Impact of intercultural traits and cultural intelligence on culture shock among international students aged 18-30 y/o

• Main Authors: Brimo, Matthew Magsaysay, Coching, Luigi, Ham, Eunchong, Patigas, Angelica Yap
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Culture shock > Philippines; Cultural intelligence; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/6861
• Institution: De La Salle University

One's culture is an amalgamation of a wide array of different elements ranging from language to art. The distinct cultures of the world are the foundations of various civilization, which has become acknowledged on a global level as an indispensable part of a nation. When an individual is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, he or she may experience a certain feeling of disorientation, which is known as culture shock. A vast amount of research has been done on culture shock but no existing literature has linked it to two applicable psychological theories, intercultural traits and cultural intelligence. The following study aims to address this gap in literature by examining whether intercultural traits and cultural intelligence are predictors of culture shock. The study's findings may potentially assist world travelers in assimilating into new environments. The researchers hypothesize that intercultural traits and cultural intelligence act as predictor variables to the outcome variable of culture shock. The study follows a quantitative correlational research design with a sample size of n=230. Respondents were recruited from various universities across Metro Manila and were tasked with answering three surveys: the cultural intelligence scale, multicultural personality questionnaire: short form, and the culture shock scale. Results suggest that amongst the four dimensions of the cultural intelligence scale, only CQ-motivation has a significant effect on culture shock. Amongst the five personality traits of multiple personality questionnaire, only emotional stability has a significant effect on culture shock. Existing literature suggests that motivation and emotional stability are major factors in intercultural adaptations, which reinforces this finding. Based on our gathered data, the other factors do still have an effect on culture shock but are not significant predictors.