Acculturation strategies, psychological adjustment, and sociocultural competence during cross-cultural transitions

Abstract The research examined host national and co-national identification in relation to sociocultural and psychological adaptation during cross-cultural transition. Ninety-eight sojourners (employees of a New Zealand organization and their spouses) completed questionnaires that included measurements of acculturation (host and co-national identification), social difficulty, and depression. Host and co-national identity scores were subjected to a median split, and 2 × 2 analyses of variance were performed; in this case, the interaction term represented four acculturation strategies: integration, separation, assimiliation, and marginalisation. Results revealed two main effects. Subjects with strong host national identification experienced less sociocultural adjustment difficulties (p