In this chapter, the conclusions were drawn based on the research findings and the limitations. To make this study valuable in both theoretical and practical fields, the implications and suggestions were proposed to further practices and researches.
Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among CQ, cross-cultural adjustment, PsyCap, and PSS by and collecting the sample of Philippine labors working in Taiwan. There are three results of this study. First, CQ has a positive effect on cross-cultural adjustment and its three sub-dimensions.
Second, PsyCap serves as a mediator on the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment, CQ and general adjustment, CQ and work adjustment.
However, PsyCap did not mediate the relationship between CQ and interaction adjustment. Third, PSS served as a moderator on the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment and its three dimensions of general adjustment, interaction adjustment, and work adjustment. Based on the findings, the conclusions were drawn as follows:
Cultural Intelligence and Cross-cultural Adjustment
Hypothesis 1 predicted that CQ has a positive effect on cross-cultural adjustment.
That is to say, individuals’ CQ determines their psychological comfort during the adaptation process in foreign countries. The finding of this study is corresponded to several previous studies in this field (Lin et al., 2012; Ramalu et al., 2010). The result of this study indicates that individuals with high CQ have better abilities to adjust to the living, working, and social styles in other countries. In other words, individuals with higher level of CQ are usually more aware of the differences about norms across cultures to cultures and have more enjoyable experiences when interacting with
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people from different backgrounds. These characteristics drive them to have higher degree of adjustment no matter in their daily life or workplaces.
Hypothesis 1-1 predicted that CQ has a positive effect on general adjustment.
Specifically, individauls with high CQ usually lead to high level of general adjsutment.
The result of this study implies that individuals with high CQ have geater motivation and interest to experience different life styles, thus they tend to enjoy the exotisic atmosphere and to perform high adaptatiom in foreign countries regarding to general life such as living, housing, climate, and health facilities. This finding, agreed with Templer et al. (2006), showed that individuals with high motivational CQ were highly confident of reaching successful cultural adaptation to the overall living condition.
Hypothesis 1-2 suggested that CQ had a positive effect on interaction adjustment. That is to say, individuals with high CQ have greater ability to perform high interaction adjustment with foreigners by using both verbal and non-verbal behaviors. In this study, CQ was found as an antecedent to predict indiviuals degree of interaction adjustment. The finding is consistent with other related studies (Ang et al., 2007; Ramalu et al., 2011), and shows that individuals with high CQ are able to utilize related cultural knowledge and experience to socialize with local people.
Furthermore, individuals with high CQ have more confidence to build a friendly relationship with local people than those who with lower CQ.
Hypothesis 1-3 aimed to investigate the relationship between CQ and work adjustment, and the result indicated that CQ has a positive effect on work adjustment.
To explain the result in detail, Earley and Ang (2003) pointed out that individuals with high CQ possess positive belief of their adaptive capacities and they were more persistant in adapting to different situstions such as new expectations for performance and new job demand. The current study was also consistent with researches conducted by Ramalu et al. (2010), who discovered that CQ was positively related to work
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adjsutemt through analysising data collected from expatriates in Malysisia.
Cultural Intelligence and Psychological Capital
Hypothesis 2 predicted that CQ has a positive effect on PsyCap. A review of the literatures revealed few researches had been down to investigate the relationship between CQ and PsyCap. However, the result of this study shows that individuals’ CQ and PsyCap are positively correlated. In other words, individuals’ with high CQ lead them to think in a more positive way and seeing lives as well as future events optimistically and hopefully. Hence, individuals with high CQ lead them to perform higher level of PsyCap.
To reason the finding clearly, Earley and Peterson (2004) asserted that people high in CQ had a strong sense of efficacy. They tend to be more confident to utilize the resources they have to complete certain tasks. Secondly, MacNab and Worthley (2012) stated that meta-cognitive CQ reflected individuals’ perspective of thinking being formed based on their cultural background, stereotypes, and previous inter-culture experiences. Therefore, individuals with high meta-cognitive CQ were aware of applying the cultural knowledge they have to come up with new strategies to overcome overwhelming change. Finally, motivational CQ drives individuals’
perseverance to maintain positive beliefs while facing setbacks. In short, CQ has a positive effect on individual’s will-power and confidence to create efficient way to accomplish challenging missions. Briefly, this finding implies that individuals with high CQ are more confident to recover form overwhelming changes; in addition, they tend to regards the unknown event in an optimistic and hopeful manners. This kind of thinking pattern benefits their psychological status.
Psychological Capital and Cross-cultural Adjustment
Hypothesis 3 stated that PsyCap has a positive effect on cross-cultural adjustment.
