Cross-cultural Motivation Research Articles

Climber, mediator, and marathoner: narrative inquiry of career motivation changes of pre-service CSL teachers throughout teaching practicum.

The growing global demand for foreign language learning contrasts sharply with the shortage of second language teachers. In Chinese as a second language (CSL) education, although the number of pre-service CSL teachers is increasing, few continue in the profession after completing their teacher education courses. To investigate the reasons behind this trend, this longitudinal narrative inquiry examined the career motivations of three participants during their teaching practicum. The study focused on identifying key narrative clues based on metaphors emerging from their narratives. The research found that the participants' career motivations were influenced by their teaching practice and experienced various dynamic changes. Key motivational factors included self-efficacy and intrinsic self-fulfillment, with a notable influence from the unique cross-cultural motivation associated with second language teaching. The study underscores the significant role of narratives and metaphors in understanding changes in teacher career motivations. It suggests that enhancing self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, alongside recognizing cross-cultural motivations, could be crucial in addressing the retention issues among pre-service CSL teachers.

Evaluation of cross-cultural competence among German health care professionals: A quasi-experimental study of training in two hospitals

Sociocultural diversity in the German health care system is increasingly reflected in multicultural teams and the diversity of patients. To ensure successful collaboration in a multicultural environment and effective care to diverse patients the importance of cross-cultural competence training is growing. There is a lack of evidence-based training approaches for the German health care system, and it is unclear how the theoretical-conceptual promotion of cross-cultural competence can be achieved sustainably. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of cross-cultural competence training for German health care professionals. A quasi-experimental evaluation study in two German hospitals was conducted. Cross-cultural competence was examined in an intervention and a control group (n = 196) using the self-reported instrument Cross-Cultural Competence of Healthcare Professionals (CCCHP) and analyzed with SPSS Statistics 25. Cross-cultural training had a cognitive level impact on knowledge, awareness, and attitudes and showed a highly significant reduction in social desirability. On an affective level, cross-cultural motivation and curiosity initially increased at t1 and decreased at t2. Cross-cultural emotion and empathy increased slightly. On a behavioral level, cross-cultural skills decreased after the training. For sustainable effects, cross-cultural training should focus more on practical skills in addition to theoretical content. Training interventions should be long-term. The results show that more needs to be done in the German health care sector to meet the increasing diversity and demands.

Применение теории интегративной коммуникации в исследовании межкультурной адаптации и удовлетворенности иностранных студентов

Emotional stability and sense of coherence are both predictors of global quality of life, general life perception, psychological and physiological functioning. However, previous studies found these two concepts to overlap and called researchers to find more well-defined borders and study these two concepts. In the present study, I tried to address this issue using a mixed-method approach. I pretested the conceptual framework through the interviews conducted with 21 international students. I then measured the variables via a quantitative survey. Emotional stability and sense of coherence both enhancing cross-cultural adjustment processes and influencing assignment satisfaction. Later on, I analysed the direct effects, the mediating effect of cross-cultural adjustment and the role of cross-cultural motivation. Firstly, present levels of assignment satisfaction rather depend on personality traits than the time spent abroad, probably due to the stress-adaptation-growth dynamics. Secondly, the extent to which students feel satisfied with their cross-cultural adjustment in general affected their thoughts about assignments. Thirdly, the satisfaction-wise benefit of having high motivation to fit in a new culture was bigger in students who had higher sense of coherence, and lower in those with lower levels of it.

Influence of Social Distancing Behavior and Cross-Cultural Motivation on Consumers’ Attitude to Using M-Payment Services

