Browsing by Subject "Acculturation"
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Item Acculturation, Alcohol Expectancies, and Alcohol Use Among Mexican-American Adolescents(2011-02-22) Flato, Claudia GracielaThe current study was designed to examine the influence of cultural orientation on alcohol involvement among Mexican-American adolescents. Also, this study assessed whether cultural orientation predicted positive and negative alcohol expectancies for the effects of drinking one to two drinks or bingeing; and whether alcohol-use expectancies mediated the effects of acculturation on drinking practices. The participants were 300 Mexican-American high school students (M = 16.5, SD = 1.15; 178 female and 122 male) from a city along the Texas/Mexico border who were mostly self-identified as 2nd generation Mexican-Americans. The students completed the questionnaires regarding alcohol involvement, acculturation, and alcohol expectancies. Significant findings in the current study indicated a higher orientation to Mexican culture predicted higher levels of alcohol involvement for boys; whereas, a higher orientation to U.S. culture predicted higher alcohol involvement for girls. Also, identification with Mexican culture for girls predicted negative alcohol expectancies for low and high quantities of alcohol use.Item Acculturation, gender, and physical/psychological health : the case of Middle Eastern immigrants in the U.S.(2015-05) Shafeek Amin, 1976-, Neveen Fawzy; Musick, Marc A.; Hummer, Robert A.; Raley, R. Kelly; Rodríguez, Néstor P; Read, Jen'nan GPrevious studies show that health outcomes of immigrants in the United States are favorable compared with U.S.-born whites. Middle Eastern (ME) immigrants are a growing U.S. minority population, yet research on their health is minimal. Using data from the 2002–2012 National Health Interview Surveys, this dissertation addresses key gaps in the immigrant health literature of the ME population through three empirical chapters examining the association between ac¬culturation and various physical/psychological health outcomes of ME immigrants in the U.S. I first examine the association between acculturation and three health outcomes (self-rated health, activity limitations, and chronic health conditions) among ME immigrants, comparing their health to those of U.S.-born whites. Results show that whereas the least acculturated ME immigrants have significantly lower odds of reporting fair or poor health, the most acculturated ME immigrants have higher odds of reporting fair or poor health compared to U.S.-born whites. Additionally, ME immigrants are significantly less likely to report any activity limitations or chronic health conditions compared to U.S.-born whites. I next investigate whether the relationship between acculturation and the three health outcomes varies by gender. Results indicate that, ME immigrants are generally healthier than U.S.-born whites; ME immigrant men are healthier than ME immigrant women. The study finds evidence of an association between acculturation and self-rated health. However, the acculturation pattern does not hold for activity limitations or for chronic health conditions. Male and female ME immigrants of all accultura¬tion levels are less likely to report any activity limitations or chronic health conditions compared to their U.S.-born counterparts.I then examine the linkage of duration status and serious psychological distress (SPD) of ME immigrants comparing their SPD to those of U.S.-born whites and investigating whether this relationship varies by gender. I find evidence that duration status and SPD pattern pertains to ME immigrants, particularly women, who report higher odds of SPD compared to their male counterparts. Results show no statistically significant differences between ME immigrant men and U.S.-born white men with regard to SPD. On the contrary, whereas ME immigrant women with shorter duration are less likely to report SPD than U.S.-born whites, ME immigrant women with longer duration are significantly more likely to report SPD compared to U.S.-born whites.Item Acculturative Self-Efficacy: A New View on the Acculturation Process for Individuals of Mexican Descent(2011-08) Rodriguez, Sofia; Hardin, Erin E.; Borrego, Joaquin P.; Hendrick, Susan S.; Richards, StevenAcculturation research is increasingly focusing on how Mexicans and Mexican Americans culturally adapt when coming into contact with a dominant culture. Understanding acculturation is important because immigrants who are more acculturated to U.S. culture experience better adjustment, more utilization of mental health services, and more success while living in the United States (Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health, 2001). In spite of an upward trend of research on acculturation and adaptation for individuals of Mexican descent, the literature continues to suggest that there is not “a measure that adequately samples the major behavioral and attitudinal domains related to acculturative change” (Zane & Mak, 2002, p. 54). Until recently, research had not investigated how a Mexican American’s self-efficacy (an individual’s perception of his or her confidence to complete a task; Bandura, 1997) towards acculturation plays a role in successful adjustment to the dominant culture. A pilot study of a new acculturation scale, the Acculturative Self-Efficacy Scale (Rodriguez-Siuts & Hardin, 2008), revealed confidence or self-efficacy (e.g., in speaking English or making European American friends) is indeed an important factor to consider when examining successful