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1.
Social networking sites (SNSs) have become significant communication platforms for numerous international students and their acculturation process. However, the underlying mechanisms of how and to what extent certain types of social media could facilitate cross-cultural adaption are remain under-investigated. Drawing on cross-culture adaption theory, the article seeks to address this gap by investigating the potential influences of differentiated patterns of social media usage on international students’ social support from host and home countries, and acculturation process from both psychological and behavioural perspectives. Data were gathered through a web-based survey from 298 Chinese international students studying in German universities. The outcomes demonstrate that international students’ social media use, especially active use, is associated with increased level of perceived social support from both host and home countries. Additionally, the findings verify that the positive association between active use and cross-cultural adaption is mediated by these two types of social capital. The article may make meaningful contributions to present acculturation studies and managerial practice for universities which target overseas markets. 相似文献
2.
This review systematically examined predictors of psychosocial adjustment of international undergraduate and graduate students in the United States. Sixty-four studies published in peer-reviewed journals between January 1990 and January 2009 were reviewed. Statistically significant predictors of psychosocial adjustment were grouped by adjustment outcome variables (e.g., psychological symptoms and sociocultural adjustment). The methodological quality of each study was examined using an 11-point grading criteria, assessing the employment of theoretical framework, reporting of data's validity and reliability, study design, and analytic techniques, among others.The most frequently reported predictors included stress, social support, English language proficiency, region/country of origin, length of residence in the United States, acculturation, social interaction with Americans, self-efficacy, gender, and personality. The mean methodological score of the reviewed studies was 6.25 (SD = 1.8; maximum possible score = 11). The reviewed studies overcame selected limitations pointed out by Church in a previous review (1982), by employing a wide range of theories, employing longitudinal designs, and comparing among countries/regions of origin. This review also discussed implications for health promotion for international students and directions for future research. 相似文献
3.
This paper explores the impact of acculturation conditions, orientations and outcomes on international students in Australia’s tertiary education sector. Specifically, we investigate the factors that facilitate or hinder acculturation of international students within a multidimensional acculturation context (Arends-Tóth & van de Vijver, 2006). We used a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design in two studies to investigate acculturation of international students at an Australian university and test how these factors are related to psychological and sociocultural outcomes. In Study 1, we conducted a generic qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with a conventional content analyses approach,which compared the experiences of international students who on average had high numbers of positive experiences versus those who had high numbers of negative experiences. We found that a support network of mixed-nationals, and especially host locals, facilitates positive psychological and sociocultural adjustment, and buffers acculturative stress. Study 2 quantitatively tested the association of factors found in Study 1 (perceived stereotypes, intercultural and ethnic network/resources) with psychological and sociocultural acculturation outcomes. Study 2, shows that perceived negative stereotypes loosen ties with the dominant (host) culture and reinforces ties with the ethnic (non-host) culture. The social resources associated with either culture was found to be useful for acculturation, with both independently contributing to participant well-being. Contact with host locals played a particularly crucial role in developing these resources. Our findings provide foundations for pragmatic policy implications, suggesting value in the development of formally organized contact programs in the early sojourn experience of international students. 相似文献
4.
One of the persisting challenges facing societies and organizations is to socially integrate sojourners, expatriates, including migrants into the host culture whilst leveraging reciprocal cross-cultural learning experiences. In a quasi-experimental field study, using an embedded unequal design, incoming international students’ (i-Students’) adjustment processes were investigated via a comprehensive 18/19-week peer mentoring social learning cross-cultural adjustment program. Forty-three local mentors were paired with 126 i-Student mentees, and 238 i-Students served as a control group. Quantitative and complementary qualitative data were collected from mentees, mentors, and controls at three time-points. Results showed effects in intercultural communication, cultural adjustment, life skills, and well-being domains. Mentors’ 360-degree synchronous evaluation of mentees showed increases in all skills measured. Post-program responses from participants confirmed the increase in communication and life skills, supporting the social learning hypothesis. Theoretical and practical implications are presented to assist individuals studying and/or working with their acculturation in foreign nations. 相似文献
5.
Universities in Western countries host a substantial number of international students. These students bring a range of benefits to the host country and in return the students gain higher education. However, the choice to study overseas in Western countries may present many challenges for the international student including the experience of acculturative stress and difficulties with adjustment to the environment of the host country. The present paper provides a review of current acculturation models as applied to international students. Given that these models have typically been empirically tested on migrant and refugee populations only, the review aims to determine the extent to which these models characterise the acculturation experience of international students. Literature pertaining to salient variables from acculturation models was explored including acculturative stressors encountered frequently by international students (e.g., language barriers, educational difficulties, loneliness, discrimination, and practical problems associated with changing environments). Further discussed was the subsequent impact of social support and coping strategies on acculturative stress experienced by international students, and the psychological and sociocultural adaptation of this student group. This review found that the international student literature provides support for some aspects of the acculturation models discussed; however, further investigation of these models is needed to determine their accuracy in describing the acculturation of international students. Additionally, prominent acculturation models portray the host society as an important factor influencing international students’ acculturation, which suggests the need for future intervention. 相似文献
6.
