Date of Submission

Fall 12-8-2017

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in International Conflict Management (Ph.D. INCM)

Department

Conflict Management

Committee Chair/First Advisor

Darina Lepadatu

Co-chair

Linda Treiber

Committee Member

Michael Long

Committee Member

Tavishi Bhasin

Committee Member

May Gao

Abstract

Although immigrant professionals contribute significantly to the American economy, their processes of adaptation to the host country and integration into work departments has not been sufficiently examined. Based on a survey of 241 immigrant professors in the United States, the current study sought to reveal how immigration-related identity markers, that is acculturation strategy adopted and migrant personality, impact the levels of private life satisfaction, work satisfaction, and perceptions of conflict at work. Results of Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses revealed that maintaining a balance between original cultural values and local ones, as well as scoring towards the lower-end of the migrant personality continuum are associated with increased levels of well-being and decreased perceptions of conflict at work. Contrary, maintaining original cultural values without integrating the local ones, as well as scoring high on the migrant personality continuum are associated with low levels of well-being and heightened perceptions of conflict at work. These findings may inform policy makers and scholars of conflict about the issues inherent in the acculturation process of foreign employees, and may help craft interventions that minimize the negative effects of cultural identity-based conflicts.

Share

COinS