cultural adjustment for Mexican Americans living in the United States. The present study was designed to examine a revised Acculturative Self- Efficacy Scale (ASES) that addresses the limitations and concerns found in the pilot study. The results indicated that ASES has good psychometric properties, including good reliability and validity. Additionally, the ASES predicted some aspects of psychological and sociocultural adaptation above and beyond behavioral acculturation, as measured by the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II).Item Adolescent academic achievement in Chinese immigrant families : the direct effects of individual and dyadic acculturation processes and the indirect effects of family obligation and academic engagement(2011-08) Ammon, Natalie Younok 1981-; Kim, Su YeongThe Asian immigrant population is growing more rapidly than any other group in the U.S. (Social Science Data Analysis Network, 2004), and Chinese Americans represent the largest Asian subgroup (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). Assuming recent trends continue, the number of first- and second-generation Chinese children will increase dramatically, and their developmental needs will demand special attention. Using structural equation modeling to analyze two waves of data from a study on 444 Chinese families, this project aims to provide a better understanding of the relations between family members’ adaptations to life in the U.S. and adolescents’ academic grade point average (GPA). Chinese children of immigrants have been found to succeed in school (Fuligni, Tseng, & Lam, 1999). However, little is known about the ways in which their academic achievement may be related to acculturation, the process through which an individual or group makes socio-cultural or behavioral adjustments through repeated contact with another group or culture (Gordon, 1964; Berry, 2003). Exploring the variation in acculturative processes among Chinese immigrant family members and identifying how the various acculturative strategies may relate to adolescent academic achievement would bridge a gap in the extant literature. Therefore, the first objective of this study was to assess whether fathers’, mothers’, and adolescents’ individual acculturation to American and Chinese cultures were related to adolescents’ GPA. The second goal was to test for moderation effects in these relations. Interaction terms were created for parents’ acculturation in relation to adolescents’ acculturation to test whether the connections between adolescents’ acculturation to the American and Chinese cultures and adolescents’ GPA were conditional on either fathers’ or mothers’ American or Chinese orientation. Third, this study included two culturally salient factors as mediators of potential relations found between individual and dyadic acculturative processes and adolescents’ academic achievement. These mediators were adolescents’ sense of family obligation and adolescents’ level of behavioral academic engagement. The fourth and final objective was to assess whether there was invariance by adolescent gender in the structural model.Item An analysis of the relationship between certain selected aspects of acculturation and the school adjustment of Mexican-American students in the seventh-grade(Texas Tech University, 1969-08) Newton, Harry Gene,Not availableItem An empirical study of Chinese communicative competence in an American cultural setting(Texas Tech University, 1979-12) Chou, Pao-PeiNot availableItem An examination of acculturation, racial identity, perceived discrimination and mental health outcomes among Africans and Afro-Caribbeans in the United States(2016-08) Awosogba, Olufunke Rachael; Cokley, Kevin O. (Kevin O'Neal), 1969-; Awad, Germine; Bentley-Edwards, Keisha; Sanchez, Delida; Foster, KevinIn the realm of multicultural psychology, focusing on within-group differences facilitates to a deeper understanding of cultural constructs (Bernal, Cumba-Avilés, & Rodriguez-Quintana, 2014). Despite expanded research on acculturation, racial identity, and perceived discrimination on mental health outcomes among various racial and ethnic minority groups, the theoretical and empirical literature focusing on Black immigrants (i.e., Afro-Caribbeans, recent Africans, and their descendants) is scant. This study examined a conceptual model that describes the relationships among acculturation, enculturation, racial centrality, perceived discrimination, and mental health outcomes (specifically, anxiety and depression) among Africans and Afro-Caribbeans in the United States. Two hundred African and Afro-Caribbean adults across 25 states and territories in the United States participated in this study. Using Qualitrics, an online enterprise data collection and survey software, participants completed informed consent forms, a demographic questionnaire, the Measurement of Acculturation Strategies for People of African Descent (MASPAD), the Racial Centrality subscale of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI), the Perceived Discrimination Scale (PDS), and the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI). A path analysis was employed to test the fit of the hypothesized model to the data using three widely used fit indices –comparative fit index (CFI), standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR), and root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA). Two (CFI and SRMR) out of the three fit indices suggested adequate to good model fit. The hypothesized path model proposed that acculturation and enculturation would