英文原文
This heuristic research study places the phenomenon of expatriation into a developmental context and explores how cultural relocation may contribute towards individuals' post-conventional ego-development. The expansion of the phenomenon due to the accelerated process of globalisation has resulted in an increasing need for a better understanding of cross-cultural transitions. The research initiated a qualitative observation of six expatriates’ transition and developmental experiences, enabling a perhaps more refined and accurate comprehension of the process of growth than the quantitative methods. The study, however, goes beyond the cultural perspectives and proposes a holistic developmental approach to coaching expatriates, including characteristic developmental themes identified in the research participants’ stories. The research was conducted in Brussels, perhaps the most culturally diverse capital in Europe. The study suggests that all research participants have reached the first post-conventional tier and none appears to be in the second post-conventional, ego-transcendent realm. In the cases of two participants the data propose that their expatriation experience stimulated their transition from the conventional to the post-conventional tier, where they, at the moment of the research, seemed to reside at the Individualist stage, although their advancement at this stage could be considered different. In the other four examples, two participants displayed characteristically Autonomous features, one seemed to represent Construct-aware developmental qualities, while one the early steps into the Unitive stage. In these cases, it is not completely clear if the shift into the third tier occurred before or after arrival in Brussels; nevertheless, in view of the research objectives, the findings demonstrate that the research participants’ expatriation experience has indeed contributed towards their post-conventional ego-development, however in varying degrees. The participants’ assumed levels of development did not show any correlation with their age. One of the youngest participants seems to have reached higher than most of her elder fellows, suggesting that individuals’ maturity from an ego-developmental point of view is not determined by their age. Nevertheless, the data mirrored an important connection between one’s developmental process and the individualistic versus collectivist tendencies of one's home country. It appears that those individuals coming from more individualistic societies are raised as naturally more introspective, self-reflective and independent thinkers and they seem to handle solitude better than their peers with a more collectivist or traditional cultural background. This capacity is especially important in the transition phase between the conventional and post-conventional realms where the individual starts to show awareness about the limitations of his/her cultural and personal conditioning. In this process one faces the inner drive – usually also accompanied by anxiety – for reconstructing one’s self-identity based on one’s self-defined values. The data also indicated that the impact of cultural conditioning on the perception of self-identity in those individuals coming from multicultural family backgrounds is not as dominant as in those coming from a single cultural background. This may be a possible reason why, according to the data, they seem to have found this process smoother and more liberating. There also appears to be a very important relationship between one’s striving for meaning-making and self-actualisation needs. This theme tends to become particularly dominant at the Autonomous stage. However, no common patterns were identified in terms of the ways research participants see the path towards self-realisation. Based on the data, this seems to be purely dependent upon one’s personality. It is also clearly visible from the data that in the post-conventional tier individuals start to abandon purely rational reasoning and open up towards a more holistic worldview, including the spiritual dimension. Due to this newly discovered perspective they may also experience a natural drive for seeking external help with their developmental process in the form of coaching, psychotherapy or spiritual guidance. The research participants’ examples suggest that coaching and spiritual search can well complement one another. Finally, but very importantly, the data demonstrated that the unique conditions offered by Brussels seem to have contributed towards the participants’ post-conventional development in a specific way. According to the data as well as my experience with coaching expatriates, the cross-cultural knowledge of the coach can be particularly valuable in the transition from the conventional to the post-conventional realm. At the Individualist stage coaching might be helpful in assisting clients with gaining awareness of their cultural and personal conditioning and reconstructing their self-identity and value system based on their newly discovered values. Towards the Autonomous stage, as the need for meaning-making and self-actualisation receive more emphasis, the work might involve more focus on career-aspects. Most of my clients turned to me in this developmental phase. At the Construct-aware stage, as clients represent more complex and differentiated worldviews and ways of reasoning, the spiritual aspects of existence seem to dominate over purely rational reasoning. Clients at this stage may tend to feel more comfortable with a transpersonal or spiritual coach from developmental perspectives; however, coaching may also be a useful complement to regular spiritual practice, as explained above, especially regarding the practical aspects of life. The Unitive person no longer feels torn apart between the rational and transpersonal ways of existence and reasoning, and can benefit from both as the situation demands. The study also makes practical recommendations on working with clients in the various developmental phases, however, these are only partly evidenced by the research data – they in part derive from my practice-based experience. As a new initiative in terms of examining expatriation in the context of adult transition through development towards higher levels of cognition and consciousness, the study offers useful implications for the coaching profession, even though not focused directly on coaching as such. It may contribute to a smoother, more conscious and efficient coaching practice by helping coaches working with expatriates to understand the type of thought processing patterns and the interrelated topics of concern clients might present at the coaching session, in part by pointing out potential correlations between the above-summarised factors and the clients’ cultural background. At the same time, it draws attention to the potential limitations of a purely cross-cultural approach and raises awareness of the need for a holistic approach to expatriates' development by highlighting that after a certain developmental level individuals transcend their cultural conditioning and are no longer to be seen as primarily Italians, Estonians or Brits, but instead as complex and unique human beings full of potential.
