Acculturation and Psychological Well-Being of International
Students and Implications for Educators and Counselors
Sung Seek Moon, Muriel M. Yu
University of Texas at Arlington
1. Introduction
International students provide a substantial portion of the student population in U.S. colleges and universities. In 1990, there were approximately 386,000 international students in the U.S. (Zikopoulos, 1991), and during the 1994-1995 academic year, more than 450,000 international students were enrolled (Lin & Yi, 1997). Even though the rate of growth has slightly decreased since September 11, 2001, the total number of international students in the U.S. is still significant. In 2003, the U.S.A. hosted approximately 2 million international students (Altbach & Bassett, 2004). This substantial number of international students studying in the U.S. is accompanied by an equal interest in their needs for formal and informal supports to adjust to life in a totally different educational environment (Lin & Yi, 1997). International students face not only the common problems U.S. students have to confront, such as new academic challenges and adjusting to new social environment, but also bring own unique problems brought from their different cultures (Prieto, 1995). Exposure to an unfamiliar environment can create physical or psychological problems including anxiety, depression, loneliness, fear, confusion, helplessness, and fatigue (Lin & Yi, 1997; Yang, Teraoka, Eichenfield, & Audas, 1994).
Although studies have been conducted to investigate issues related to academic, personal, social, and cultural adjustment problems (Barratt & Huba, 1994; Kagen & Cohen, 1990; Lewthwaite, 1996; Lin & Yi, 1997; Manese, Sedlacek & Leong, 1988; Yang et al., 1994; Ying & Liese, 1994), little has been done to examine issues of international students’ psychological well-being in keeping with the different levels of their acculturation. Prieto (1995) argued that as international students go through the different stages in their acculturation to the host culture, their support needs and the level of psychological well-being may vary.
The present study addressed two broad research goals. The first goal was to document the types of help-seeking behaviors and preferred help providing programs reported by international students. The second goal was to test the following hypotheses:
- There would be significant relationships between acculturation and two indicators of psychological well-being: life-satisfaction and loneliness.
- There would be significant relationships between family income and two indicators of psychological well-being: life-satisfaction and loneliness.
- There would be significant relationships between length of stay in the U.S. and two indicators of psychological well-being: life satisfaction and loneliness.
1.1. Acculturation
International students will only be in the host country temporarily. This means that they are in a state of transition having left the security of their home country to come to a foreign land to achieve their academic goals. Acculturation can be described as a complex process. This process is the result of socio-cultural interactions that occur as a person adjusts and adapts to the values and customs of the host country (Locke, 1998; Thomas & Schwarzbaum, 2006). Giltterman (1996) in presenting an ecological perspective states that acculturation occurs as individuals socialized in one cultural context try to adjust to a different cultural milieu to improve a person-environment fit. Ramos (2005) discussed two common frameworks that relate to the acculturation process: the linear model which looks at the acculturation process as a continuum with one’s culture of origin and the host culture as endpoints; and the independent model which views acculturation as consisting of independent dimensions, meaning cultural identification with any one culture is independent of identification with others. Regardless an individual’s adherence to one or the other framework more scholars have begun to acknowledge the multidimensional and multi-contextual nature of the acculturation process such as language acquisition, food and clothing preferences, value and belief systems, rituals and holidays observed, among others (Lum, 2000; Thomas & Schwarzbaum, 2006.)
Given the above discussions, by necessity all international students arriving in the United States undergo an acculturation process in order to adjust to a new environment and to meet all requisite demands that accompany studying and living in this country. Sodowsky and Plake (1992) found that international students’ acculturation to the U.S. involved three areas: (a) level of acceptance of the U.S. culture; (b) level of English use; and (c) the degree to which international students feel accepted by U.S. citizens. Locke (1998) identified four levels of acculturation: the “bicultural” individual, who can function equally well in his or her own culture and the dominant culture; the “traditional” individual who holds on to most, if not all, of the traits from his or her culture of origin; the “marginal” individual, who seems not to have any real contact with traits from either culture; and the “acculturated” individual, who has given up most of his or her traits of origin for those of the host culture. Locke noted, “When looking at the degree of acculturation, one might also seek to determine at what level(s) individuals belonging to culturally diverse groups have acculturated in terms of marital, attitudinal, behavioral, civic, structural, and identification factors” (p. 8).
Several existing scales and instruments have been developed to measure individuals’ acculturation level. For example, The Multicultural Acculturation Scale (Wong-Rieger & Quintana, 1987); The Acculturation Questionnaire (Smither & Rodriguez-Geigling); and the Cultural Life Style Inventory (Mendoza, 1989) are all useful tools to render some objective data to supplement counselors’ professional judgment in assessing international students’ levels of acculturation.
