This study examined remote acculturation gaps among 204 Turkish mother–emerging adult dyads (N = 408; emerging adults: Mage = 21.35, SD = 1.62, 77.3% women; mothers: Mage = 48.27, SD = 5.32; ethnicity: all Turkish). Acculturation gaps were assessed via differences in U.S./Turkish orientation, familism, and gender ideology. Mediation analyses showed that Turkish-orientation gaps were directly associated with higher depressive symptoms in emerging adults. Familism gaps were associated with greater mother–child conflict, which in turn was associated with depression, anxiety, and stress; these indirect associations were significant but modest (β =.07–.09). Gender ideology gaps were associated with greater conflict but not with distress, and U.S.-orientation gaps were associated with neither. Findings highlight intergenerational cultural discrepancies as one correlate of family conflict and psychological distress in a non-migrant, non-Western context.
This study investigated pre-service teachers’ multicultural sensitivity by examining its personal and professional dimensions and sought to explain the quantitative findings through participants’ perspectives on multicultural education. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed, involving 611 pre-service teachers in the quantitative phase and eight participants in the qualitative phase. The findings indicated that the personal and professional dimensions of multicultural sensitivity exhibited distinct patterns according to gender, sense of otherness, and fathers’ educational attainment. The qualitative findings further suggested that supportive and restrictive orientations toward cultural diversity can coexist and that positive multicultural orientations do not necessarily correspond to pedagogical readiness for teaching in culturally diverse classrooms. Taken together, the findings highlighted the importance of addressing both the personal and professional dimensions of multicultural sensitivity and underscored the need to expand experiential learning opportunities in teacher education that help translate supportive multicultural orientations into pedagogical practice.
Although intercultural communication competence (ICC) is widely regarded as vital in multicultural teams, less is known about how everyday intercultural communication behaviors are associated with ICC. Grounded in the LEARN communication framework and the integrated model of intercultural communication competence (IMICC), this study examines an association-based mediation model linking four communication behaviors, active listening, acknowledging, recommending, and negotiating, to ICC through two psychological variables: empathy and attitude toward other cultures (ATOC). Using survey data from 323 professionals reporting experience in multicultural team settings and analyzing the model with PLS-SEM, the study tests direct and indirect associations between communication behaviors and ICC. The results show partial and selective support for the proposed model. Among the four direct paths from communication behaviors to ICC, only recommending is significantly associated with ICC. Active listening is indirectly associated with ICC through empathy, acknowledging is indirectly associated with ICC through ATOC, and negotiating is indirectly associated with ICC through both empathy and ATOC. These findings suggest that communication behaviors are not uniformly associated with ICC; rather, different behaviors correspond to different psychological pathways. The study contributes to ICC research by shifting attention from broad dispositional antecedents toward observable communication behaviors and by offering a more differentiated account of the psychological pathways associated with ICC in multicultural team settings. It also extends the empirical basis of ICC research by drawing on a working-professional sample across multiple sectors and countries. The findings offer preliminary guidance for ICC-related training and future intervention research.
Schools have become central sites for the integration of Ukrainian refugee children in Poland, yet formal access to education does not necessarily ensure meaningful participation, belonging, or psychological well-being. This study examines how Ukrainian caregivers make sense of their children’s school adaptation as part of broader integration processes, focusing on children’s sociocultural and psychological adjustment. We conducted 26 interviews with Ukrainian refugee women caring for preschool- or school-aged children enrolled in Polish educational institutions. Using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, we developed Patchwork Integration as the overarching theme, reflecting the fragmented and uneven nature of school-based integration, which depended heavily on individual actors rather than coordinated system-level support. Five themes were identified: (1) positive surface narratives masking psychological distress and challenges (All is good, or so it seems); (2) individuals stepping in to compensate for systemic gaps (Forced to step in when the system fails); (3) pressure on children to conform culturally and linguistically (Assimilation in the guise of integration); (4) language as a marker of belonging but also psychological distress (More than a language barrier); and (5) the crucial but inconsistent role of relationships and agency in supporting adaptation (Connected and capable: More than the systemic minimum). Findings underscore the urgent need for coherent, system-level support that goes beyond well-meaning but improvised individual efforts.
Despite the growing importance of international student mobility, limited research has simultaneously examined how educational quality, employability prospects, and psychological mooring factors jointly influence students’ intentions to study abroad (ISA). To address this gap, this study develops an integrative framework based on the Push–Pull–Mooring (PPM) model, expectancy theory, social identity theory, self-congruity theory, human capital theory, and signaling theory. Specifically, education quality of destination country (EQDC) is conceptualized as a pull factor, employability prospects of the home country (EPHC) and destination country (EPDC) as mediators, and patriotism and self-congruity as mooring factors that moderate students’ study abroad decision-making processes. Data were collected from 846 university students with an existing intention to study abroad across twelve universities in northern, central, and southern Taiwan using a stratified purposive/quota sampling approach. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that EPDC positively mediates the relationship between EQDC and ISA, whereas EPHC exhibits a significant negative mediating effect. Patriotism strengthens the positive relationship between EQDC and EPHC while weakening the relationship between EQDC and EPDC. Furthermore, self-congruity weakens the negative effect of EPHC on ISA, whereas its moderating effect on the EPDC–ISA relationship is not significant. Additionally, EQDC has a significant positive direct effect on intention to study abroad. The study contributes to the literature by extending the PPM framework through the integration of employability-based mechanisms and identity-related psychological factors. The findings further refine expectancy theory by showing that the effects of employability evaluations vary across home- and destination-country contexts. They also extend social identity and self-congruity theories by highlighting the moderating roles of patriotism and self-congruity in study-abroad decision-making. Practically, the findings provide actionable implications for policymakers, higher education institutions, students, parents, and overseas recruitment agencies seeking to promote and better understand international student mobility, while population-level generalization should be made cautiously because of the non-probability sampling design and defined analytical scope.
