Perceptions Of Cultural Distance Research Articles

Racial categorization and intergroup perception in preschool children: A focus on group membership and group size in the French context

In the current study, we explored how context influences intergroup perception in 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 242; Mage = 55.5 months, SD = 9.94) in France. We examined the impact of participants’ group membership (belonging to a high- vs. low-social-status group) and their group size on the development of racial categorization and the perception of cultural distance. Children completed two tasks using photographs depicting children from the three most represented racial groups in France: Caucasians, Black Africans, and North Africans. In the first task, the free categorization task, they were asked to group photographs of children they thought belonged together. Results revealed that as children grew older, they increasingly grouped children based on their race. In addition, high-social-status (nonmarginalized) children categorized more based on race than low-social-status children. In a second task, children were requested to rate the same photographs on a 5-point Likert scale for perceived cultural distance in three criteria: music, eating habits, and language. Results showed that regardless of their own group membership, children perceived photos representing children of color (North and Black Africans) as culturally more distant than White children on all criteria. However, this bias was not observed in schools where groups have equal numerical status, suggesting a positive impact of environments where groups are numerically equal.

Environmental Sustainability, Digitalisation, and the Entrepreneurial Perception of Distances as Drivers of SMEs’ Internationalisation

The complex relationship between sustainability, digitalization, entrepreneurship and internationalization has received less academic attention, although each of these topics is an important research area on its own. Thus, our research aims to understand the effect of environmental sustainability, the usage of digital systems, and the entrepreneurial perception of distances on the intention to export in the case of SMEs. The authors have developed a survey to examine three main hypotheses. Based on the answers of 315 SMEs, the article highlights that the communication of environmental sustainability, the usage of ERP systems, and the perception of cultural distance as opportunities to foster internationalisation.

Relationships between Cultural Adaptation and Immigrants’ Well-Being

Abstract The present study aimed to evaluate the predictive relationship of socio-demographic variables, cultural adaptation and hope on general well-being (GWB), subjective (SWB), social (SoWB) and psychological (PWB) and in the meaning of life. The participants consisted of 108 immigrants. The instruments used were: bio sociodemographic questionnaire, Mental Health Continuum - Short Form, Dispositional Hope Scale, Acculturation Measures and Meaning of Life Questionnaire. In general, only sociocultural adaptation showed a positive predictive relationship with all types of well-being studied, nonetheless this measure presented a negative predictive relationship regarding the presence of meaning in life. Psychological adaptation was predictively and positively related only to SWB. The perception of cultural distance negatively affected SoWB. The presence of meaning was also negatively predicted by the type of immigration and age. The search for meaning was negatively predicted only by income. The results are important for a better understanding of factors that influence the experience of immigrants in Brazil.

Relationship concept ‘autoimage’ and ‘heteroimage’ (Perception of the sociocultural aspects of novels)

The paper aims to introduce research in the field of the literary imagology and text semiotics. It focuses on the analysis of the creation of “autoimage”, or rather a self-image, and “hereroimage”, or a counter-mage, the image of otherness, as a means of shaping national identity, by interpreting the artistic texts written by the Czech writer Jáchym Topol and the Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin. It pays attention particularly to their novels from the first decade of the 21st century. The texts will be compared in a broader context of social discourse. Moreover, it will address the issue of the disproportion between the intensity of attention of one nation to another (Czech-Russian and Russian-Czech) and the differences in the perception of cultural distance.

Perceived Cultural Distance in Healthcare in Immigrant Intercultural Medical Encounters

AbstractThis article responds to the paucity of empirical research on the impact of patient‐provider ethno‐cultural distance and providers' cultural competence on the quality of healthcare service in migrant intercultural medical encounters in Australia. A cross‐sectional study was conducted with 447 patients, consisting of 195 Caucasian and 252 non‐Caucasian patients from six outpatient clinics in New South Wales, Australia. Structural equation modelling was used for data analysis. The findings demonstrated that cultural distance is an influential factor in perceived quality of outpatient care. Caucasian and non‐Caucasian patients' perception of cultural distance between their physicians and themselves affected their service quality ratings of their physicians' professionalism, empathy and expertise. This is the first study on healthcare service quality in outpatient clinics in Australia for Caucasian and non‐Caucasian patients. Policy implications suggest intervention strategies and the need for cultural competence education in medical and health curricula in medical schools and clinical practices.

Ex-post Performance Implications of Divergence of Managers\u2019 Perceptions of \u2018Distance\u2019 From \u2018Reality\u2019 in International Business

Despite much research on ‘distance’, little attention has been paid to the effect of divergence of managers’ perceptions of distance from reality (i.e. distance divergence) and its implications for firm performance. This knowledge is highly important since managerial perceptions of the firm’s environment do not always coincide with the actual environmental characteristics. Consequently, strategies based on inaccurate data may result in erroneous forecasts, missed opportunities and business failure. Using survey data from senior managers of Swedish exporters and corresponding objective data, this study is one of the first attempts to explore the ex-post performance implications of ‘distance divergence’ when expanding into foreign markets. Our results demonstrate that the larger the divergence between managers’ perceptions of cultural distance and corresponding ‘objective’ distance, the lower the performance expressed in companies’ sales. However, over/underestimation of cultural distance does not have differential effects on firm performance.

Experientially educating future consultants: benefits, challenges, and constructs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss experiential education as a way to develop future consultants in human resource management and marketing with the goal of developing consulting competence. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that proposes, outlines, and discusses a model, containing 11 dimensions of consulting competence. Findings – The conceptual model includes 11 building blocks: foreign language competence, non-verbal competence, perception of cultural distance, cultural self-awareness, knowledge, skills, motivation, effectiveness, appropriateness, contextual interaction patterns, and affinity. Considerations for each of these elements are introduced and discussed. Practical implications – This model and the explanation of its components should guide management and marketing educators in their efforts to build and develop experiential education programs of excellence. Originality/value – The model proposed and outline in this paper will assist institutions of higher education and faculty members to guide students in their development of a successful career in consulting.

How congruent are managers’ perceptions of cultural distance with objective reality?

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which managers’ perceptions of cultural distance – one of the most important explanatory factors in the field of international business – are congruent with objective reality.Design/methodology/approach– By subjecting a sample of 242 export ventures to correlation and confirmatory factor analyses, managers’ perceptions of the cultural distance (i.e. perceived cultural distance) between 29 international markets and Sweden (the home market) were compared, with “objective” cultural distance gauged using Hofstede's (1980) scores for dimensions of national culture.Findings– A statistically significant correlation was found between managers’ perceptions of cultural distance and “objective” cultural distance.Originality/value– Despite the importance of perceptual data in many theoretical and practical domains, few studies analyze the validity of such data. The present findings validate the congruence of perceptual data regarding cultural distance with “objective” cultural distance.

The Effect of Cultural Distance on International Marketing Strategy: A Comparison of Cultural Distance and Managerial Perception Measures

Culture has a profound effect on all aspects of international marketing strategy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cultural distance (i.e., Hofstede, 1980; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004) and managerial perception on international marketing strategy adaptation, integrating internal conditions (i.e., firm and product factors) and external conditions (i.e., industry and export market factors). The authors found that the price, promotion, and product adaptation strategy were significantly related to three different measures of cultural distance. Moreover, this study demonstrated that managerial perception of cultural distance was a better predictor for international marketing strategy adaptation. On the basis of these findings, theoretical and managerial implications and future research directions are delineated.

Impacts of Firms’ Size and Experience on the Perception of Cultural Distance: An Preliminary Test

Impacts of Firms’ Size and Experience on the Perception of Cultural Distance: An Preliminary Test