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