中文翻译
这项启发式研究将外派现象置于发展背景中，探讨文化迁移如何促进个体的后常规自我发展。由于全球化进程加速，这一现象的扩展导致了对跨文化过渡更好理解的日益增长需求。研究对六名外派人员的过渡和发展经历进行了定性观察，使得对成长过程的理解可能比定量方法更为精细和准确。然而，该研究超越了文化视角，提出了一个整体发展方法来指导外派人员，包括在研究参与者故事中识别出的特征性发展主题。研究在布鲁塞尔进行，这可能是欧洲文化最多元化的首都。研究表明，所有研究参与者都达到了第一层后常规水平，没有人处于第二层后常规的自我超越领域。在两名参与者的案例中，数据表明他们的外派经历刺激了他们从常规层向后常规层的过渡，在研究时他们似乎处于个人主义阶段，尽管他们在这个阶段的进展可能有所不同。在其他四个例子中，两名参与者表现出典型的自主特征，一名似乎代表了建构意识的发展品质，而另一名则处于统一阶段的早期阶段。在这些案例中，尚不完全清楚向第三层的转变是发生在抵达布鲁塞尔之前还是之后；然而，鉴于研究目标，研究结果表明研究参与者的外派经历确实促进了他们的后常规自我发展，尽管程度不同。参与者的假定发展水平与年龄没有显示出任何相关性。最年轻的参与者之一似乎比大多数年长的同伴达到了更高的水平，这表明从自我发展的角度来看，个体的成熟度并不由年龄决定。然而，数据反映了一个人的发展过程与其原籍国的个人主义与集体主义倾向之间的重要联系。似乎来自更个人主义社会的个体天生更具内省性、自我反思性和独立思考能力，他们似乎比那些来自更集体主义或传统文化背景的同龄人更能应对孤独。这种能力在常规层和后常规层之间的过渡阶段尤为重要，个体开始意识到其文化和个人条件的局限性。在这个过程中，个体面临着基于自我定义价值观重建自我认同的内在驱动力——通常伴随着焦虑。数据还表明，对于来自多元文化家庭背景的个体，文化条件对自我认同感知的影响不如来自单一文化背景的个体那么显著。这可能是根据数据，他们似乎发现这个过程更顺畅、更解放的一个可能原因。此外，一个人的意义建构追求和自我实现需求之间似乎存在非常重要的关系。这个主题在自主阶段变得尤为突出。然而，在研究参与者看待自我实现路径的方式方面，没有发现共同的模式。根据数据，这似乎完全取决于一个人的个性。从数据中也可以清楚地看到，在后常规层，个体开始放弃纯粹的理性推理，并向更全面的世界观开放，包括精神层面。由于这种新发现的视角，他们可能也会自然地寻求外部帮助，以指导、心理治疗或精神指导的形式来支持他们的发展过程。研究参与者的例子表明，指导和精神探索可以很好地互补。最后，但非常重要的一点是，数据表明布鲁塞尔提供的独特条件似乎以特定方式促进了参与者的后常规发展。根据数据以及我指导外派人员的经验，指导者的跨文化知识在从常规层向后常规层的过渡中可能特别有价值。在个人主义阶段，指导可能有助于帮助客户意识到他们的文化和个人条件，并根据他们新发现的价值观重建自我认同和价值体系。在自主阶段，随着意义建构和自我实现需求得到更多强调，工作可能更多地关注职业方面。我的大多数客户在这个发展阶段向我求助。在建构意识阶段，由于客户代表了更复杂和分化的世界观和推理方式，存在的精神方面似乎主导了纯粹的理性推理。