Cross-cultural Adaptation 2
Host Communication Competence and Psychological Health:
A Study of Cross-cultural Adaptation of Korean Expatriate Employees in the United States.
ABSTRACT
The present study examines the cross-cultural adaptation of 101 Korean employees working in
branch offices in the U.S. Based on Y. Y. Kim’s (2001) Cross-cultural Adaptation Model, this survey
study addresses the theoretically predicted relationships among “host communication competence,” “host
interpersonal communication,” “host mass communication,” and “psychological health.” Host
communication competence was measured in three dimensions—cognitive, affective, and operational.
The findings support the theoretical prediction that three interrelated dimensions of expatriate
host communication competence (i.e., cognitive, affective, and operational) are positively associated with
their psychological health. The host interpersonal communication was found to be not significantly
associated with the psychological health. Among the host mass media, the use of American newspapers
and magazines, American radio, and American movies was found to be positively related to
psychological health. The length of stay and spouse/family adjustment were positively related to
psychological health. A multiple regression analysis indicates that, together, the independent variables
explain 40% of the variance of the dependent variable. The paper ends with a discussion of the
limitations of the present study and its practical implications.
Convention