According to Nilsson and Anderson (2004), more time spent in the U.S. was associated with higher degrees of acculturation, whereas international students who are in the early stages of acculturation, compared with students in more advanced stages, may have more difficulties in adjusting process. Thus, studies on international students have used acculturation as a critical factor from which to examine international students’ needs, satisfaction, psychological well-being, and social services (Lin & Yi, 1997; Tofi, Flett, & Timutimu-Thorpe, 1996; Yang et al., 1994). Previous researchers have found that the process of acculturation is estimated by the predictor variables of: demographic characteristics, personality, number and severity of problems experienced, extent of decline in level of control from pre- to post-arrival, adequacy of preparation, size of the home country community where the students lived, social support, language competence, and adequacy of financial resources (Kagen & Cohen, 1990).
Also, literature has shown that international students’ help-seeking behaviors and preferred services varied according to the level of acculturation. More acculturated international students had relatively higher preferences in professional help than students who were less acculturated (Atkinson, Lowe, & Matthews, 1995; Zhang & Dixon, 2003). Studies also reported that acculturated students have expressed more psychological needs rather than physical needs (Dadfar, & Friedlander, 1982; Kaufman, 2004; Spencer-Rogers, 2000).
1.2. Psychological well-being
A number of authors (Barratt & Huba, 1994; Kagen & Cohen, 1990; Lewthwaite, 1996; Lin & Yi, 1997; Manese, Sedlacek & Leong, 1988; Pedersen, 1991; Prieto, 1995; Yang et al., 1994) have asserted that international students experience the following: pressure from academic demands, language barriers, financial concerns, cultural or value conflicts, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination in their educational environment. A consequence of these stressful experiences may be the development of physical and psychological symptoms. Not surprisingly, loneliness and depression are commonly reported problems (Ebbin & Blankenship, 1986; Harvey & Stewart, 1991; Lai & Linden, 1993; Lu, 1990; Oei & Notowidjojo, 1990). Other problems include low self-esteem and life-satisfaction (Barratt & Huba, 1994; Benjamin & Hollings, 1997).
Loneliness and life satisfaction are important outcome variables, which appear related to a variety of other variables, most notably academic achievement (Bean & Bradley, 1986), learning and development (Pike, 1993), self-esteem (Pedersen, 1991), and socialization (Lin & Yi, 1997). Therefore, we have chosen these two outcome variables as indicators of psychological well-being in this study. Numerous studies have recognized the length of stay in the U.S. as an important predictor of psychological well-being. For example, Al-Issa (1995) asserted that relatively recent immigrants are at the highest risk for psychiatric problems, such as adjustment disorders, depression, paranoia, and anxiety, because they have limited social and economic resources as well as culture shock. Sam and Eide (1991) reported that the period between the second and the third years of an overseas stay appears to be the most critical period in the development of poor mental health. Oei and Notowidjojo (1990) also reported that international students who stay longer than one year were more likely to experience depression. In addition, many studies found that the financial situation of students is another predictor variable for psychological well-being (Parr, Bradley, & Bingi, 1992; Yang & Clum, 1994). Thus, we have chosen the length of stay in the U.S. and income as control variables for this study.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
We randomly selected 147 from the list of international students provided by the international office. The participants (N=103) represented a 70.1% response rate, which is a highly accepted rate for the analysis (Rubin & Babbie, 2005).
Undergraduate students constituted 40.8% of the participants (n=42) and graduate students were 59.2% (n=61). Fifty-one (49.0%) of the participants were male, and 52 (51.0%) of the participants were female. The participants came from the following regional areas: Asian countries (n=78, 75.7%), European countries (n=12, 11.7%), South American countries (n=6, 5.8%), African countries (n=6, 5.8%), and Canada (n=1, 0.97%). Details of these demographic data are depicted in Table 1.
2.2. Measures
2.2.1. The Demographic Questionnaire: It was designed by the first author and included questions on age, country of origin, intent to stay in the United States, length of residency, religion, and financial support.
2.2.2. Acculturation Rating Scale-II: The Acculturation Rating Scale-II (ARS-II; Cuellar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995) was designed to assess the acculturation process to the host culture. The 18-item ARSMA-II is a self-report measure. Items were rated on a five-point Likert scale (from 1= “not at all” to 5= “all of time”). The scale was found to have good internal reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha = .86). The ARSMA-II yielded a high Pearson correlation coefficient (r=.89) with the original scale. Strong construct validity of ARSMA-II was demonstrated using a sample of 370 individuals representing immigrant generations 1 to 5 (Cuellar et al., 1995). The ARSMA-II is multifactorial and capable of generating multidimensional acculturative types, such as integrated, separated, assimilated, and marginalized.
