What Makes People Abroad Satisfied? The Role of Cultural Intelligence, Cultural Identity, and Culture Shock

Abstract

If an individual who lives abroad feels satisfied, they are able to develop their ability to function in the new culture. The satisfaction with life abroad depends on cultural intelligence (CQ): people with higher CQ easily adapt to a new culture. Our article seeks to understand the relationship between CQ and satisfaction with life abroad using two new variables—culture shock and cultural identity. The direct and indirect relationships between all variables have been investigated using a sample of 194 predominantly international students studying at Czech universities and the PLS SEM statistical technique. The results have shown that CQ is a positive predictor of dependent variable satisfaction with life abroad. When two mediators—cultural identity and culture shock—were added, we found out that the CQ is a positive predictor of the former and a negative predictor of the latter. The analysis of multiple mediations has further confirmed the indirect influence of culture shock (but not cultural identity) on the direct relationship between cultural intelligence and satisfaction with life.