Maladaptive Perfectionism and College Adjustment of International Students in Korea: A Moderated Mediation Model of Social Support

Abstract

Due to the increasing demand for international education, the number of international students in Korea has been rapidly increasing. Accordingly, well adjusting to college has been a main interest for both academic institutions and international students as it is key to their success. Previous studies have revealed that maladaptive perfectionism (MP) hampers the college adjustment (CA) of international students, yet little is known about its underlying mechanism. To fill in this gap, this study examined the mediating effect of acculturative stress (AS) in between maladaptive perfectionism and college adjustment; the moderating effect of social support (SS) in the relation between acculturative stress and college adjustment; and the moderated mediating effect of social support in the causal pathway from maladaptive perfectionism to acculturative stress to college adjustment. Results showed a partial mediating effect of acculturative stress, a moderating effect, and a moderated mediating effect of social support. This implies that social support is an essential factor that helps international students better adjust to the new collegiate environment by alleviating their stress caused by maladaptive perfectionism and acculturative stress.

Factors Influencing Academic Self-Efficacy Among Nursing Students During COVID-19: A Path Analysis

“…Perfectionistic concerns negatively affected academic self-efficacy via the acculturative stress path. The current results corroborate those of a previous study reporting that acculturative stress had a partial mediating effect in the relationship between perfectionistic concerns and college adjustment among international college students (Lee et al, 2020). In the current study, although e-learning stress does not directly affect perceived academic self-efficacy, it indirectly resulted in lower levels of academic self-efficacy via the acculturative stress path.…”

“…In addition, English proficiency is known to be an acculturative stressor among international medical students (Iorga et al, 2020). Acculturative stress has been negatively associated with academic self-efficacy, college adjustment, and academic success among racial/ethnic minority students (Aljaberi et al, 2021; Chun et al, 2016; Lee et al, 2020; Lewis & Bell, 2020). When students experience low acculturative stress, they demonstrate positive beliefs in their capabilities to grow academically.…”

“…Past empirical findings have suggested that under the COVID-19 pandemic circumstances, ESL students with higher levels of perfectionistic concerns would develop lower academic self-efficacy in highly competitive and demanding contexts and also be more prone to experiencing increased perceived stress associated with acculturation and e-learning (Fitzgerald & Konrad, 2021; Gallego-Gómez et al, 2020; Lee et al, 2020; Lewis & Bell, 2020; Osenk et al, 2020). One study reported that perfectionism had a direct effect on college adjustment, and that acculturative stress mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and college adjustment (Lee et al, 2020). However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has examined the associations of acculturative stress and perfectionistic concerns with ESL nursing students’ academic self-efficacy.…”

Chinese International Students in the United States: The Interplay of Students’ Acculturative Stress, Academic Standing, and Quality of Life

“…Perfectionism could be best understood as the degree to which individuals have high goals and aspirations for themselves ( Flett et al, 1989 ). Mounting evidence indicates that maladaptive perfectionism (i.e., discrepancies between individuals’ expectations and performance) is common among college students ( Aparicio-Flores et al, 2020a , b ; Vicent et al, 2020 ), especially international students ( Huang and Mussap, 2018 ; Dorevitch et al, 2020 ; Lee et al, 2020 ). Research shows that international students’ acculturative stress is significantly associated with their levels of perfectionism and years in the host country ( Wei et al, 2007 ).…”

Quality of Life and Associated Factors of International Students in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the WHOQOL-BREF Instrument

“…According to a study by Lee et al studying in a new environment coupled with the demanding nature of the curriculum results in mood swings, behavior change, reduced capacity to concentrate, and suicidal ideation [ 22 ]. In addition, other factors are reported to be associated with international students QoL [ 23 ]. These include study load, number of assignments, deadlines and sponsorship status.…”