directly affect anxiety and depression, and that racial identity and perceived discrimination would explain the relationship between these cultural adaptation and mental health outcomes variables. Path coefficients were examined for significance to address the hypotheses. All paths in the model were significant accept direct paths from acculturation and enculturation to anxiety and depression. Overall, acculturation and enculturation had significant effects on anxiety and depression, only indirectly through racial centrality and perceived discrimination. Implications for findings are discussed.Item Anger Suppression and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Women in the United States(2010-01-14) Chen, SylviaThis study was designed to remedy the current lack of information on the causes of depression among Chinese women in the United States. It is based on an integrated understanding of depression, anger, female gender socialization, acculturation processes, and Chinese cultural values. More specifically, this study aims to investigate the depressive symptoms in this population using a psychoanalytic conceptualization of depression as anger "turn-inward." The researcher hypothesized that after controlling for the effects of female gender role identification and acculturation level, anger suppression has a direct positive effect on depressive symptoms. It was also hypothesized that female gender role identification has a direct positive effect on depressive symptoms. Statistically significant strong positive relationships were found for both relationships. Results also suggested that acculturation level has a direct negative effect on depressive symptoms. However, neither the Chinese culture orientation nor the European American culture orientation was found to have a statistically significant effect on depressive symptoms. It is worth noting that the results of this study revealed that 90% of the variance in depressive symptoms was explained by variables included the path model in this study. Recommendations for future research and clinical practice are also discussed.Item Brazilian immigrant women : the relationship of marianismo and acculturative stress to acculturation types(2012-05) Bessa, Luana Barbossa; Borich, Gary D.; Cokley, KevinThe proposed study will investigate how individuals of different acculturation types vary in their levels of acculturative stress and marianismo. First-generation Brazilian immigrant females will complete a demographic questionnaire, as well as measures of acculturation, marianismo, and acculturative stress. Two 1-way ANOVA analyses and one 1-way ANCOVA analysis will be conducted in order to explore the relationship between these variables. It is proposed that Brazilian immigrant women’s levels of acculturative stress and marianismo will vary by acculturation type. It is further proposed that measuring adherance to traditional gender roles as varying by acculturation type rather than level will yield a more nuanced understanding of this relationship by not confounding integrated and marginalized individuals. Implications and limitations of the study’s potential findings will be discussed. Lastly, a program evaluation perspective will be presented to further explicate the implications of the current study for mental health outcomes and the provision of mental health services to Brazilian immigrant women.Item Chinese international students' cross-cultural adjustment in the U.S. : the roles of acculturation strategies, self-construals, perceived cultural distance, and English self-confidence(2009-05) Wang, Wei-hsuan; Suizzo, Marie-Anne; Falbo, ToniAmong all the international students enrolled in the U.S. colleges or universities, Chinese international students, including those who come from Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong, accounted for 16.7%, which is a fairly high percentage (Institute of International Education, 2004). They may encounter very unique acculturative stress because of different cultural norms and academic expectations between Chinese and American cultures. Ward and her colleagues (1990) claimed that cross-cultural adjustment can be best examined from two fundamental dimensions: psychological and sociocultural adjustment. These two dimensions are conceptually distinct but empirically related. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the influences of acculturation strategies (Berry, 1980), self-views in relation to others (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Kagitcibasi, 1996 & 2005), perceived cultural distance (Babiker et al., 1980), and English self-confidence (Clement & Baker, 2001) on different dimensions of Chinese international students’ cross-cultural adjustment. Research questions and hypotheses were focused on how each factor affects the cross-cultural adjustment, and how these factors interact with each other as they generate impacts on adjustment. 