The finding of this study shows that individual with high PsyCap performed more
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successful cross-cultural adjustment than those who with low PsyCap. The result further supports the statement being proposed by Avey et al. (2008), which indicated that employee with high PsyCap were easier to adjust to the change of organization.
The explanation for this finding is that individuals who are more optimistic and confident to take over the challenges and set back from the difficulties are more adaptable to the new environment. Moreover, individuals high in PsyCap are more flexible to fit in the different living and working condition. They feel comfortable to use appropriate manners to interact with people from different cultures (Avey et al., 2008).
Hypothesis 3-1 stated that PsyCap has a positive effect on general adjustment.
The result of this study indicated that individuals with high PsyCap lead to higher psychological comfort for the general adjustment during the adaptation process. This finding, agreed with Avey et al. (2011) and Tripathi (2011), showed that PsyCap and well-being were positively correlated to each other. The finding of this study implies that individuals’ personal characteristics were one factor that affect on the degree of comfortableness for the overall living conditions such as transportation, housing, climate, and entertainment.
Hypothesis 3-2 assumed that PsyCap has a positive effect on interaction adjustment. This also agreed with the earlier observations that individuals’ personality traits were positively related to interaction adjustment (Peltokorpi & Froese, 2012).
The result of this study suggests that individuals who are more open-minded and hold flexible view points during the multicultural interaction perform successful interaction adjustment with locals in foreign countries.
Hypothesis 3-3 predicted that PsyCap has a positive effect on work adjustment.
In this study, the result is correspond to the statement being proposed by Black and Stephen (1980) showing that individuals with high PsyCap were more optimistic,
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flexible, and confident so that they tend to feel less stressful to adapt to the new job role and responsibility. Hence, result in better work adjustment. In addition, the present study seems to be consistent with previous empirically study being conducted by Luthans et al. (2008b), showing that PsyCap was positively related to employees job satisfaction. To conclude, individuals with high PsyCap tend to expect good things to happen, hold strong belief that they can create success on their own, and have greater abilities to set back from difficulties (Luthans et al. 2007a); therefore, they perform better work adjustment than those who with low PsyCap.
Psychological Capital as a Mediator
Based on the previous findings, though CQ has been proved to be one factor affecting on individuals’ degree of cross-cultural adjustment, this study suggests that PsyCap is another factor to determine a successful adaptation in cross-cultural settings.
Hypothesis 4 predicted that PsyCap serves as a mediator between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment. And the result of this study confirms the full mediating role of PsyCap between CQ and work adjustment, as well as, partial mediating role of PsyCap on the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment, CQ and general adjustment, CQ and interaction adjustment. The result implies that individuals with high CQ lead to higher PsyCap and that PsyCap drives them to perform higher level of cross-cultural adjustment. In the cross-cultural setting, individuals with high Psycap have greater ability to mobilize the cognition, knowledge, and other resources to overcome the obstacles they meet during the adaptation process both in the daily lives and workplaces. Specifically, PsyCap is proved as a direct factor to influence on individual’s work adjustment in the cultural diversity environment.
Perceived Supervisor Support as a Moderator
Hypothesis 5 and hypothesis 5-1 to 5-3 predicted that PSS servers as a moderator on the relationship between PsyCap and cross-cultural adjustment, PsyCap and general
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adjustment, PsyCap and interaction adjustment, also, PsyCap and interaction. The findings not only confirm the hypotheses but also imply that individuals who perceives more emotional and some other tangible support from their supervisors would perform better both in the daily lives and job roles. This finding further support the statement proposed by Caligiuri et al. (1999) that supervisor support provides a positive emotion support for individuals to perform successfully in diverse culture environment and facilitates their adaptation in new culture settings. In addition, this finding also agrees with the previous research being conducted by Kraimer et al.
(2011) showing that the support provided by the foreign facilities managers had positive effect on expatriates’ interaction adjustment since the managers were important resource for the expatriates to know culture knowledge about the host nation and learn how to build relationships with the local people. Finally, individuals who receives more rewards and affirmation form the supervisor would encourage them to take over new responsibility and new job task under dynamic situations (Kraimer et al., 2001).
Implications
The rapid pace of globalization and movement of workforce make intercultural effectiveness an import issue. CQ and cross-cultural adjustment were two concepts that had been mentioned constantly in researches related to intercultural context.
Some other researches also exam the effects brought by PSS during individuals’
adjustment processes. However, very few researches took individual difference such as PsyCap in to consideration when exam the relationship among CQ, cross-cultural adjustment, and PSS. This study would not only have significant contribution to theoretical researches but also have several practical implications.