With the sustainable economy and the development of innovative technology, China is anticipated to have a large number of mobile payment (m-payment) users due to cultural influences and population size. This payment culture leads to a significant motivation to adopt m-payment services, which can stimulate new users from other groups. The role of cultural motivation is the most important factor in the m-payment context. This paper empirically examines the impact of cross-cultural motivation in the context of the practicing of social distancing behavior due to COVID-19 and the mobile payment (m-payment) context. We develop a conceptual model to validate user intention to use mobile payment systems during the COVID-19 crisis. Data were surveyed from 409 international students in China, and the model is validated using the AMOS structural equation modeling approach. Similar to the results of previous studies based on the adoption of mobile payment, this study also confirms the hypothesis testing. The key and robust result is that, due to cultural motivation and social distancing behavior, international students respond swiftly to the use of mobile payment services during COVID-19. Subsequently, perceived usefulness and awareness influence behavior intention to use mobile payment services. The findings of this study suggest that motivational characteristics, including the awareness of efficiency and the social distancing behavior due to COVID-19, play an important role in the adoption of mobile payment. As a result, the empirical results of this research provide useful information to stakeholders so that they can enhance m-payment services strategies and implement these successfully by considering various factors.

Mixed Method Study of International Students’ Cross-Cultural Adjustment and Assignment Satisfaction

Emotional stability and sense of coherence are both predictors of global quality of life, general life perception, psychological and physiological health. However, previous studies found those two concepts to overlap and called for researchers to find more well-defined borders and study them in different contexts together. The present study addresses this issue using a complex mixed-method approach. The conceptual framework was pretested including relationships between defined variables through the interviews conducted with 21 international students. The variables were then measured via a quantitative survey and 214 data rows obtained constituted the basis for the final statistical analysis. Drawing on the qualitative findings, study participants found emotional stability and sense of coherence as both enhancing cross-cultural adjustment process and influencing assignment satisfaction. Later, the latter two were quantitatively assessed in terms of moderating role of cross-cultural motivation. Complementary qualitative information not only supported the study hypotheses but also brought a certain degree of subjectiveness in the findings. Thus, it has illustrated how important these qualities for the acculturation are and how they can influence the assignment satisfaction, the key HEI performance criterion.

A content analysis of cross-cultural motivational studies in tourism relating to nationalities

Abstract The importance of outbound markets to a host country has increased scholars' interest in understanding motivational factors. Motivation is a basic determinant of tourists' behaviour and has a fundamental role in tourism. The awareness of motivational differences among tourists from main generating markets is a prerequisite for effective and successful destination marketing programs. However, cross-cultural motivation comparisons of tourists from different cultural backgrounds has received relatively little research attention. In addition, there has not been a content analysis undertaken on this topic. Therefore, the aim of this research was to examine and synthesise previous studies on cross-cultural tourist motivation comparison, reveal the gaps in the literature and indicate the future research trends. A review of 71 publications covering a period of 30 years, from 1988 to 2017, was conducted. This study focuses on both subject areas and research methods used. The findings of this content analysis identified a recent growth in cross-cultural comparison studies. The analysis also revealed an increase in more advanced analysis including multiple variables such as motivations, satisfaction, segmentation of visitors, intention behaviours, and information search behaviour. The analysis of nationalities compared in the reviewed studies indicated the shift of research interest towards Asian countries. In the case of research methods, quantitative design is more common for cross-cultural motivation studies.

How to talk to an expatriate

ABSTRACTFueled by increasing global mobility, there is an ever-growing need for expatriates. This increasing demand poses many challenges for organizations to motivate their employees to successfully complete international assignments. This study addresses this issue by offering a new perspective on how effective leader communication may serve as a tool to increase expatriates’ cross-cultural motivation and boost their chances of success. All three dimensions of motivating language are proposed to have the ability to enhance an expatriate’s cross-cultural intrinsic motivation, as well as his or her cross-cultural self-efficacy. The implications of the framework, as well as future research, are discussed.

Expatriate Managers' Cross-Cultural Motivation and Host Country National Employees' Attitudes

We examined our assumption that expatriate managers' cross-cultural motivation is an important antecedent of host country national employees' organizational identification. We also explored our belief that tertius iungens-oriented coordination (i.e., management behavior that focuses on building trust and cooperation between headquarters and subsidiaries) partially accounts for the impact of expatriate managers' cross-cultural motivation on host country national employees' organizational identification. Results of our analysis of multilevel data from 76 Korean expatriate managers and 228 host country national employees working in Chinese subsidiaries, supported our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Self-Beliefs and Academic Achievement in Cross-Cultural Motivation Studies

