Process and Psychological Patterns of Cross-Cultural Adjustment of Expatriates Working with Thais

Abstract

The aims of this research were to study the cross-cultural adjustment process and to investigate the psychological patterns of the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates working with Thais. There were 30 key informants, including ASEAN expatriates, Asians, Europeans, Americans, Australians, and Africans who have been working with Thais in Chiang Mai for at least 10 months.        A purposive sampling method was used to obtain the key informants. Qualitative technique, namely in-depth interview, was applied to collect data in this research. All the data were analyzed using the content analysis method. The results revealed that the cross-cultural adjustment process can be divided into 6 stages: 1) Anticipatory Adjustment Stage, 2) Setting Down Stage, 3) Honeymoon Stage, 4) Cultural Conflict Stage, 5) Adjustment Stage, and 6) Mastery Stage. Additionally, there are 2 psychological patterns of cross-cultural adjustment; 1) adjustment with open-mindedness, understanding, acceptance, and adaptation, 2) adjustment with an accepting yet with incomprehension and looking for adaptation. The study found that Thai language proficiency played an important role in the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates working with Thais in Thailand.