2.2.3. Satisfaction with Life Scale: The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) is a 5-item scale. Items were rated on a seven-point Likert scale (from 1= “Strongly disagree” to 7= “Strongly agree”). The instrument’s internal consistency is very good, with an alpha of .87. The instrument appears to have excellent test-retest reliability, with a correlation of .82 for a two-month period, suggesting it is very stable. The SWLS has been tested for concurrent validity using two samples of college students. Scores correlated with nine measures of subjective well-being for both samples. The scale was not correlated with a measure of affect intensity. The SWLS has been shown to correlate with self-esteem, a checklist of clinical symptoms, neuroticism, and emotionality. Scores on the SWLS also correlated with independent ratings of life satisfaction among the elderly.
2.2.4. Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (RULS; Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980) is a 20-item scale designed to measure loneliness in a variety of populations, such as adolescent, adult, and elderly. Items were rated on a four-point Likert scale (from 1= “I have never felt this way” to 4= “I have felt this way often”). The RULS has excellent internal consistency, with an alpha of .94. No test-retest data are reported. The RULS has good concurrent validity, correlating with a number of mood and personality measures (e.g., the Beck Depression Inventory, the Texas Social Behavior Inventory), and particularly with a self-labeling loneliness index.
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive statistics
The mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, and reliability of the critical variables, acculturation, loneness, and life satisfaction, are shown in Table 2. Each of these variables had an acceptable alpha reliability and approximately normal distribution, except acculturation, which was transformed by a reciprocal transformation. The scoring of acculturation was thereafter inverted to retain the meaning of high scores as reflecting greater acculturation. The mean of 2.03 (SD = 2.03) for loneness indicates that the respondents’ loneness as being between “I have felt this way rarely” and “I have felt this way sometimes.” The mean life satisfaction score of 4.53 (SD = 1.28) indicated that on the average life satisfaction occurred between “Neither agree nor disagree” and “Slightly agree.”
The percentages of students who reported talking to potential sources of help about their psychological problems are displayed in Table 3 by source of help for the total sample. Generally, international students reported asking for help quite frequently to friends (n=77, 74.8%) and parents (n=48, 46.6%).
Table 4 shows the general types of services that international students were expecting from the university. The students felt that financial support and professional counseling were the most needed services. They found these services to be more desirable than mentor programs, English conversation partners, writing support programs or programs offering office spaces where international students could routinely meet with one another.
3.2. Bivariate relationships
The bivariate relationships for the primary study variables, including the six background variables included as control variables are shown in Table 5. It shows that there are no higher correlations among independent variables. Family income was moderately correlated with the length of stay in the U.S. (r = .50, p < .01); all other correlations were less than 0.45. Hence, there was no evidence of multicollinearity. Of the independent variables, age (r = .33, p < .01), marital status (r = -.23, p < .05), and the length of stay in the U.S. (r = .50, p < .01) were significantly correlated with acculturation. We see that loneness, an indicator of psychological well-being was significantly correlated with family income (r = -.25, p < .05). The other indicator of psychological well-being, life satisfaction also was significantly correlated with family income (r = .23, p < .05). Religion did not have any significant relationship with key variables. In addition, there were no gender differences among key variables.
3.3. Multiple regression
A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. The two dependent variables (life satisfaction and loneliness) were first regressed separately on the two control variables (family income and the length of stay in the U.S.). The independent variable, acculturation, was entered last to assess its independent effect after partialing out the effects of the control variables. Before regression analysis, regression diagnostics were conducted. Both dependent variables had outliers. These two variables were log transformed, but regression results were very similar to the models without transformation. Therefore, we used the original models.
The result indicates that the control variables explained 5.5 percent in life satisfaction and 6.5 percent in loneliness respectively. When cculturation was added into these models the R2 did change for life satisfaction (R2 = .13) (Table 6). Acculturation alone explained 7.5 percent of the variance in life satisfaction. In this model, a control variable, family income was significantly related to both life satisfaction and loneliness. International students who have higher family income had higher life satisfaction (b = 1.08, t = 2.22, p = .029) and less loneliness (b = -1.79, t = -2.08, p = .041). The independent variable, acculturation, had significant effect on life satisfaction. International students who had higher acculturation had higher life satisfaction (b = 3.40, t = 2.68, p = .009).
4. Discussion
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among demographic variables, acculturation, and two indicators of psychological well-being: loneliness and life-satisfaction using a sample of international college students. The results of this study are consistent with past research as well as with all the hypotheses of this investigation (Brunam, Bough, Karno, Escobar, & Telles, 1987; Nguyen & Peterson, 1992).
First, as predicted, family income correlates positively with life satisfaction, and correlates negatively with loneliness. Descriptive findings of this study also supported this finding; hence, over 52% (n=54) of the participants expected financial support from the university to solve their psychological problems.
