Response rate
There were 543 questionnaires distributed and 438 responses collected from three groups, for a 80.7% response rate. There were fifty-four out of 438 respondents who had been found to have at least one item missing on the Chinese version of the CCAI. Seven respondents circled two answers on one item; one had extreme answers;
and four circled the same answer on all items. Thus, a total of 372 questionnaires were valid with a completion of all 50 items on the Chinese version of the CCAI. The three groups represented participants in the International Trade Institution (ITI) (212;
57.0%), graduate students in the international trade/business master program (N=66;
17.7%), and trainees joining the Taiwan Overseas Volunteers Orientation held by International Cooperation and Development Fund (N=94; 25.3%).
Demographic
The demographic of the sample can be found in Table 4.1. The following is the brief description:
1. Gender: The number of the female is much more than that of the male. The number of the female is 240 (64.5%), whereas the number of the male is 131 (35.2%). 1 Missing value (0.3%).
2. Age: Most of the respondents’ age range 21-30 (83.6%).
3. Educational background: Most of the respondents’ educational level was the bachelor degree (N=261; 70.2%). The rest of the respondents include graduates from high school (N= 2; 0.5%), college (N=3, 0.8%), graduate school of the master program (N= 105, 28.2%) 28.2%, and graduate school of the doctoral program (N=1, 0.3%).
conferences, overseas internship, and international contests). Most of them whose abroad frequency in 5 years are 1-3 times (N=189, 50.8%). 21.3% of them have 4-6 times, 6.5% of them have 7-9 times, and 5.4% of them have over 10 times. 14 missing values (3.8%).
5. Work overseas: 18.4% of the respondents (N=69) have worked overseas. Among them, 63 respondents have worked with the foreigners. 20 respondents have worked overseas for less than one month, 36 for one to twelve months, 5 for thirteen to twenty-four months, 4 for twenty-five to thirty-six months. 4 for more than three years.
6. Study overseas: Study overseas include study tour and study abroad. 29.0% of the respondents (N=108) have had the experience of study overseas. Among them, 13 respondents have studied overseas for less than one month. 72 for one to twelve months, 6 for thirteen to twenty-four months, 7 for twenty-five to thirty-six months. 8 for more than three years.
7. Language certificate: 23.1% of the respondents (N=86) don’t have any language certificate. 2.2% of respondents whose English language level is elementary level.
16.9% is intermediated level. 26.1% is high-intermediated level. 9.9% is proficient level. 1.1% is mastery level. 2.2% of respondents whose Japanese language level is level four. 7.3% is level three. 1.9% is level two. 4.6% level one. One of the possible reasons why 72 missing values (19.4%) are high is that reporting grades is sensitive.
8. Willingness to accept an international assignment: 94% of the respondents (N=353) are willing to accept an international assignment, but 2.7% aren’t.
Sources
Table 4.1. The Profile of the Respondents (N=372)
a. Elementary: GEPT Elementary/ TOEIC 350-550/ TOEFL(paper-based) 390-457/
IELTS 3.5-5.0
b. Intermediated: GEPT Intermediate/ TOEIC 550~750/ TOEFL(paper-based) 457-527/ TOEFL (Computer-based) 137-220/ IELTS 5.0-6.5
c. High-intermediated: GEPT High-intermediate/ TOEIC 750-880/
TOEFL(paper-based) 527-560 / IELTS 7.0-7.5
d. Effective Operational Proficiency: GEPT Advanced/ TOEIC 880~950/
TOEFL(paper-based) 560-630/ TOEFL (Computer-based) above 220/ IELTS 8.0 e. Mastery: GEPT Professional /TOEIC above 950/ TOEFL (paper-based) above 630 f. Japanese Language Proficiency Test
Table 4.1 (continued)
Descriptive statistics
With no item deleted or added, the Chinese version of the CCAI has 50 items and is divided into four subscales: Emotional Resilience (ER, 18 items), Flexibility/Openness (FO, 15 items), Perceptual Acuity (PAC, 10 items), and Personal Autonomy (PA, 7 items). Each item is scored on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Definitely Not True) to 6 (Definitely True). According to Kelley and Meyers (1995b), the higher total score a person can get, the more cross-culturally he or she can function. The total scale and four scale scores were calculated. Table 4.2 presents the Chinese version of the CCAI scale means and standard deviations of the sample. The results showed that the item mean for the total score of the sample was 218.66 (SD
=19.85). The item mean for the Emotion Resilience (ER) was 76.64 (SD=9.13); for the Flexibility/Openness (FO) was 64.42 (SD=6.61); for the Perceptual Acuity (PAC) was 47.19 (SD=4.82); and for the Personal Autonomy (PA) was 30.42 (SD =3.35).
Table 4.2. Scale Score Means and Standard Deviations of the Sample Scale
ER FO PAC PA Total
Total Sample (N=372)
Mean 76.64 64.42 47.19 30.42 218.66
SD 9.13 6.61 4.82 3.35 19.85
Median 76 64 46 30 218.5
Possible Range 18-108 15-90 10-60 7-42 50-300
Range 42-101 41-85 24-60 22-41 160-270
Note. ER= Emotional Resilience, FO= Flexibility/Openness, PAC= Perceptual Acuity, PA= Personal Autonomy.
