Development of Cultural Compentence Skills in Immigrants in the U.S.A.
Abstract :
Immigration is a reality that many people experience in their lives due to different reasons. Immigrants not only have to adapt to a new society and culture, but they also have to learn a new language, social norms, and develop certain skills to succeed in a new country. In this paper, cultural competence is discussed as an important skill that immigrants need to effectively function in a new society. Different factors; will also be discussed, since some immigrants may develop cultural competence skills at different levels while other immigrants may not be able to develop these skills at all. A research study was conducted to identify if immigrants are able to develop cultural competence skills while living in the United States. Immigrants to the United States, aged 18 or older, completed an internet survey, that assessed personality characteristics and cultural competence skills. It was hypothesized that factors such as native language, similarity between cultures, age, length of time spent in the US, and personality traits would influence the development of cultural competence skills in immigrants. Consistent with the hypotheses, age and length of time spent in the new country did influence the development of cultural competence skills in immigrants. However, in contrast to the hypotheses, results also showed that native language, similarity between cultures, and personality traits did not influence the development of cultural competence skills in immigrants. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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