Determinants of the Sojourner's Attitudinal Satisfaction: A Path Model

Abstract

This paper develops a sequential model that specifies the interrelationships among six major variables which determine a sojourner's attitudinal satisfaction with living in another culture. Attitude theory and previous findings on sojourner's adjustment provided the theoretical foundation for the model. The paper argues that a sojourner's general cross-cultural attitude can be separated into its three components: (1) the affective component—the perspective the sojourner uses to evaluate intercultural interactions; (2) the cognitive component—the stereotypes the sojourner has of host nationals; and (3) the conative component—the behavioral tendencies that the sojourner has toward interacting with host nationals. It is theorized that these three components interact together to influence the amount and type of interaction that the sojourner has with host nationals. Further, the nature of this interaction influences the sojourner's attitudinal satisfaction with her or his stay in the host culture. Finally, the paper suggests, this process can be positively affected by participation in cross-cultural training. Six hypotheses were generated. The hypotheses and the adequacy of the model were empirically tested utilizing path analysis.