Finnish expatriates' adaptation to a multicultural environment

This study addresses Finnish expatriates’ adaptation to a multicultural environment. The study focuses on the role of individual values and empathy in adaptation, using Van Oudenhoven & Van der Zee’s (e.g., 2000) work on the multicultural personality as the frame of interpretation. The target group were Finnish expatriates and expatriate spouses (N=52) in Brussels. The method used was conversion mixed data analysis. Adaptation was studied with a semi-structured interview, where the respondents were also encouraged to talk freely about any issues that they felt were important concerning living abroad. The goal was to bring out the conceptions and understanding of the participants of the study themselves. This data was analysed mainly with grounded theory methods, applying also some techniques of interpretative phenomenological analysis. In this first phase the major interests were: 1) to find dimensions and other components of adaptation, and 2) to form types of adaptation. Dimensions refer to qualities and attributes the individuals either possess before moving or learn and gain while living abroad. In addition, any additional components affecting adaptation were searched. The types of adaptation were formed by examining main commonalities and differences between the respondents’ answers. By classifying the respondents into different types I attempted to find out how individuals differed in their adaptation. The data in the second phase of the study was collected by means of Schwartz’s Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ) (Schwartz et al., 1999) and Davis’s (1994) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). This data was related to the results of the first phase converted into numerical form by examining correlations between converted variables, values and empathy. The value rank order was compared to studies conducted in Finland with persons of similar education. In the first phase five dimensions of adaptation were found: broadmindedness, flexibility, extroversion, self-efficacy and adventurousness. The dimensions were closely connected to each other. In addition, such competencies and concepts as fluency in the language of the country and social networks, and time spent abroad, were associated with certain dimensions. Based on two major axes, motivation and competencies, four types of adaptation were established: ideally adapted, positively adapting, ambiguously adapting, and not adapted. In the second phase the five dimensions were converted into numerical form, each dimension forming a bipolar category, following the initial continuums found in text analysis. Broadmindedness was divided into growing and extensive broadmindedness, flexibility into evolving and inclusive poles, and extroversion into striving and natural extrovert. Self-efficacy and adventurousness were coded as dummy variables as a function whether they were mentioned of not. The “not adapted” group was discussed separately in the analysis, since it could not be included into the statistical analysis due to its small size. Among the expatriates, universalism was the most important value, followed by self-direction. Conformity and security ranked lower than in the Finnish samples with a university-level education. Self-direction values were related to several dimensions of adaptation. Self-direction correlated with extensive broadmindedness, inclusive flexibility, natural extrovert, and adventurousness. Those categorized as ideally adapted also scored significantly higher on self-direction than the positively adapting or ambiguously adapting group. Universalism was related to inclusive flexibility, and the natural extrovert group had significantly lower scores on conformity than the striving extrovert group. Regarding empathy, the extensive broadmindedness group scored higher than the growing broadmindedness group on perspective taking. The natural extrovert group and the ideally adapted type had lower scores on personal distress. Combining the results of both phases of the study, what stood out were the relevance of high priority for universalism and self-direction values, and low priority for conformity, as well as the significance of perspective taking and low personal distress in adaptation. The qualitative analysis was also consistent with the assumption that these values and aspects of empathy could change in the process of adaptation.