Effects of bonding with parents and home culture on intercultural adaptations and the moderating role of genes

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

5-2017

Abstract

In the current age of globalization, living abroad is becoming an increasingly common and highly sought after experience. Sojourners’ ability to adjust to a new culture can be affected by their existing attachments, internalized as intrapsychic environment, as well as their biological sensitivity to environment. This sensitivity can be partly attributed to one's genomic endowments. As such, this prospective study sought to examine the differential effects of early experiences with parents and affection for home culture on young adults’ ability to adapt to a foreign culture (n = 305, students who studied overseas for a semester) – specifically, the difficulties they experience – moderated by genetic susceptibility. An additional 258 students who did not travel overseas were included as a comparison group to demonstrate the uniqueness of intercultural adaptation. Current findings suggest that the maternal, paternal and cultural bondings or affections affect different aspects of intercultural adjustment. Maternal bonding affected sojourners’ relationships with host nationals, while paternal bonding affected sojourners’ adjustment to a new physical environment. Moreover, individuals’ genetic predispositions significantly moderate these main effects regarding how much difficulty the sojourners experienced overseas.

Keywords

Acculturation, Attachment, Cultural adjustment, Cultural attachment, Gene × environment, Parental bonding, Polygenic score, Sojourners

Discipline

Child Psychology | Multicultural Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Behavioural Brain Research

Volume

325

First Page

223

Last Page

236

ISSN

0166-4328

Identifier

10.1016/j.bbr.2017.02.012

Publisher

Elsevier

Additional URL

https://doi.org./10.1016/j.bbr.2017.02.012

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