The relationship between international experience and cross-cultural adaptability

Faced with the challenges of globalization, many organizations attempt to develop employees’ intercultural adaptability by increasing their international experience. The purpose of the present study was to understand the relationship between international experience and cross-cultural adaptability from the perspective of a sample of 356 people in Taiwan. Adaptability was measured by the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory. Controlling for the potential bias of a number of background variables, the hypotheses were tested via hierarchical linear regression and analysis of covariance. The results showed that the type of international experience, rather than the frequency, had a significant effect on cross-cultural adaptability. The cross-cultural adaptability of people with greater social involvement was significantly higher than that of people without it.