Theoretically, the major contribution in this study is that PsyCap may play as an important mediating link between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment. Specifically, this
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study could provide initial evidence that in concert with cross-cultural adjustment, individual varieties and PsyCap in particular, may have desired impact on the degree of individuals’ adjustment. Although many other researches showed that CQ has positive impacts on cross-cultural adjustment (Ang et al., 2004; Ang et al., 2007; Lin el al., 2012; Ramalu et al., 2012; Ramalu et al., 2010; Templer et al., 2006), this is the first study to exam the role of Psycap may play as a mediator in the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment. The other theoretical contribution is that individual who perceived higher level of supervisor support may be more likely to experience higher levels of PsyCap and cross-cultural adjustment. Even though social support and PSS in particular, have been indicated as a moderator that would increase individual’s cross-cultural adjustment (Caligiuri et al., 1999; Kraimer et al., 2001) and PsyCap (Luthans et al., 2008b), there have been few researches attempted to explore the impact brought by PSS on cross-cultural adjustment and PsyCap simultaneously.
Practically, the implication would relate to the criteria in selecting workforce or expatriate for overseas assignment. In spite of CQ has been considered as an important antecedent of cultural adjustment, PsyCap would be more important and direct predictor concerning about cultural adjustment. In the respect, when selecting workforces for overseas assignment, organization should take individuals’ PsyCap in to consideration in order to foresee the degree of their adjustment comfort that would result in the intercultural effectiveness. Luthans (2006) also stated that PsyCap can be developed by various means of channel, thus organizations were encouraged to invest on developing employees’ PsyCap as a way to increase their degrees of adjustment.
This study suggested a new approach for organization to take competitive challenges and obtain more business opportunities in the global market.
In addition, organization can increase individual’s cultural adaptation by constructing supportive climate to enhance both individual PsyCap and adjustment
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concurrently as well as developing their PsyCap to create competition advantages (Luthans et al., 2010; Luthans, Avey, Clapp, & Li, 2008) (Luthans, Avey, Avolio, &
Peterson, Suzanne, 2010; Luthans, Avey, Clapp-Smith, & Li, 2008).
Limitations
Owing to data collection, measurement, and sample characteristics, some limitations need to be recognized in this study. First, the common source bias affects the result of this study since the data was collected from self-report questionnaire. To address this concern, the questionnaire was anonymous and the instrument was designed in a 5-ponint or 7-point scale. Furthermore, the Harman’s one factor analysis was conducted as the post examination for the CMV (Podsakfoff, et al., 2003) problem.
Secondly, because the time and resource limitation, purposeful sampling was adopted for data collection that may cause restriction to generalize the result. It is hard to generalize the conclusion to other foreign labors working in Taiwan. In this study, the target sample was a group of Philippine labors. Although the most population of foreign labors in Taiwan came from Indonesia, their working environment didn’t fit the criteria of this study. According to the statistic number showed in Table 3.1, most Indonesia labors involved in the welfare industry such as housekeeping and nursing.
In this kind of working environment, they did not have a direct supervisor and usually woke alone, thus, it was difficult for them to answer questions regarding to their perception of the supervisor. In addition, this was an academic research questionnaire, for those labors with lower educational degree, it was hard for them to interpret the meaning of the questions and most of the time they might lost passion while filling out the questionnaires. Therefore, other foreign labors who are legally allowed to work in Taiwan, such as Thai, Indonesia, and Vietnamese, are excluded in this study.
Finally, the industry will be constrained in technology manufacturing because
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most technology manufacturing industry in Taiwan would prefer to employ the English speaker-Philippian labors, it is difficult to find Philippine labors working in other industries.
Further Research Suggestions
Based on the limitations of this study, there are some other suggestions being provided in this section for further researches. First of all, further study with a greater focus on PsyCap is suggested. Because the concept of PsyCap was new both in the psychology and human resource field, it was difficult to find abundant literatures and empirical studies to connect PsyCap with other variables. In this study, though the relationship among CQ, PsyCap, cross-cultural adjustment, and PSS had been built, there are still some other questions needed to be include while investigate the relationship among the four variables. For instance, PSS might play as a moderator on the relationship between CQ and PsyCap or on the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment.
Second, in the future investigations, it might possible to use a different mediator to test on the relationship between CQ and cross-culture adjustment. In this study, PsyCap serves as a partial mediator on the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment, thus, there is a possibility to find some other individual level factors that paly similar role as PsyCap to predict individuals’ cultural adaptation in the foreign countries.
Third, PSS represented the effect of outside environment and it is recommend taking some other outside factors into consideration while investigating predictors and control factors to know individuals’ cultural adaptation. Finally, one concern is about whether the finding of this research can be applied to other counties and different cultural characteristics since the data in this study were collected form Philippine labors working in Taiwan. This suggestion provided here is to collect data from other
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foreign labors such as Vietnam, Thailand, or Indonesia to verify if the result will be different in other group of people from different cultures.
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