Demographic Correlates of Acculturation and Sociocultural Adaptation

Abstract

A cross-sectional survey study of international (n=207) and domestic (n=173) students revealed, as expected, that international students had higher acculturative stress than domestic students, but this difference did not vary by marital status or length of stay. Also, women from high Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) and high Power Distance (PD) countries (vs. low UA and high PD countries) had greater social interaction acculturative stress (e.g., difficulty making friends). Thus, cultural background plays an important role in students’ adaptation and university counselors might need to collaborate with academic staff to help international students adjust. Female students from high UA and high PD countries may be especially in need of assistance to cope with acculturative stress.