Cultural Distance, Acculturative Stress, Functional Social Support, and Psychological Adaptation of International Students

Abstract

This study examined how cultural distance, acculturative stress, and social support interacted to influence emotional responses among international students studying in the northern part of Cyprus. Acculturation models and the stress-buffering hypothesis served as theoretical frameworks. The research questions involved understanding whether international students experienced more negative emotional responses compared to students from the home culture and whether social support moderated acculturative stress and reactions to being in the northern part of Cyprus. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) examined differences in emotional reactions between home and international students while hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the moderation hypotheses. ANOVA results indicated that Turkish-Cypriots had more positive emotional responses than international students to being in the host culture. Results did not support social support as a moderator for either international students’ acculturative stress or their emotional reactions. However, results suggested that unmet expectations, less financial satisfaction, and less social support predicted acculturative stress, while being in a relationship, higher Turkish proficiency, unmet expectations, and higher acculturative stress predicted more negative emotional responses. These results may help universities design programs to support psychological adaptation among international students, which could ultimately facilitate student retention.

Social Support and Acculturative Stress of International Students

“…Previous research has shown that foreign students or international students who have difficulty in adjusting experience anxiety and may suffer from depression [ 18 , 19 ]. This is consistent with the findings of a literature review, that foreign students experience problems related to their adjustment [ 46 ]. It can be an important consideration in the literature review used here that social support has a contribution to reducing acculturative stress.…”

“…This can be seen from the study by [ 48 ], which was conducted in Asian countries, which found that acculturative stress was negatively related to social support in a sample of international students who were studying in Malaysia. [ 52 ] Found similar results, that social support is negatively correlated with acculturative stress in international students in Korea, which was similar to the results of research conducted in the United States [ 35 , 46 , 47 , 49 , 50 , 51 ]. The largest contribution value ( r ) was found in the study of [ 48 ], within the context of Malaysian culture.…”

“…Regarding the instruments used for social support, three studies [ 35 , 46 , 47 ] used the Index of Sojourner Social Support (ISSS), two studies [ 48 , 49 ] used the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), one study [ 50 ] used the Index of Social Support (ISS), one study [ 51 ] used Perceived Support from School, and one study [ 52 ] used the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List. Whereas for the acculturation stress measurement instrument, five studies [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 51 , 52 ] used the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS), two studies [ 35 , 50 ] used the Index of Life Stress (ILS), and one study [ 49 ] used the Acculturative Stress Scale for Chinese Students (ASSCS). For further details, the characteristics of the studies included in the meta-analysis can be seen in Table 1 .…”

Predicting adjustment of international students: The role of cultural intelligence and perceived cultural distance

“…This hypothesis states that the degree to which the home and the host environment are perceived to differ will affect students’ adjustment: more perceived differences will go together with more difficulties to adjust. However, there are also a considerable number of studies reporting no significant relationship between CD and adjustment of international students (Bastien et al, 2018; Cetinkaya-Yildiz et al, 2011; Ladum and Burkholder, 2019; Selmer and Lauring, 2009); therefore, we suggest that the relationship between the two constructs may have been influenced by another factor.…”

Global Research on International Students’ Intercultural Adaptation in a Foreign Context: A Visualized Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Landscape

“…Cluster 5 focuses on international students' acculturative challenges and mental health as they study abroad. Multicultural experts have observed that studying in a foreign country presents challenges, including language barriers (e.g., Yu & Shen, 2012), culture shock (e.g., Presbitero, 2016), cultural distance (e.g., Ladum & Burkholder, 2019), discrimination (e.g., J. J. Lee & Rice, 2007), and racism (e.g., Rojas et al, 2021).…”