2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Psychological processes of cultural adaptation in intra and international moves
| Project/Area Number |
16530449
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Clinical psychology
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| Research Institution | Kobe University |
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Principal Investigator |
UTSUKI Narisuke Kobe University, Faculty of cross-cultural studies, Prof., 国際文化学部, 教授 (70283851)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SAKAMOTO Chiyo Kobe University, Faculty of cross-cultural studies, Prof., 国際文化学部, 教授 (80170611)
SHIMABUKURO Tsuneo Ryukyu University, Faculty of Education, Prof., 教育学部, 教授 (30178959)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | Intercultural adaptation / International students / Culture shock |
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| Research Abstract |
Communication and controls of emotions are two important factors in cultural adaptation. Generally the distance between two places is to be a major distracting condition in cultural exchange. Simply, the degree of cultural difference between home society and a host country increases as a function of the distance between them. When a student moves from his/her home town to a new place where the university is located, they have to adapt to the new culture. Even so, if the home town is relatively near the university there may be less numbers of problems to solve. Those students will have an additional advantage that they easily get back home and this may help reduce the negative feelings caused by the adaptation processes. A student who has a way to shorten this distance between the two places, will likely find it is rather easy to adapt to another culture.
In this report the distance between home town and the host country has a significant relation to the number of problems which student may encounter in the host country. Cellular phones and the internet, with which students can keep communication with family members, are very helpful in reducing a negative feeling to the university life. This finding shows that communication plays an important role in cultural adaptation. This structure between communication and adaptation were found in Korea and China as well as in Japan.
Another findings will be that emotional intelligence is also a significant factor in cultural adaptation. The study of inter-cultural adaptation should pay more attention to emotional factors in the further step. Communication among people and emotions in a person are common factors in cultural adaptation process. The results need a cross-validation process in Western countries.
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Research Products
(12 results)