Self-Beliefs and Academic Achievement in Cross-Cultural Motivation Studies

Cross-cultural adjustment to the United States: the role of contextualized extraversion change

Personality traits can predict how well-sojourners and expatriates adjust to new cultures, but the adjustment process remains largely unexamined. Based on recent findings that reveal personality traits predict as well as respond to life events and experiences, this research focuses on within-person change in contextualized extraversion and its predictive validity for cross-cultural adjustment in international students who newly arrived in US colleges. We proposed that the initial level as well as the rate of change in school extraversion (i.e., contextualized extraversion that reflects behavioral tendency in school settings) will predict cross-cultural adjustment, withdrawal cognitions, and school satisfaction. Latent growth modeling of three-wave longitudinal surveys of 215 new international students (54% female, Mage = 24 years) revealed that the initial level of school extraversion significantly predicted cross-cultural adjustment, (lower) withdrawal cognitions, and satisfaction, while the rate of change (increase) in school extraversion predicted cross-cultural adjustment and (lower) withdrawal cognitions. We further modeled global extraversion and cross-cultural motivation as antecedents and explored within-person change in school extraversion as a proximal factor that affects adjustment outcomes. The findings highlight the malleability of contextualized personality, and more importantly, the importance of understanding within-person change in contextualized personality in a cross-cultural adjustment context. The study points to more research that explicate the process of personality change in other contexts.

Newcomers Abroad: Expatriate Adaptation during Early Phases of International Assignments

Integrating work from the expatriate adjustment and newcomer socialization literatures within a motivational framework, we propose that motivational states and stress cognitions impact expatriates' work adjustment patterns over time, which in turn influence important assignment attitudes. In accordance with our theorizing, analyses of longitudinal data collected from 70 expatriates during their first four months of international assignment indicated that cross-cultural motivation and psychological empowerment related positively to initial levels of adjustment, and indirectly and negatively to work adjustment change. Challenge stressors positively related to changes in work adjustment over time. In turn, changes in work adjustment significantly related to expatriates' assignment satisfaction and premature return intention, explaining variance above and beyond that explained by average levels of work adjustment. These findings extend understanding of how and why expatriate work adjustment evolves over time, as well as the unique influence that differences in adjustment change have on important expatriate outcomes.

When Does Cross-Cultural Motivation Enhance Expatriate Effectiveness? A Multilevel Investigation of the Moderating Roles of Subsidiary Support and Cultural Distance

Departing from the emphasis on individual-level stress processes in prior expatriate research, we develop a multilevel model of expatriate “cross-cultural motivation and effectiveness” (motivation and effectiveness pertaining to cross-cultural contexts) that incorporates the influences of foreign subsidiary–level attributes. Analyses of multisource and multilevel data collected from 556 expatriates in 31 foreign subsidiaries indicated that expatriate cross-cultural motivation was more positively related to work adjustment—and that work adjustment was more likely to mediate the positive relationship between cross-cultural motivation and job performance—when expatriates were assigned to foreign subsidiaries characterized by lower levels of subsidiary support and cultural distance.

Achievement Motivation among Chinese and Australian School Students: Assessing Differences of Kind and Differences of Degree

The present study explored motivation and engagement among Chinese and Australian school students. Based on a sample of 528 Hong Kong Chinese 12–13 year olds and an archive sample of 6,366 Australian 12–13 year olds, achievement motivation was assessed using the Motivation and Engagement Scale–High School (MES-HS). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling using LISREL found that, across Chinese and Australian students, there was similar factor structure, reliability, correlations with educational outcomes, and gender and age effects—suggesting there are no fundamental differences of kind between the two cultures. There were, however, differences of degree in that Australian students reported significantly higher levels of adaptive achievement motivation and significantly lower levels of maladaptive achievement motivation. It is concluded that although Australian students have higher levels of reported achievement motivation than Chinese students on a number of dimensions, the two groups’ fundamental orientation does not appear to be markedly different in terms of motivation structure, profile, and relationships. This holds implications for cross-cultural motivation assessment, data analysis, and programmatic intervention aimed at enhancing (and sustaining) students’ achievement motivation in different cultural and national contexts.