Three sides to a story : an investigation into the applicability of cultural adjustment models

Abstract

This paper aims to identify which intercultural adjustment model – assimilation, acculturation or cultural adaptation - best interprets empirical data gathered through interviews of seven repeat intercultural sojourners to answer the question “how do intercultural sojourners reflect on the adjustment process in the host culture after having recovered from re-entry shock”? Results indicate that the cultural adaptation model promoted Berry (1991, 1999) and Bailyn & Kelman (1962) is the most thorough based on the available empirical evidence. Suggestions for further research point out to the need for developing a single unified, policy-relevant model that would create sufficient flexibility (empirical relevance) to describe the range of situations that intercultural sojourners and returnees experience.