Table 4.3. presents CCAI scale means and standard deviations by group. As seen, the item mean for the total score of the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) (M=223.44; SD= 21.31) was higher than the other groups. The item means for the Emotional Resilience (ER), Flexibility/Openness (FO), and Perceptual
Table 4.3. Scale Score Means and Standard Deviations by Group
Note. ER= Emotional Resilience, FO= Flexibility/Openness, PAC= Perceptual Acuity, PA= Personal Autonomy.
Table 4.4. presents CCAI scale means and standard deviations by gender. The item mean for the male total score (M=220.00; SD= 19.79) was higher than that for female total score. Males scored higher than females on Emotion Resilience (ER), Perceptual Acuity (PAC), and Personal Autonomy (PA). The lager difference was on Emotional Resilience (ER) ( △ M=1.88). Females scored higher than males on Flexibility/Openness (FO).
Table 4.4. Scale Score Means and Standard Deviations by Gender Scale
Note. ER= Emotional Resilience, FO= Flexibility/Openness, PAC= Perceptual Acuity, PA= Personal Autonomy.
Table 4.5. presents CCAI scale means and standard deviations by age. The six age groups were combined into junior group (the first three groups) and senior group (the last three groups). The senior group scored higher on all four scale scores and total score, noting that the proportions of the senior group to junior group weren’t even.
Table 4.5. Scale Score Means and Standard Deviations by Age Scale
Age ER FO PAC PA Total
< 20 (N=14)
Mean 70.07 61.07 44.71 27.86 203.71
SD 9.32 7.33 6.92 3.59 23.92
21-25 (N=185)
Mean 75.66 64.03 46.78 29.94 216.41
SD 9.19 7.09 5.09 3.25 20.52
26-30 (N=126)
Mean 77.13 64.83 47.60 31.00 220.55
SD 8.38 5.73 4.32 3.13 16.82
Junior group 75.99 64.21 47.01 30.26 217.46
(N=325) 8.98 6.63 4.92 3.29 19.59
31-35 (N=27)
Mean 80.85 66.22 48.67 32.22 227.96
SD 9.34 7.44 4.13 3.83 21.81
36-40 (N=11)
Mean 79.73 64.73 46.82 31.00 222.27
SD 9.49 4.41 3.95 3.29 18.67
> 41 (N=9)
Mean 83.56 66.33 49.78 30.00 229.67
SD 7.83 5.12 2.68 2.74 15.52
Senior group 81.11 65.89 48.45 31.51 226.96
(N=47) 9.01 6.37 3.91 3.57 19.84
Note. ER= Emotional Resilience, FO= Flexibility/Openness, PAC= Perceptual Acuity, PA= Personal Autonomy.
Table 4.6. presents CCAI scale means and standard deviations by education. In general, the total scores and scale scores weren’t higher with higher education.
Table 4.6. Scale Score Means and Standard Deviations by Education Scale
Education ER FO PAC PA Total
High school (N=2)
Mean 77.00 66.00 48.50 30.50 222.00
SD 5.66 1.41 6.36 0.71 14.14
Table 4.6. (continued)
Note. ER= Emotional Resilience, FO= Flexibility/Openness, PAC= Perceptual Acuity, PA= Personal Autonomy.
Table 4.7. presents scale score means and standard deviations by abroad frequency. In general, the total scores and scale scores were higher with higher abroad frequency. The item means for the total score, Emotional Resilience (ER), and Personal Autonomy (PA) of the group with abroad frequency over 10 times (M=224.40; SD= 20.72) were higher than the other abroad frequency groups.
Table 4.7. Scale Score Means and Standard Deviations by Abroad Frequency
Abroad Scale
Note. ER= Emotional Resilience, FO= Flexibility/Openness, PAC= Perceptual Acuity, PA= Personal Autonomy.
Table 4.8. presents scale score means and standard deviations by English proficiency. In general, the total scores and scale scores weren’t higher with English proficiency.
Table 4.8. Scale Score Means and Standard Deviations by English Proficiency
Abroad Scale
Frequency ER FO PAC PA Total
None (N=87)
Mean 75.99 64.38 46.41 29.66 216.44
SD 8.94 7.60 5.52 3.20 22.05
Elementary (N=8)
Mean 79.50 67.00 49.75 29.75 226.00
SD 10.68 7.86 5.01 3.54 22.20
Intermediate (N=63)
Mean 77.19 64.75 47.60 31.25 220.79
SD 8.99 6.44 4.30 3.15 17.32
High-intermediate (N=97)
Mean 76.87 64.49 47.02 30.66 219.04
SD 8.64 5.98 4.42 3.60 18.41
Proficient (N=37)
Mean 76.92 64.81 48.22 30.49 220.43
SD 10.69 6.23 4.94 3.14 21.73
Mastery (N=4)
Mean 71.00 63.25 46.00 30.00 210.25
SD 11.52 6.70 4.69 2.83 21.98
Note. ER= Emotional Resilience, FO= Flexibility/Openness, PAC= Perceptual Acuity, PA= Personal Autonomy.
Critical ratio
The sample was grouped into low-score group and high-score group, that is, lowest through 27% of the total score and 73% of the total score through highest.
T-test was used to determine the mean difference between these two groups. All items showed significant mean difference between low-score group and high-score group at the .05 level except PA3, FO6, and PA5. The results can be found in Table 4.9.
Table 4.9. Extreme Groups Comparison (Items That Didn’t Show Significant Mean Difference)
Scale Mean SD t Values
PA3 3.16 0.93 -0.01
FO6 3.56 1.11 -1.82
PA5 3.47 1.08 1.75