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Abstract:
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Among all the international students enrolled in the U .S . colleges or universities , Chinese international students , including those who come from Taiwan , mainland China , and Hong Kong , accounted for 16 .7 % , which is a fairly high percentage (Institute of International Education , 2004 ) . They may encounter very unique acculturative stress because of different cultural norms and academic expectations between Chinese and American cultures . Ward and her colleagues (1990 ) claimed that cross -cultural adjustment can be best examined from two fundamental dimensions : psychological and sociocultural adjustment . These two dimensions are conceptually distinct but empirically related .
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the influences of acculturation strategies (Berry , 1980 ) , self -views in relation to others (Markus & Kitayama , 1991 ; Kagitcibasi , 1996 & 2005 ) , perceived cultural distance (Babiker et al . , 1980 ) , and English self -confidence (Clement & Baker , 2001 ) on different dimensions of Chinese international students’ cross -cultural adjustment . Research questions and hypotheses were focused on how each factor affects the cross -cultural adjustment , and how these factors interact with each other as they generate impacts on adjustment .
177 international students of Chinese heritage from Mainland China , Taiwan , and Hong Kong participated in the study . They were asked to fill out self -report questionnaires about their demographic information , acculturation strategies , self -construals , perceived cultural distance , English self -confidence , and psychological and sociocultural adjustment in the U .S . Results indicated that length of residence in the U .S . , participation in the host society (one dimension of acculturation strategies ) , direct communication , autonomy (sub -dimensions of independent self -construal ) , and English self -confidence were positively correlated with psychological adjustment . On the other hand , length of residence , marital status , direct communication (a sub -dimension of independent self -construal ) , perceived cultural distance , and English self -confidence were positively associated with sociocultural adjustment . In addition , a few mediating effects were revealed : (a ) Independent self -construal mediated the relation between participation in the U .S . society and sociocultural adjustment ; (b ) English self -confidence mediated the relation between participation in the host society and cross -cultural adjustment ; (c ) English self -confidence mediated the relation between independent self -construal and sociocultural adjustment . Limitations and implications for future research are discussed . |