处于这个阶段的客户可能从发展角度更倾向于与超个人或精神指导者合作；然而，指导也可能是常规精神实践的有用补充，如上所述，特别是在生活的实际方面。统一型个体不再感到理性和超个人存在方式及推理之间的撕裂，可以根据情况需求从两者中受益。该研究还对在不同发展阶段与客户合作提出了实用建议，然而，这些建议仅部分得到研究数据的支持——部分源于我的实践经验。作为在成人过渡背景下通过发展向更高认知和意识水平考察外派的新举措，该研究为指导行业提供了有用的启示，尽管并非直接关注指导本身。它可能有助于更顺畅、更自觉和更有效的指导实践，通过帮助指导外派人员的指导者理解客户在指导会话中可能呈现的思维处理模式和相互关联的关注主题，部分通过指出上述总结因素与客户文化背景之间的潜在相关性。同时，它提请注意纯粹跨文化方法的潜在局限性，并通过强调在达到一定发展水平后，个体超越了他们的文化条件，不再被视为主要是意大利人、爱沙尼亚人或英国人，而是充满潜力的复杂而独特的个体，从而提高对外派人员发展整体方法必要性的认识。
文章概要
本研究探讨外派生活如何促进成人自我状态发展，聚焦文化适应中的后常规自我发展。通过对布鲁塞尔六名外派人员的定性观察，研究发现外派经历能刺激个体从常规自我状态向后常规状态的过渡，涉及个人主义、自主、建构意识和统一等发展阶段。研究强调跨文化指导在支持外派人员自我认同重建、意义建构和精神成长中的价值，并提倡整体发展方法，超越纯粹的文化视角，关注个体的独特潜力。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：想象一下，如果你搬到另一个国家生活，就像去一个新的学校，一开始可能会觉得陌生和紧张。但慢慢地，你开始学习新东西，认识新朋友，甚至发现自己变得更独立、更会思考了。这个研究就是说，大人搬到国外工作或生活时，也会经历类似的变化，他们能变得更聪明、更了解自己，就像升级打怪一样，从普通模式进入高级模式。研究还发现，来自不同国家的大人，变化方式可能不一样，但都能通过这种经历成长。
TA沟通分析心理学理论评价：从沟通分析心理学角度看，外派生活触发了成人自我状态的动态调整。在文化适应中，个体可能从适应儿童自我状态（如遵循原文化规范）过渡到自由儿童自我状态（探索新环境），并强化成人自我状态（理性处理跨文化挑战）。研究中的后常规自我发展对应着自我状态的整合，例如，个人主义阶段体现为成人自我状态主导，自主阶段则涉及父母自我状态（价值观内化）与成人自我状态的协同。这种发展促进了个体在沟通中更灵活地运用自我状态，减少脚本限制，增强自主性。
在实践上可以应用的领域和可以解决人们的十个问题：应用领域包括跨文化指导、企业外派培训、移民心理咨询和个人发展工作坊。可以解决的十个问题：1. 外派人员在新环境中的身份困惑；2. 跨文化沟通中的误解和冲突；3. 孤独感和社交适应困难；4. 职业发展与个人价值观的协调；5. 压力管理和情绪调节；6. 文化冲击导致的焦虑和抑郁；7. 家庭关系在迁移中的调整；8. 自我认同重建和意义寻找；9. 精神成长和生命目的探索；10. 团队合作中的文化多样性整合。