A Study On Online Social Support And Cross-cultural Adaptation Of International Students In China

With the development of the economy and increases in international influence, China is enrolling more and more international students. Cross-cultural adaptation for international students has caused widely concern. Social support is one of the most important influencing factors of cross-cultural adaptation. Although social support activities usually occur within well-established and intimate relationships, with the wide diffusion of the Internet, more and more people are tending to seek and gain social support from online communities. Combined both quantitative and qualitative method, we examined the impact of online social support on cross-cultural adaptation.Study 1 adopted quantitative method. Data were collected from 454 international students in China using the Psychological Adaptation Questionnaire, the Socio-Cultural Adaptation Scale, and the Online Social Support Scale. The results showed that:(1) The overall condition of cross-cultural adaptation for international students was acceptable. (2) Cross-cultural adaptation was significantly influenced by gender, residence time and culture distance. (3) There was a significant positive correlation between online social support and cross-cultural adaptation. (4) The relationship between online social support and cross-cultural adaptation was moderated by residence time and gender.Study 2 adopted qualitative method. Depth interview was carried out on 15 international students in China. The results showed that:(1) The main psychological adaptation problems of international students were homesickness, acculturative stress, loneliness and discrimination. The main socio-cultural adaptation problems were food, traffic, language, interpersonal relationship and value conflict. (2) Males had better cross-cultural adaptation than females. (3) International students who have resided in China less than 6 months were more satisfied with their life. (4) International students who come from East Asian and South East Asian have worse cross-cultural adaptation. (5) Both psychological adaptation and socio-cultural adaptation were significantly influenced by online social support.