SAGE Journal Articles

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Lee, B. K., & Chen, L. (2000). Cultural communication competence and psychological adjustment: A study of Chinese immigrant children’s cross-cultural adaptation in Canada. Communication Research, 27, 764-792. doi:10.1177/009365000027006004

Cross-cultural adaptation starts with communication, proceeds in and through communication, and is revealed in host communication competence. Based on this conceptualization, this study examines the relationship between psychological adjustment and cultural communication competence among members of immigrant families. Participants included 124 seventh- and eighth-grade Chinese-Canadian adolescents, together with 48 fathers and 64 mothers. The adolescents were group-administered the adolescent version of the Host and Native Communication Competence Scale, the How-I-Feel questionnaire, and the Children’s Depression Inventory. Parents completed questionnaires concerning their own host and native communication competence and their children’s psychological adjustment. Adolescents’ host communication competence was correlated negatively with psychological problems, whereas their native communication competence was nonsignificantly associated with psychological problems. In addition, interactions between adolescents’ host and native communication competence and parents’ host and native communication competence were found to predict adolescents’ psychological adjustment. Implications of findings are discussed.

Steele, G. A., & Plenty, D. (2014). Supervisor-subordinate communication competence and job and communication satisfaction. International Journal of Business Communication, 1-25. doi:10.1177/2329488414525450

In contrast to the predominant business and organizational communication research on supervisor influence, this article examined communication competence, communication satisfaction, and job satisfaction differences within and between groups in the supervisor–subordinate relationship. The study also examined the relationship among the three communication and satisfaction phenomena. Two survey questionnaires were completed by 152 subordinates and 20 supervisors/managers at a public utility in the first phase. A third survey questionnaire was completed by 32 supervisors/managers in the second phase. The results indicated no support for hypothesized differences in ratings of communication competence, and job and communication satisfaction within and between subordinate and supervisor groups, but positive and significant relationships among the variables. The significance of the results is discussed in terms of the implications for the dyadic and interactive nature of supervisor–subordinate communication and directions for future research in this field.