Acculturation of short-term international sojourners, such as expats and international students, has received considerable attention from scholars in the past decades. Acculturation is commonly defined as the interplay between cultural maintenance, the sojourner’s desire to maintain their home culture identity, and host country participation, their desire to initiate contact with members of the host society. The present paper focuses on the role that Social Network Sites (SNS) play in the acculturation process of this group. Through a survey, we examined how 126 short-term sojourners in the Netherlands use SNS to interact with relations in both home and host country, and how this affects their cultural maintenance and host country participation. Furthermore, we examined psychological alienation and online social support as possible mediators. Our results show that on the one hand SNS contact with home country relations is positively related to online social support. On the other hand, it is also related to psychological alienation, which in turn is related to cultural maintenance. This shows that sojourners who keep in touch with friends and family at home also experience more loneliness and homesickness, and place more emphasis on their own cultural heritage. Finally, we found that SNS contact with host country relations predicts host country participation. Through online activities, sojourners are able to foster social interaction and strengthen friendships with locals. 相似文献
7.
We investigated the acculturation process of international students (N = 319, 162 female) from 62 countries who were residing in the Netherlands, using the acculturation framework by Arends-Tóth and Van de Vijver (2007). We applied SEM to test the model that acculturation conditions (perceived cultural distance [PCD], personal growth initiative [PGI], proficiency in English and the host language, and length of residence) in conjunction with acculturation orientations as mediators (host, heritage, expatriate) predict psychological adjustment as acculturation outcome (acculturative stress, satisfaction with life, mental health problems). We found direct and indirect effects of acculturation conditions on adjustment; high PGI, high English and Dutch proficiencies, and low PCD were associated with better adjustment. Host orientation (predicted by high PGI, Dutch proficiency, and low PCD) was positively associated with adjustment. Heritage orientation (predicted by low English proficiency) was negatively associated with adjustment. As a novel aspect, we included expatriate orientation - an orientation towards other expatriates in the host community. Expatriate orientation was predicted by low Dutch proficiency and was positively associated with adjustment. We also observed direct links between acculturation conditions and outcomes: positive associations between PCD and acculturative stress and between length of residence and acculturative stress; and negative associations between PGI and mental health problems and between English proficiency and acculturative stress. We provide evidence that including expatriate orientation is relevant among international students: It is stronger than both host and heritage orientations, thereby underlining the importance of studying acculturation in a contextualized way. 相似文献
8.
《Journal of Intercultural Communication Research》2013,42(2):117-137
Previous research has explored common dimensions of culture shock across groups of international students, examined factors influencing intercultural adjustment of individual sojourners, and in the meantime, suggested that communicating with same culture members is minimally helpful for intercultural adjustment. By investigating a Chinese student organization on a US campus and analyzing the qualitative data collected via multiple methods, the researcher found that (a) culture shock is contextually based; (b) a student organization can play an instrumental role in helping students to cope with culture shock and gain intercultural competence by providing social support; and (c) communicating with same culture members can help intercultural adjustment. Implications for international student orientation, study abroad programs, and community-based help programs for international students are discussed. 相似文献
9.
One hundred and thirty-nine Americans resident in Singapore participated in the research which investigated the influence of “cultural fit” on sojourner adjustment. Subjects completed questionnaires including measurements of extraversion, psychological adjustment (depression) and sociocultural adaptation (social difficulty). To assess “cultural fit” discrepancy scores were calculated on the absolute differences between subjects' extraversion scores and host culture norms. Correlational analyses indicated that extraversion per se was unrelated to either psychological or sociocultural adjustment; however, as predicted, larger discrepancies in extraversion between subjects and members of the host culture were associated with higher levels of depression (p < .01). Discrepancy scores were also analyzed in conjunction with a median split, dividing subjects into low and high discrepancy groups. T-tests further confirmed that the large discrepancy group experienced more symptoms of depression (p < .01). There were no significant differences, however, in the amount of social difficulties experienced by low and high discrepancy groups. 相似文献
10.
