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The Influence of Personal Predispositions on Bosnian Refugees’ Resettlement Process

By Wai Hsien Cheah, Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic, Hisako Matsuo and Alma Poljarevic.

Published by The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Format	Price
Article: Print	$US10.00
Article: Electronic	$US5.00

The goal of this study was to examine the influence of personal predispositions on refugees’ resettlement process. Relationship among the participants’ motivation to learn about the U.S. culture, ethnic proximity, self-esteem, locus of control, intercultural willingness to communicate, functional fitness, psychological health, and ethnic and U.S. cultural identity salience, was examined. A cross-sectional survey design was used as the study method. Sixty seven Bosnian refugees living in a large Midwestern U.S. city took part in the study, which was actually a pilot study of a much larger project. Analyses revealed that motivation to learn about the U.S. culture, self-esteem, locus of control, and intercultural willingness to communicate enhance intercultural transformation of refugees. Ethnic proximity, however, was found to discourage refugees’ integration into the new environment. The findings suggest that refugees need to have an active voice in decision making when it comes to their resettlement, so they can better manage culture shock and challenges that cross-cultural adaptation brings along.

Keywords:	Refugees, Cross-cultural Adaptation

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Volume 5, Issue 7, pp.37-48. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 656.549KB).

Dr. Wai Hsien Cheah

Assistant Professor, Department of Speech Communication, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, USA

Dr. Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Dr. Hisako Matsuo

Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Alma Poljarevic

Graduate Student, Department of Family Therapy and Counseling, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

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