Rasch 모형을 통한 대학생의 이문화 적응 태도 분석

A Rasch Analysis of College Students’ Perceptions of Cross-cultural Adaptability

The objective of this study was to investigate Korean college students’ perceptions and attitudes about coping with hypothetical multi-cultural situations, applying the Rasch measurement modeling. A secondary objective was to examine the construct validity and reliability of the instrument developed for measuring cross-cultural adaptability. A sample of 120 undergraduate students at a large university was asked to respond to the 20 item Likert-type questionnaire concerning their perceptions of possible steps they would take, given the hypothetical multi-cultural situations. The results showed the instrument measured the construct of cross-cultural adaptability with 4 subscales: respect and attention for different cultures, positive acceptance of some aspects of foreign cultures, objective recognition of one’s attitudes towards foreign cultures, and empathy towards foreign cultures. In particular, the results indicated that the subjects needed to be more self-aware of various multi-cultural aspects and more empathetic to multi-culturalism beyond their baseline respect and interest in multi-culturalism. The principal implication of this study is that educational institutions including Korean colleges should provide educational programs to help college students shift from basic levels of simple understanding of multi-culturalism to higher levels of multi-cultural empathy.