International students continue to grow in number worldwide, prompting researchers to look for ways to make the study abroad experience more fruitful. One avenue of research has focused on friendship formation, the significant role it plays in the study abroad experience, and the unique friendship combinations made possible by the study abroad experience. International students form friendships with individuals from their own country, from other countries, and from the host country. Research has found that international students often have more friends from their home country; however, research has also demonstrated a relationship between having more host country friends and satisfaction, contentment, decreased homesickness, and social connectedness. The current study looks to further explore these relationships through a social network lens by examining friendship network ratios, strength, and variability of the three friendship groups. A friendship network grid was developed to assess where international students’ friends are from and how strong those friendships are. Eighty four international students completed a survey examining the relationship between friendship networks, social connectedness, homesickness, contentment, and satisfaction. Contrary to prior research, international students did not report having a higher ratio of individuals from their home country in their friendship networks. However, international students with a higher ratio of individuals from the host country in their network claimed to be more satisfied, content, and less homesick. Furthermore, participants who reported more friendship variability with host country individuals described themselves as more satisfied, content, and more socially connected. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. 相似文献
11.
This study integrates acculturation and person–environment fit theories to investigate the role of student–university value alignment in international student cross-cultural adjustment to host universities in Victoria, Australia. The study used a mixed methods design with the quantitative data collected from a student survey and the qualitative data generated from interviews with university staff. Structural equation modelling and thematic analysis were employed to analyse the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The results of the study indicated that international students who possess similar values to their host university, adjust better, both psychologically and socially into the university environment as well as feel satisfaction with their host university. The study also confirmed the mediating role of international student social adjustment in the relationship between student–university value fit and student overall satisfaction with their host university. The findings highlight the key role of international student–university value alignment in contributing to the success of students’ cross-cultural adjustment to the new cultural environment they experience. Therefore, universities should constantly communicate and deliver on their values during both the promotional stage of international student recruitment and the student journey with the university. 相似文献
12.
《Journal of Intercultural Communication Research》2013,42(3):179-200
Acculturation refers to the degree to which immigrants maintain their ethnic culture and accept or reject the new dominant culture. While considerable studies have focused on immigrants’ acculturative processes, little is known about acculturation from the perspective of the host culture. This study examined American students’ acculturation orientations toward international students based on the concept of interactive acculturation and investigated the influence of ethnocentrism, sex, and Facebook use on such acculturation attitudes. Results from a survey of 346 American college students indicated a high degree of individualism and integrationism over other orientations, namely transformation-integrationism, exclusionism, assimilationism, and segregationism. The model with ethnocentrism, sex, and Facebook usage predicted five of the six acculturation orientations, with ethnocentrism being the most important predictor. 相似文献
13.
While discrimination against immigrants and resources for them likely influence immigrants’ acculturation success, how various resources moderate the influence of discrimination has not been clear. Achievement and social integration are indicators of acculturation success. From structural-functionalist theory, resources that mitigate the adverse influence of discrimination are likely to be those functional to the host society or its social integration. Earlier social integration with the host society thus may be a crucial determinant of acculturation success, partly by mitigating the adverse impact of discrimination. Conversely, resources such as welfare reception, affiliation with an organization in the home place, and fluency in the language of host society may aggravate the detriment of discrimination. These expectations are sustainable with a study of secondary school students who migrated from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong. Among the 1243 students, 416 had come to Hong Kong within 2 years. The supportive findings indicate that acculturation success in the face of discrimination would require early social integration into the host society and disconnection from the home place. Importantly, while fluency in the host language appeared to be conducive to acculturation success, it aggravated the adverse effect of discrimination on the success. Hence, communication in a discriminative context would be dysfunctional to the operation of host society. 相似文献
14.
The literature on "Sojourner Adjustment," a term expanding on the acculturation concept to apply to groups residing temporarily in foreign environments, suggests that engagement, participation, and temporary integration into the host culture may contribute to less psychological and sociocultural difficulty while abroad. The present study was designed to establish a brief multi-component measure of Sojourner Adjustment (the Sojourner Adjustment Measure; SAM) to be used in work with populations residing temporarily in foreign environments (e.g., international students, foreign aid workers). Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on a sample of 248 American study abroad college students, we established a 24-item measure of Sojourner Adjustment composed of four positive factors (social interaction with host nationals, cultural understanding and participation, language development and use, host culture identification) and two negative factors (social interaction with co-nationals, homesickness/feeling out of place). Preliminary convergent validity was examined through correlations with established measures of acculturation. Further research with the SAM is encouraged to explore the relevance of this measure with other groups of sojourners (e.g., foreign aid workers, international businessmen, military personnel) and to determine how SAM factors relate to psychological well-being, health behaviors, and risk behaviors abroad among these diverse groups. 相似文献
15.
With the advent of globalization, the number of expatriates within the international labor force is continuously increasing. While expatriate acculturation and adjustment receive much empirical and theoretical attention, less attention is afforded to expatriate identities. Expatriates, compared to other migrant workers, have more options to deal with acculturation and identity issues. We conceptualize expatriate identity by linking acculturation and a tridimensional model of identity (personal identity, relational identity, and social identity). We argue that expatriate identity, which is important for psychosocial adjustment and well-being, can take on two forms: a more cosmopolitan perspective, which expatriates develop after much experience in various cultures and a more pragmatic perspective in which expatriates maintain their original identity and make only superficial adjustments to a new context. We provide recommendations for future research as well as implications for organizations. 相似文献
16.