177 international students of Chinese heritage from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong participated in the study. They were asked to fill out self-report questionnaires about their demographic information, acculturation strategies, self-construals, perceived cultural distance, English self-confidence, and psychological and sociocultural adjustment in the U.S. Results indicated that length of residence in the U.S., participation in the host society (one dimension of acculturation strategies), direct communication, autonomy (sub-dimensions of independent self-construal), and English self-confidence were positively correlated with psychological adjustment. On the other hand, length of residence, marital status, direct communication (a sub-dimension of independent self-construal), perceived cultural distance, and English self-confidence were positively associated with sociocultural adjustment. In addition, a few mediating effects were revealed: (a) Independent self-construal mediated the relation between participation in the U.S. society and sociocultural adjustment; (b) English self-confidence mediated the relation between participation in the host society and cross-cultural adjustment; (c) English self-confidence mediated the relation between independent self-construal and sociocultural adjustment. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.Item Correlates of locus of control in Mexican American eighth graders(Texas Tech University, 1979-05) Smith, Margaret Jeanel RussellNot availableItem The effect of acculturation on parental perception of child psychological assessment among Chinese Americans(2010-12) Ho, Eching; Tharinger, Deborah J.; Cawthon, Stephanie W.Psychological assessment has a long history to be used for diagnostic purposes for all ages. This traditional model of assessment has been common for decades, but has not emphasized some important aspects of best practice (Brenner, 2003). To address the limitations of the information gathering model of assessment, collaborative and therapeutic approaches to assessment have been developed over the past several decades (e.g. Finn & Thonsager, 1997; Fischer, 1970). Therapeutic Assessment (TA) emphasizes the opportunity to provide positive changes in the client and their system by involving the client throughout the assessment process, and establishing a meaningful and collaborative relationship between assessor and client (Finn, 2007). The TA has been found to produce many positive impacts on client’s assessment experiences in mainstream American culture. It is important to note how these positive impacts transfer to clients of different cultures. Thus the purpose of this study will be to investigate the effect of acculturation on Asian American parents’ perception of existing models of child assessment. This study will examine the relations between acculturation and perception of assessment models (information gathering model versus Therapeutic Assessment) among Chinese American parents.Item Entre dos culturas (between two cultures) : Mexican American university students’ perceptions of pressures experienced and their adaptive strategies among white and same-ethnicity peers.(2013-05) Olivarri, Roger Joseph; Valencia, Richard R.Individuals of Mexican descent have resided in the United States for more than a century and a half and during that time have experienced varying degrees of acceptance. As American society has generally adopted the view that "foreigners" should assimilate to mainstream American culture, many individuals of Mexican descent have faced demands to distance themselves from their culture in order to adopt the behaviors and values consistent with White American culture. While many ethnic groups may have faced similar circumstances, the experiences of individuals of Mexican descent may differ from those of others due to the close proximity of Mexico to the United States and the constant flow of Mexican immigrants, which together may contribute to their retention of their native culture. As individuals of Mexican descent experience greater contact with their native and White American culture, particularly while in pursuit in success, it becomes necessary to understand what pressures individuals experience when among their White American and same-ethnicity peers. Furthermore, it is necessary to examine how they negotiate their bicultural contexts in response to the pressures they face. Using a sample of university student who were of Mexican descent, this study employed qualitative methods and select measures to explore their perceptions of pressures faced and adaptive strategies utilized when among their White American and same-ethnicity peers. The results from the present study indicated that the participants believed their culture continues to be seen as inferior and is unaccepted by White Americans. As a result of their beliefs, which were reinforced by their minority status, stereotypes, and intergroup experiences, many reported experiencing distress when among their White peers. Among their same-ethnicity peers, many reported experiencing pressure to remain connected to their culture. Despite different definitions of what remaining connected meant, the most commonly referenced criterion included being fluent in Spanish and having to overcome struggles. In order to negotiate their bicultural settings, the majority of the participants utilized an adaptive approach to their bicultural contexts that allowed them the flexibility to draw from both cultures in a manner that was consistent with their values, beliefs, and cultural identity.Item Examining School, Home, and Community Acculturation Experiences of Four Liberian Immigrant Youths in the United States(2012-02-14) Saah, LycheneHistorically, Liberian immigrants to the United States tended to be wealthy, educated individuals who wanted their children to acquire a Western education. The thirteen-year Liberian Civil War resulted in a new wave of U.S. migration. Many recent Liberian immigrants hold low socio-economic statuses. Some came to this country illiterate or with gaps in their education. This has created a cultural-educational gap amongst newly arrived Liberian immigrants. Many young Liberian immigrants struggle with