Capitalizing on cultural differences: A cross-disciplinary outlook from social psychology to international business

Working Paper ISSN: 2281-5023 - Accepted in the 10th Ph.D. and Post-Doc Seminar and Conference, Maastricht University 2015 - Global and Cross-Cultural Organizational Research - Sponsors: Hofstede Chair, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), Maastricht Universit

A Psychological Perspective on the Role of Culture in Sino-European FDI Contexts - Managers' perception of cultural difference and its impact on international business

This paper aims at conducting an explorative study to investigate three research questions: 1) whether culture in cross-cultural business context still matters, 2) why it matters, and 3) how we can deal with cultural differences. Drawing upon theories of international business, social/cultural psychology and the contributions of positive psychology, this study in the context of Sino-European FDI provides a more integrative and constructive view of culture (cultural differences) as an evergreen phenomenon in international business. Extant literature contains numerous studies about culture, mostly from the perspective of countries and organizations. We fill the void in our study by focusing on the individual level and explore the perceptions of culture of European managers investing in China. Our sample consists of managers representing their European companies investing in China. Managers\u2019 perceptions were inquired along 12 dimensions within the psychic distance model, elaborated and operationalized by international business scholars. Managers agreed on replying to a series of questions under the form of an interview, including Likert scale questions, reflecting their perceptions along each psychic distance dimension, including culture. Main findings show that culture is perceived as the most relevant dimension in Sino-European contexts. This paper contributes to the literature on cultural impact in international business settings by focusing on the individual\u2019s subjective perceptions. This study highlights how intergroup relations between European and Chinese managers coming from different cultural background are challenging, while the diversity and perceived differences also provide opportunities

Rapporto con la famiglia e sviluppo del concetto di s\ue9 in adolescenza [family relationship and self concept development in adolescence]

The aim of this study was to investigate associations between family relationships and self-concept in adolescence. Specifically, we investigated how adolescent attachment (expressed by levels of trust, communication, and alienation; Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) to both parents is associated with self-concept clarity (Campbell, 1990), that indicates the extent to which self beliefs are clear, internally consistent and stable. Participants were 2113 Italian adolescents (979 boys and 1134 girls), with ages ranging between 11 and 18 years (1023 were attending junior high schools and 1090 were attending high schools). Participants filled out the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Nada-Raja, McGee, & Stanton, 1992) and the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (Campbell, Trapnell, Heine, Katz, Lavalle, & Lehman, 1996). Main findings of the multivariate analyses of variance indicated that quality of paternal and maternal relationships worsened during adolescence: trust in both parents and quality of communication with them was lower among older adolescents, that reported also higher levels of alienation. Second, self-concept clarity varied as a function of both gender and age (i.e., self-concept clarity increased over time for male adolescents, whereas it decreased for female adolescents). Results of regression analyses pointed out that paternal and maternal trust were positively related to self-concept clarity, whereas paternal and maternal alienation and maternal communication were negatively linked to it. A further exploration of these associations within gender and age adolescent groups highlighted that within the younger adolescent category paternal and maternal relationships were related to self-concept clarity in both male and female groups. On the contrary, within the older adolescent category only paternal attachment was related to boys\u2019 self-concept clarity and only maternal attachment was linked to girls\u2019 self-concept clarity

Riflessioni e strumenti per l\u2019orientamento scolastico e universitario

Il libro costituisce un manuale di consultazione per quanti vogliano farsi un'idea sullo stato dell'arte in materia di orientamento scolastico e alle profession

INTELLIGENZE IN AZIONE

La collana si propone di promuovere la documentazione, la ricerca e la formazione su tematiche inerenti alla teoria delle intelligenze multiple e alle sue applicazioni, con un?attenzione sia agli aspetti teorici sia alle esperienze applicative, in prospettiva nazionale e internazionale. Il mio ruolo \ue8 co-direttrice della collana; non \ue8 stato possibile inserirlo in quanto il sistema non lo preved