Second, the results indicated that there were significant positive relationships between acculturation and two demographic variables (the length of stay in the U.S. and family income). However, some hypothesized relationships were not supported in this study. There is no significant relationship between the length of stay in the U.S. and both life satisfaction and loneliness. The length of stay in the U.S. is assumed to have an affect on psychological well-being. It was found in previous studies that individuals who have been in the new country less than one year were reported to experience less depression, were less worried about future misfortunes (less anxious overconcern), and were less prone to avoid problems because the more recent visitors were more enthusiastic and more relaxed (Livingstone, 1960; Oei & Notowidjojo, 1990). However, these findings were not supported in this study.
Findings from this present study point to several significant new insights into international students’ psychological well being. First, instrumental resources such as better financial means/support have significant positive impact on international students’ psychological well-being: loneliness and life-satisfaction. Second, length of stay in the U.S. and family income in the U.S. contribute positively to international students’ adjustment and adaptation to the cultural norms of mainstream U.S. Finally, length of stay in the U.S. does not influence international students’ degree or level of acculturation process.
4.1. Implications for educators and counselors
Consistent with Yang and Clum’s (1994) recommendation, these findings have specific implications for school personnel and social work practitioners who work with international students. As to financial supports, recently, several countries have experienced an economic crisis in relationship with the International Monetary Fund. Subsequently, many international students who have decreased financial support from their home countries often develop higher anxiety regarding their financial security. Most of the scholarships and other forms of financial aid are designated for students who are U.S. citizens or at least have permanent residency status. Due to a deficit in English proficiency, some international students have trouble finding on-campus or off-campus jobs to defray some of their living expenses. The combined limitations in monetary terms can cause these students a higher level of anxiety and stress, which in turn impacts their psychological well being.
Many previous studies (Prieto, 1995; Sam & Eide, 1991; Surdam & Collins, 1984) emphasized services based on awareness of and sensitivity to different cultures. However, this study suggests that services targeted for improving psychological well-being of international students needs to focus not exclusively on cognitive or attitudinal changes, but also on financial supports. School counselors and social work clinicians need to help international students obtain appropriate tangible resources as well as develop intangible assets such as developing a positive self-concept and hope. It is crucial that being knowledgeable of a university’s infrastructure regarding scholarship, teaching/research assistantship, not requiring citizenship/residency, along with advocacy on behalf of these students in seeking available funding prove to be essential. It is also important that being knowledgeable of community resources such as churches, synagogues, temples, charitable and civic organizations is another way of helping international students with their tangible and intangible needs. Many of these institutions have established funds to aid individuals in need. In large metropolitan areas ethnic civic groups and chamber of commerce in particular can be useful sources to sponsor newly arrived international students who need emergency assistance.
In addition, educators and counselors who work with international students need to consider the multiple and interactive factors that influence their psychological well-being, specifically family income and acculturation levels. For newly-arrived international students who came from lower family income, school counselors may need to provide strong emotional support in addition to instrumental support discussed above at the beginning of the each school semester. Emotional support can be delivered in many different formats. For example, many university campuses have existing ethnic student groups which can be a rich source of support for new arrivals from same home countries. These students share similar cultural backgrounds and language and yet can offer their newly acquired knowledge and life experiences in the host country for the newly arrived. Meaningful friendship among international students can be established to ease the loneliness and anxiety some new international students go through when adopting to the host country. Group and individual sessions can offer international students a more structured environment to help them in becoming more familiar with United States cultural values and customs. Pairing international students with Euro-American students as study buddies can benefit these students’ academic achievements as well as their level of acculturation.
4.2. Limitations
Although the sample in the current study included participants of varying ages, acculturation levels, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and also fairly representative of the racial and ethnic composition of the study location, it was overwhelmingly first generation (born in participants’ ethnic origin country), who showed limited understanding of English. Hence, the results require replication using a broader sample of international students to confirm the stability of the measures and model fit within this population and over time. In addition, sample size of this study may not be large enough to have confidence in complex interactions. A larger sample size would have allowed a more sensitive or powerful test.
4.3. Future Research
Future research on the psychological well-being of international students could be examined with more specificity. For example, which specific aspects of acculturation relate more predominantly to life satisfaction and loneliness? What school support programs or activities correlate with enhancing life satisfaction or decreasing loneliness?
In addition, future research needs to investigate what characteristics of international students specifically facilitate or hinder their cultural adjustment and how those characteristics relate to their psychological well-being. Research also needs to assess the relationship between psychological well-being and support systems such as peer relationships and social networks. How do support systems affect psychological well-being? Also, research needs to investigate possible mediating variables between personal resources and psychological well-being, thereby modifying the model. For example, environmental stressors can mediate the relationship between acculturation and life satisfaction or loneliness.
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