educational and socialization issues. Studies have been conducted on the acculturation experiences of youths from Europe, Asia, and South and Central America. Yet to date, very little research has been done on the lives of African youth, especially those who emigrated from Liberia after the civil war. Their voices have been missing from the literature. This qualitative study provides narratives of four Liberian immigrant youths, between the ages of 18 and 22 years old, who formerly attended schools in Liberia, have lived in the U.S. less than ten years, and have attended at least three years of high school in the United States. Each youth was interviewed regarding their school, home, and community acculturation experiences. Excerpts of their interviews allow the reader to hear the participants' stories in their own words. Findings of the research from emergent themes indicate that the Liberian immigrant youths had many commonalities in their acculturation experiences such as: accent ridicule, bullying by peers, fights between African Americans and Liberian immigrants, and lack of appreciation for African cultures. The participants also struggled with ethnic identity issues, limited finances, and unjust educational and social systems in the United States. All four Liberian immigrants experienced some type of external and internal conflicts. A relationship was found between the possession of resiliency traits and the Liberian immigrant youths' abilities to handle conflicts and successfully acculturate to the United States. Two participants possessed strong resiliency characteristics such as autonomy, problem solving abilities, abilities to forgive, a sense of purpose and future, and creativity. They had favorable acculturation experiences, successfully graduating from high school. Two other participants lacked resiliency traits and had less favorable acculturation experiences. They succumbed to external and internal conflicts and dropped out of high school.Item From riots to rampart : a spatial cultural politics of Salvadoran migration to and from Los Angeles(2002-05) Zilberg, Elana Jean; Stewart, Kathleen, 1953-This study of Salvadoran transnational migration is a multi-sited interAmerican ethnography. I explore the contentious spatial cultural politics surrounding the Latinization of Los Angeles and the Americanization of El Salvador attached to the global cultural flows of people, money, commodities and ideas between California and Central America. The study began and ended in Los Angeles. In between I traveled to and lived in El Salvador. Each chapter threads together multiple sites and connections between Los Angeles and El Salvador around the practices of representation, consumption, redevelopment, policing, and forced repatriation (deportation). I argue that more than just the literal movement of people back and forth. connections between El Salvador and Los Angeles are also material and discursive, imaginary and spatial, affective and mimetic. The ethnography spans these events in Los Angeles between 1992 and 2000: The Los Angeles (Rodney King) Riot and the most recent disruption in the Los Angeles Police Department—corruption charges against its Rampart (PicoUnion) division. While steeped in this political history, space—the production, representation, use of and arguments over—serves as the primary interpretive thread throughout the study. Most concretely speaking then, this dissertation is about Salvadoran migration to and from Los Angeles. Most abstractly speaking, it is about the social production of space and the spatialization of culture in late capitalism. The dissertation focuses on the globalization between the Americas as a process fraught with what I term a dialectic of mobility and immobility. As sucyh, it examines the tensions between global flows and the way those cultural movements are arrested and immobilized, and how transnational formations can be and are produced by nationalism (US and Salvadoran).Item General interest magazine language preference among Hispanics(Texas Tech University, 2004-08) Galvez, Robert AnthonyAn experiment was conducted to determine if there was a relationship between the way language is presented in a magazine article and Hispanics' perceptions of the article. Two hundred and seventeen respondents in west Texas read articles in Spanish, English and a mix of English with Spanish. Subjects were given a questionnaire to identify their affinity toward the articles, their ability to understand the articles, and their perceptions of the news value of the articles. The ARSMA-II scale was used to evaluate respondent's level of acculturation. Data analysis revealed Hispanics preferred the articles written in English and the mix of English and Spanish to the articles written in Spanish alone. No relationship was found between level of acculturation and preference for language presentation style.Item Identity, mobility, and marginality : counseling third culture kids in college(2012-05) Downey, Dana Leigh; Awad, Germine H.; Moore, Leslie A.The number of Americans living abroad currently is estimated at over four million, with over 37,000 matriculating into U.S. universities each year. If the social media giant Facebook were a country, it would be third largest in the world, with over 300 million users outside of America. The trajectory of our society is increasingly global. Amidst this shift, there is a unique multicultural subpopulation emerging-- Third Culture Kids (TCK), who experience a collision of cultures and form hybrid identities in the course of their development. TCKs are more