The internationalisation of education promises to prepare students for diversity in the global workplace. However, many international students do not thrive in their host academic communities. A sample of 196 international students enrolled at a New Zealand (NZ) university between 2011 and 2012 completed an online survey, which explored cultural concepts identified as relevant to the acculturation process. A multiple regression of the quantitative data identified that prior knowledge, perceived relevance, belongingness and cultural distance accounted for almost 50% of the variance in the successful acculturation of students into the university culture. The high level of self-reflectivity throughout the qualitative data provided insight into the integral role of both staff and host students as a catalyst in this process. Findings of this research illustrate that alongside functional support, there is a need to develop the intercultural communication competence of faculty and host culture students. Recommendations to achieve enhanced outcomes for international students include future curriculum development, staff training, host student education and enhanced structural support in areas identified as barriers to successful acculturation. 相似文献
17.
《Journal of Intercultural Communication Research》2013,42(4):370-383
ABSTRACTTo better understand the Chinese international students’ barrier to the U.S. health and medical system, this study investigates the students’ understandings of Traditional Chinese medicines during their sojourns in the United States. Holding that medicine is cultural/culture, the culture-centered in-depth interviews (n = 23) help understand the Chinese international students’ acculturation of the two medicines after their arrival in the new medical culture. The analyses focus on the rhetorical nature of medical acculturation: even though the students actually assimilate Traditional Chinese medicine, they claim to integrate the two. The results indicate how integration has been idealized and imposed as the only acceptable medical acculturation strategy for international students. The findings also suggest that medical integration has been used as a disguising cloak of medical assimilation and therefore, immigrants’ integration and acculturation should be carefully examined in health contexts. 相似文献
18.
This study investigated the relationship between Chinese international students’ social networks in the United States and their musical tastes. Based on concept of homophily, this study used a self-reported Social Network Analysis (SNA) survey to examine whether sharing similar musical tastes affected Chinese international students’ relationship, their musical tastes, and music consumption. The results showed that having high musical taste similarity predicted closer relationship between respondents and their alters, and higher likelihood of new music consumption. This study also found that frequent American English-language songs listeners were more likely to have Americans in their social network than less-frequent American English-language songs listeners. 相似文献
19.
Social contact has been widely investigated as a contributing factor to international students’ cross-cultural adaptation. Previous investigations have focussed largely on understanding the relation between distinct sources of social contact and adaptation-related outcomes. What is less understood is whether different combinations of social contact are associated with different outcomes for international students and if these effects vary across formal (school) and informal (outside of school) contexts. In the present study, we use a person-centred approach to explore international students’ social contact configurations based on frequency of contact with co-nationals, locals, and other internationals at school and outside of school. Data from 291 international students were subjected to latent profile analysis and five contact configurations were identified: 1) isolated (12.7 %), 2) socializing with other internationals only (14.4 %), 3) socializing with other internationals and Hungarians (12.4 %), 4) socializing with co-nationals only (35.4 %), and 5) socializing with co-nationals and Hungarians (24.7 %). Patterns of interactions were largely consistent across contexts. Contact profiles reflected different acculturation orientations and showed differences in psychological outcomes. A stronger host culture orientation was associated with profiles characterized by frequent contacts with locals (Profiles 3 and 5), whereas home cultural orientation was greater in profiles characterized by frequent contacts with co-nationals (Profiles 4 and 5). The profile displaying frequent contacts with both co-nationals and locals reported the greatest psychological wellbeing, whereas the isolated profile was linked to poor psychological outcomes. Overall, findings highlight the importance of considering the configuration of social contacts as a whole. 相似文献
20.
Two hundred seventy-six international students reported their perceptions of social support from multiple sources (i.e., friends, family, institution, and significant other) as predictors of three facets of cross-cultural adjustment (i.e., general, interaction, and school-related adjustment). In addition, this study explored the incremental effects of cultural diversity and social network size on adjustment by asking international students to report members of their social network that they rely on for instrumental (i.e., task-oriented) and socio-emotional (i.e., relationship-oriented) support. Findings showed that certain sources of social support (i.e., friends and institution) were more strongly related to adjustment than others. Moreover, cultural diversity and the presence of host-nationals in student’s socio-emotional support network were significant predictors of cross-cultural adjustment. This demonstrates the importance of promoting initiatives that encourage host-national and sojourner interactions and diverse relationships within higher education to benefit cross-cultural adjustment. 相似文献