The role of communication, technology, and cultural identity in repatriation adjustment

The current study examines the influence of demographic factors, communication behavior, and cultural identity on the repatriation adjustment of 101 American sojourners returning from work assignments in 44 different countries. The results indicated that the demographic factors of age, marital status, length of sojourn, and attendance at debriefing had a significant relationship with repatriation adjustment. Levels of closeness in relationships and satisfaction with use of information and communication technology were also related to repatriation adjustment. In fact, several mediated forms of communication, such as email and the Internet, received as high or higher ratings than some types of face-to-face communication. Intercultural identity patterns (home favored, host favored, integrated, and disintegrated) were defined, and results on them demonstrated that integrated and home-favored patterns had the smoother repatriation adjustment, while disintegrated and host-favored patterns had more difficult repatriation experiences. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.