Otaku leisure, dating sites and applications, sexual service industry. Online pornography of extreme contents and strong stimuli with completely male-centered vision overflew in the 2000s. With the influence, both men and women have got difficulties in having real sex. Animations and games to satisfy the romantic needs and libidos of the youth gained popularity in 2000s,to overwhelm real romance and sex. In the last part, the need of cross-cultural comparative studies on technology and sexuality is insisted.

TRANSFORMATION OF CONSULTING VALUABLE ORIENTATIONS OF MODERN UKRAINIAN STUDENT

The article deals with the problem of the dynamics of the manifestation of value orientations of modern Ukrainian students, the patterns of their occurrence and factors influencing their formation in the context of philosophical, sociological, ethical and cultural dimensions and cross-cultural comparative studies. The article focuses on the problem of the existence of modern youth, the formation of new ideological and humanistic values, and the search for basic principles of world attitude in the conditions of transformational changes in society as a whole. The process of integrative and social development of modern youth, which is accompanied the changes of hierarchical correlations of values and appearance of new, and also socially psychological features which show up on the different levels of valued-normative sphere of personality in a socio-cultural context under act of gender-age factors, is analysed. It is rotined that principles of organization, logician of functioning and processes which generate the individual and superindividual systems of values at all of likeness of common concepts have different nature and require different interpretations accordingly. Development of method of practical research of the individual and / either superindividual systems of values requires the constructions of operational determination of key categories which are utillized in research. From the functional point of view instrumental values activate as criteria, as standards of estimation during a choice only to modus (to the method) of conduct or actions, and a terminal is utillized an individual during the estimation of both aims of activity and possible methods of their achievement.

Analyzing the Intercultural and Multilingual University Space: Methodological Foundations

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Cross-cultural application of a practice-oriented acquiescence measure

PurposeExtant research shows that acquiescence response style (ARS) is culture-bound and may bias the results of comparative cross-cultural studies. Conventional measures of ARS are difficult to apply in practice. To overcome this limitation, the purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative, practice-oriented measure, namely, pARS. The authors apply Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (Hofstede et al., 2010) to test whether pARS is culture-bound. The cross-cultural study provides a high level of cross-cultural generalisability due to the extensive number of surveyed countries (n=30) and subjects (n=236.089). The authors run multi-level analysis to identify within- and between-country-level predictors.Design/methodology/approachOn the individual level, the authors use data of a large-scale cross-cultural study, including 236.089 consumers from 30 countries worldwide. The authors apply several methods to test for the culture-boundness of pARS. First, they apply correlation analysis to replicate existing cross-cultural results and to ensure nomological validity. Second, applying ordinary least square regression, the authors simultaneously test the six Hofstede cultural dimensions (Hofstede et al., 2010) and investigate interactions between the dimensions. Finally, they use multi-level analysis to confirm the stability of culture-bound results, controlling for individual- and country-level variability.FindingsThe paper introduces an alternative measure for acquiescence (pARS), which is particularly suitable for shorter questionnaires. A large-scale consumer study with 236.089 respondents in 30 countries supports the culture-bound validity of pARS. The authors confirm construct validity and the nomological network of pARS. Contrasting existing studies, multi-level analysis demonstrates that a high level of power distance majorly leads to ARS. Therefore, cross-cultural researchers need to control for ARS in countries high in power distance, especially when paired with high uncertainty avoidance.Originality/valueA large-scale consumer study with 236.089 respondents from 30 countries shows that respondents from various countries differ significantly in their level of acquiescence. The study confirms that power distance is the most relevant cultural dimension to explain these differences. Although ARS may bias the results of comparative cross-cultural studies, it is rarely controlled by market research studies outside the academic realm. The present work proposes and establishes the validity of a practice-oriented measure of acquiescence, namely, pARS. pARS is particularly suitable for shorter questionnaires. In contrast to prior approaches, applying pARS does not require adding non-substantive items to the questionnaire.

A Comparative Study of Attitudes Toward Same-Gender Parenting and Gay and Lesbian Rights in Portugal and in Mexico

ABSTRACTThe belief that gay men and lesbians are unable to provide a stable environment in which to raise children fuels manifestations of sexual prejudice that are still highly prevalent in Portugal and Mexico. The aim of this study was to assess attitudes toward same-gender parenting and gay and lesbian rights, as well as beliefs about the controllability of homosexuality among a sample of 531 university students. A further aim was to assess the predictors of attitudes toward same-gender parenting. Results revealed the existence of ambivalent attitudes toward same-gender parenting. The belief that homosexuality is a choice and thus controllable in particular explained over 50% of the total variance of attitudes toward same-gender parenting. Being a man, older, and highly religious predicted higher levels of sexual prejudice regarding same-gender parenting. Comparative cross-cultural studies have the potential to highlight common features but also specificities of sexual prejudice.

Сравнительные количественные исследования национальной идентичности в современной социальной психологии

The article presents a review of quantitative comparative cross-cultural studies on national identity conducted by psychologists during the last two decades. It considers the relation of theoretical and methodological grounds of these studies with the general agenda of the contemporary social psychology, interdisciplinary studies on nations and nationalism, and empirical resources of cross-national surveys. The relevant publications demonstrate the prevalence of descriptive approach in psychological studies, while sociology and political science mostly use the explanatory research approach on factors affecting the national identity. Nevertheless, the explanatory research results reveal the underestimated cross-cultural variability of correlations between national identity components and the correspondence of these components to essentially different cognitive mechanisms. To fulfil the potential of their discipline, cross-cultural psychologists studying national identity should explore relations of national identity with basic values and attitudes with paying a special attention to cross-level interaction effects and social dynamics.

CROSS CULTURAL INTERVIEWING IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION RESEARCH-A MEANS TO GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING

Most of the conflicts, be it at local or international level, thrive on ignorance. The root cause of these disputes could be traced down to the belief of superiority of one over the other. It is through education that one can develop global understanding by getting to know of cultures other than ours. And for this, ‘if education is to contribute to the full realization of the individual, teachers and other educators remain key actors’ (UNESCO,2015, p.54). Cross cultural comparative studies can be one route towards developing our own capacities as educators entrusted with the task of illuminating young minds in our classrooms. The present paper aims to illustrate the role of cross cultural interviewing in comparative education research toward enhancing global understanding. It will demonstrate how a meaningful partnership between interviewer and interviewee in cross national and cross-cultural research in the field of teacher education enabled not only a comparative study of pre-service teacher education in an Indian and a Chinese university but led towards achievement of the one of the goals of education; ’developing an understanding of others and their history, traditions and spiritual values (UNESCO, 1996, p. 18).