specifically when a person spends a significant part of their developmental years outside their parents’ culture. The TCK takes on pieces of each culture, while never fully ‘belonging’ to any. They are most at home around others of a similar transient background. This report synthesizes research about globally mobile populations from across disciples, highlighting grief and ambiguous losses, acculturation stresses, and identity development. Potential implications for the college campus— at institutional and individual levels— will be discussed. This overview of current research and resources equips college counselors with a frame of reference for engaging this third culture in a holistic and contextualized manner.Item Impact of transitioning to the U.S. on Koreans' health behaviors and well-being(2013-12) Hwang, Hyenam; Harrison, Tracie C.Immigration transition may be an opportunity for physical, psychological, and social improvement, but the health of transitioning individuals may actually be at an increased risk for decline. In order to overcome negative influencing factors on the health of immigrants trying to integrate into a new society, examining the impact of transitioning immigration on the health of immigrants is important. Transition has complex and multidimensional patterns based on an individual’s social and cultural background. Korean immigrants in transitioning to the U.S. have experienced a specific and unique situation. Thus, the primary purpose of this study was to identify the impact of immigration transition, which is defined in the middle-range theory of transition, on the health-promoting behaviors and mental well-being of Korean immigrants in the U.S. A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational comparative design was used for examining a total of 192 Koreans: 105 in the U.S. and 87 in S. Korea, which were selected through matched age and gender controls with Korean immigrant participants in the U.S. The average ages were 46.8 (Median = 47, SD = 12.5) of Korean immigrants in the U.S and 46.2 (Median = 46, SD = 12.7) of 87 native S. Koreans. Korean immigrants had a low level of acculturation and limited English proficiency. The level of health-promoting behaviors of Korean immigrants was higher than that of S. Koreans, especially in subscales of health promotion, nutrition, and safety. Social resourcefulness was a key predictor of health-promoting behaviors and mental well-being among Korean immigrants. Also, self-control was a dominant mediator on the relationship between behavioral acculturation and mental well-being. Increasing acculturation and English ability for Korean immigrants, as well as increasing self-control, family functioning, and social resourcefulness were found to be important to improve integrating Korean immigrants into the U.S. These findings provide essential information that all health care professionals can use to increase their awareness of the importance of appropriately treating individuals with different cultural perspectives as well as diverse populations coming from varied countries.Item Learning styles and personality types: identification and comparison of hospitality students in Taiwan and the United States(Texas Tech University, 2003-08) Lai, Hung-ShengThe purposes of this study were to identify and to compare learning style and personality type profiles of hospitality undergraduate students in Taiwan and the United States (U.S.). This was the first investigation of Taiwanese hospitality students involving their distributions of learning style and personality type profiles. Four hundred and ninety-seven (497) Taiwanese hospitality students from two major universities and 294 American hospitality students from one major equivalent program completed the questionnaire, which included demographic information, Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI), and Personal Style Inventory (PSl). Frequencies were tabulated to report the distribution of personality types and learning styles of hospitality students in Taiwan and the U.S. in relation to their demographic information. Results showed that the Taiwanese and the U.S. hospitality undergraduate students had stronger tendencies for traits of extroversion (E), sensing (S), feeling (F), and judging (J) scores with respect to their corresponding personality traits. However, the learning styles of these two sets of students showed slight differences; the Taiwanese hospitality students had more Assimilators (42.7% vs. 32.3%; z = 9.44, p < .000) and fewer Accommodators (5.6% vs. 15.3%; z = -2.81, p < .005) than their U.S. counterparts. The research suggested that more Assimilators might be the result of Taiwan's test-oriented educational system. This study illustrated a cross-cultural comparison. Understanding hospitality students' learning styles and personality types can help administrators and educators to design effective curricula and lesson plans to better prepare their students for the highly competitive hospitality career market. Compared to most countries, the United States' hospitality programs are more mature and progressive. When other countries' hospitality programs try to engage in or to transfer program development and curricula from the United States for their own uses, they should be aware of the differences in culture, educational systems, and student bodies. Results found in this study may be used as a benchmark for the Taiwanese educators who want to design, transfer, and revise their programs and curricula according to the U.S. experiences to match the Taiwanese students' needs