ACCULTURATIVE STRESS: COPING RESPONSES OF INTERNATIONAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
IN ASSUMPTION UNIVERSITY
by Ms. Siriporn Kiatpapan, Center for International Students, Assumption University, Thailand
Coping Styles and Sports Athletes
Do you have International student athletes?
Do you ever notice that your student athletes facing stress?
You can find the answer to this question in this presentation.
Assumption University has 72 Nationalities
Research Institute of Assumption University (2007) and Researcher's
observations from working with students reveals
the following background problems like:
Initial Culture Shock
Home Sickness
Adjustment Problems
Fear of abuse & bullying
Perceived Discrimination
There is a significant relationship between international undergraduate students’
increased employment of problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping
and their lower perception of the seven acculturative stresses identified.
Hypothesis 1
There is a predictive relationship between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping
and the seven acculturative stresses identified varying as a function of male and female international undergraduate students
Hypothesis 2
Correlation Research
To investigate the predictive capacity of problem-focused and emotion-focused
coping for the seven types of acculturative stress.
To test gender differences in the predictive relationships between coping
styles and stress levels.
Instruments Employed
Acculturative Stress
Scale for International
Students (ASSIS)
Coping Inventory for
Stressful Situations –
Adult (CISS)
Finding 1: Both male and female international undergraduate students
experience culture shock and homesickness but not the other stressors
Why International students do not suffer from other stressors? this could be explained that as these students are young adults, they have already built coping resources for most stresses which they are accustomed to in their own country which is similar to other countries.
Culture shock due to unfamiliar language and cultural practices resulting in their losing their social network.
Results in homesickness is a longing to be back in their familiar home environment
Finding 2: Female respondents experience homesickness more than their male
counterparts
Possible answers are twofold:
(1) influence of culture,
and (2) negative thinking.
Why
Finding 3: Female respondents are more likely to employ problem-focused coping to
deal with stressors
International female students from individualistic societies with their positive thinking and strong self-efficacy are more adaptive and can confidently handle stressful events with either minimum or no dependence on their parents. And it is this category of international female students that are more likely to employ problem-focused coping to deal with stressors
Which type of female students?
Finding 4: Problem-focused coping does not significantly predict any of the seven
acculturative stressors
International students with adequate emotional intelligence were able to regulate their negative emotions by taping on their positive emotions in the face of homesickness
and
were also able to provide emotional and social support to other students who were affected by homesickness in the first semester
Why
Finding 5: The use of emotion-focused coping by males seems to worsen their
perception of hate, fear, culture shock, and non-specific concerns
Acceptance of cultural based coping practices sometimes compounds negative perception.
E.g. Instead solving the root of problem, students focus on solving the symptoms of the problem.
Why
Finding 6:Female respondents do not seem to consider their coping styles,
problem-focused or emotion-focused, to be important determinants of how well they
cope with acculturative stress
First reason, Students are ignorant of coping strategies
Second reason, the existence of indigenous coping strategies among females. Indigenous coping strategies are home-grown coping styles which do not carry formal psychological labels.
Why
First studies on acculturative stress and coping responses of international undergraduate students in Assumption University.
Despite some limitations, this study confirms that there are similar acculturative stresses as appeared in other countries.
Culture context, individual emotional intelligence, personal construct and life experiences contribute to the differences on the perception of acculturative stresses and their coping strategies.
Future studies would increase the insight of the international students’ adjustment in Thailand.
Conclusion
•Future studies involving multiple universities and cultural contexts.
•Inclusion of sample from graduate and post-graduate students.
Recommendations
Thank you for your time, patience and attention.
SAWADI KA
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