The impact of information and communication technology on cultural reentry adjustment

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of current information and communication technologies with cultural reentry adjustment. The 101 participants in the study were missionaries returning to the United States from 44 different countries. The questionnaire included items on communication frequency and satisfaction, as well as the reentry adjustment measures of psychological adjustment, sociocultural adjustment, and intercultural identity.;The data on communication behavior revealed that mediated communication could be just as satisfying as face-to-face communication. E-mail was viewed as the most satisfying form of communication technology with scores that equaled or exceeded types of face-to-face communication. Internet or Web access was the most satisfying of the information technologies, with scores surpassing other mass media including newspapers, magazines, and television.;Communication behavior accounted for 44% of the variance in psychological adjustment scores (as measured on a depression scale). The communication items used in the analysis had shown significant correlations with psychological adjustment. These significant correlations included items on communication frequency (from U.S. colleagues and Internet access) and satisfaction (from U.S. relatives, personal phone calls, visits from U.S. tourists, and access to U.S. newspapers).;Communication behavior and respondents' age accounted for 31% of the variance on sociocultural adaptation (as measured on a social difficulty scale). The significant correlations again included items on communication frequency (from friends and email) and satisfaction (from visits by U.S. tourists).;Four intercultural identity groups (home favored, host favored, integrated, and disintegrated) were formed by combining scores on home and host culture identification scales. For psychological adjustment, the lowest depression scores were obtained by the integrated category, followed by home favored, host favored, and disintegrated groups. For sociocultural adjustment, the lowest degree of social difficulty was recorded again for the integrated group followed by the home, disintegrated, and host groups. Communication items accounted for 45% of the variance on home culture identification and 27% of the variance on host culture identification.