A preliminary review of the literature on cultural or expatriate adjustment with regard to the spouses of diplomatic personnel, such as the military attaché, clearly indicated a gap in the existing knowledge scholars have of the adjustment experiences of spouses of expatriate managers. The aim of this study was exploring and describing one South African expatriate’s wife’s authentic experiences of expatriate adjustment to India. A modernist qualitative methodology with symbolic interactionism as theoretical framework and interpretivist constructivism as research paradigm was employed. The case study was used as qualitative research strategy and the life history was used as the qualitative research technique. Purposeful sampling was employed. Plummer’s (2001) critical humanism was included to reflect the flavour of the diversity of frameworks available to life history researchers. Data were obtained from solicited and unsolicited sources. This yielded a life history with rich descriptive data that were systematically analysed with the grounded theory technique proposed by Strauss and Corbin (1990, 1998). A conceptual framework was compiled and used to substantiate the finding by means of a literature review, the identification of the core category, and finally the development of a substantive theory called: a transitional theory of spousal expatriate adjustment. Guidelines proposed in the literature were followed to ensure the authenticity, trustworthiness and credibility of the study. The findings provided some understanding of how wives of military attaché’s experience the process of expatriate adjustment. Recommendations were made to improve current practice. The study also made a methodological contribution to the local study of Industrial and Organisational Psychology and in particular International Human Resources Management. Recommendations are made for future research. / Prof. Willem Schurink
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2899 |
| Date | 17 June 2008 |
| Creators | Bester, Petrus Cornelius |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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