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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Cultural Competences of International Students: Its Role on Successful Sociocultural and Psychological Adaptation

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This chapter addresses the study of cultural competences involved in the successful adaptation of a particular group of migrants: international students. Cultural competences are skills that people display when facing cultural diversity and have been found to predict job performance and academic achievement of those who have to interact in different contexts other than their own. This chapter aims to respond three questions that students consider when studying abroad: ‘What should I do to have a successful life?’, ‘How prepared are members of the host culture to receive me?’, and, ‘Who are the most successful international students?’ The first segment introduces the role of acculturative strategies of Latin American international students in Argentina in order to predict psychological adjustment (life satisfaction) and sociocultural adaptation. The second section presents local students perceptions and attitudes towards international peers and multiculturalism. The last section describes sociodemographic, cultural and psychological predictors of psychological adjustment, sociocultural adaptation and academic achievement, as well as the relationship between character strengths and cultural and academic adjustment. Finally, the role of cultural competences sensitivity and cultural intelligences as cultural competences is explained. Results demonstrate the importance of cultural variables in positive adaption to culture.