A Quantitative Survey on International Students’ Acculturative Stress Levels

Abstract

With the significant increase in international education opportunities, international students have become one of the important actors of intercultural communication. The students’ adaptation to current conditions in the new social structure is an important issue in terms of the success and quality of their educational and living processes. However, the students’ intercultural transition process with different cultural backgrounds can sometimes create problematic situations. As one of the problematics, acculturative stress can make it difficult for students to adapt to their new social lives, decrease their academic success and lead them to social isolation. This study aimed to address the level of acculturative stress of 400 university students in Turkey. By applying quantitative measurement tools, the international students’ levels of acculturative stress were measured with the Acculturative Stress Scale consisting of 32 items. The scale includes five sub-dimensions including language inadequacy, social isolation, perceived discrimination, academic pressure and guilt towards the family. The results of the study showed that international students had a low level of acculturative stress during their time in Turkey in general and pointed out that students rarely experienced acculturative stress. The study also observed that the students report guilt towards the family was the highest level of acculturative stress.

Keywords

• Acculturation
• Stress
• Acculturative Stress
• International University Students
• International Education
• Intercultural Communication

Uluslararası Öğrencilerin Kültürleşme Stresi Düzeylerine İlişkin Nicel Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Uluslararası eğitim olanaklarının önemli ölçüde artmasıyla birlikte, uluslararası öğrenciler kültürlerarası iletişimin önemli aktörlerinden biri konumuna yükselmişlerdir. Öğrencilerin, dâhil oldukları yeni toplumsal yapı içerisinde karşılarına çıkan güncel koşullara uyum sağlamaları, eğitim süreçlerinin ve yeni yaşamlarının başarı ve kalitesi açısından önemli bir husustur. Ancak farklı kültürel geçmişe sahip öğrencilerin, kültürlerarası geçiş süreci zaman zaman problemli durumlar ortaya çıkarabilmektedir. Bu durumların başında gelen kültürleşme stresi, öğrencinin yeni toplumsal yaşamına uyumunu zorlaştırabilmekte, akademik başarısını düşürebilmekte, sosyal yaşamdan izole olmasına neden olabilmekte ve psikolojik açıdan sorunlar ortaya çıkarabilmektedir. Bu bağlamda çalışma; Türkiye’de farklı üniversitelerde öğrenim görmekte olan 400 öğrencinin kültürleşme stresi düzeylerini ele almayı amaçlamaktadır. Nicel ölçme araçları kullanılan çalışmada, uluslararası öğrencilerin kültürleşme stresi düzeyleri; 32 maddeden oluşan Kültürleşme Stresi Ölçeği ile ölçülmüştür. Ölçek, kendi içerisinde dil yetersizliği, sosyal izolasyon, algılanan ayrımcılık, akademik baskı ve aileye karşı suçluluğu içeren beş alt boyutu kapsamaktadır. Çalışma sonuçları, uluslararası öğrencilerin Türkiye’de bulundukları süre içerisinde kültürleşme streslerinin genel anlamda düşük bir düzeyde olduğunu göstermiş ve öğrencilerin nadiren kültürleşme stresi yaşadıklarını ortaya koymuştur. Ayrıca aileye karşı suçluluk boyutunun öğrencilerin en yüksek düzeyde stres bildirdikleri kültürleşme stresi boyutu olduğu gözlenmiştir.

Keywords

• Kültürleşme
• Stres
• Kültürleşme Stresi
• Uluslararası Üniversite Öğrencileri
• Uluslararası Eğitim
• Kültürlerarası İletişim

References

1. Akhtar, M. (2011). Acculturative stress and its association with academic stress and psychological wellbeing of international students. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(4), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
2. Arthur, N. (1998). Counseling international students. Canadian Journal of Counseling, 31, 259–271.
3. Aubrey, R. (1991). International students on campus: a challenge for counselors, medical providers, and clinicians. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 62, 20–33.
4. Bai, J. (2012). Development and validation of the acculturative stress scale. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Social Work, Indiana University.
5. Berry, J. W. (1991). Understanding and managing multiculturalism: some possible implications of research in Canada. Psychology & Developing Societies, 3(1), 17–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/097133369100300103
6. Berry, J. W., Kim, U., Power, S., Young, M., & Bujaki, M. (1989). Acculturation attitudes in plural societies. Applied Psychology, 38(2), 185–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1989.tb01208.x
7. Berry, J W. (2001). Berry psychology of immigration. Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 615–631.
8. Berry, J.W. (1989). The acculturation process and refugee behaviour. In Context: Southeast Asians in California (Vol. 10, Issue 75, ss. 1–5).

9. Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46(1), 5–34. https://doi. org/10.1080/026999497378467
10. Berry, J. W. (2003). Conceptual approaches to acculturation. K. M. Chun, P. B. Organista & G. Marin (Eds), Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research içinde (ss.17–37). American Psychological Association.
11. Berry, J. W., & Annis, R. C. (1974). Ecology, culture and psychological differentiation. International Journal of Psychology, 9(3), 173–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207597408247102
12. Berry J. W. , Kim, U., Minde, T., & Mok, D. (1987). Comparative Studies of acculturative stress. Sage Journals 21(3), 491–511.
13. Born, D. O. (1970). Psychological adaptation and development under acculturative stress: Toward a general model. Social Science and Medicine, 3(4), 529–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/0037-7856(70)90025-9
14. Bradley, G. (2000). Responding effectively to the mental health needs of international students. Higher Education, 39(4), 417–433. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003938714191
15. Castles, S., Haas, H., & Miller, M. J. (2014). The Age of migration international population movements in the modern world. Palgrave Macmillan.
16. Chen P., C. (1999). Common stressors among international college students: research and counseling implications. Journal of College Counseling, 2, 49–65.
17. Church, A. T. (1982). Sojourner adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 91(3), 540–572. https://doi. org/10.1037/0033-2909.91.3.540
18. Çokluk, Ö., Şekercioğlu, G., & Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2014). Sosyal bilimler için çok değişkenli istatistik: SPSS ve LISREL uygulamaları. Pegem Akademi.
19. Dimitrov, D. M. (2013). Statistical methods for validation of assessment scale data in counseling and related fields. American Counseling Association.
20. Eustace, R. W. (2007). Factors ınfluencing acculturative stress among international. Unpiblished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Family Studies and Human Services College of Human Ecology , Kansas State University.
21. Ferketich, S. (1991). Focus on psychometrics. aspects of item analysis. Research in Nursing & Health, 14(2), 165–168.
22. Gülnar, B. ve Balcı, Ş. (2011). Yeni medya ve kültürleşen toplum. Konya: Literatürk Yayıncılık.
23. Gürbüz, S. (2019). Amos ile yapısal eşitlik modellemesi. Ankara: Seçkin Yayıncılık.
24. Kadkhoda, B. (2001). Acculturation and acculturative stress as related to level of depression and anxiety in Iranian ımmigrants. Calıfornıa School Of Professıonal Psychology.
25. Karasar, N. (2014). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemi. Ankara: Nobel Yayıncılık.
26. Liu M. (2009). Addressing the mental health problems of chinese international college students in the united states meirong liu introverted concepts of mental health. Social Work, 10(1), 69–86.
27. Lozano-Bull, I. (1987). Acculturative stress in Mexican-American women. California School of Professional Psychology.
28. Oropeza, B. Z., & Fitzgibbon, M. (1991). Managing mental health crises of foreign college students. Journal of Counseling & Development, 69, 280–284.
29. Pedersen, P. (1995). Canadian journal of counselling/revue canadienne de counseling. The Culture-bound Counsellora an Unintentional Racist Paul Pedersen Syracuse University, Vol. 29:3 197.
30. Redmond, M. V., & Bunyi, J. M. (1993). The relationship of intercultural communication competence with stress and the handling of stress as reported by international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 17, 235–254.
31. Sandhu, Daya S., Portes, P. R., McPhee, S. (1996). Assessing cultural adaptation: Psychometric properties of the cultural adaptation pain scale. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 24, 15–25.
32. Sandhu, Daya S., & Asrabadi, B. R. (1994). Development of an acculturative stress scale for international students: prelıminary findings. Psychological Reports, 75, 435–448.
33. Tekbıyık, A. (2014). İlişkisel tarama. M. Metin (Ed) Kuramdan uygulamaya eğitimde bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri içinde (ss. 99–114), Ankara: Pegem Akademi.
34. UNESCO. (2019). Outbound Internationally Mobile Students. http://data.uis.unesco.org/ adresinden 20 Ocak 2020 tarihinde edinilmiştir.
35. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2019). International migration report 2019. https://www.un.org/. adresinden 20 Ocak 2020 tarihinde edinilmiştir.
36. YÖK, İstatistik, Uyruğa Göre Öğrenci Sayıları (2019-2020), Yüksek Öğretim Bilgi Sistemi https://istatistik. yok.gov.tr/. adresinden 15 Ocak 2020 tarihinde edinilmiştir.
37. Ward, C., & Rana-Deuba, A. (1999). Acculturation and adaptation revisited. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 30(4), 422–442. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022199030004003
38. Westwood, M. J., & Ishiyama, F. I. (1990). The communication process as a critical intervention for client change in cross‐cultural counseling. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 18(4), 163–171. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.1990.tb00447.x
39. Williams, C. L., & Berry, J. W. (1991). Primary prevention of acculturative stress among refugees: Application of psychological theory and practice. American Psychologist, 46(6), 632–641. https:// doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.46.6.632
40. Yeh, C. J., & Inose, M. (2003). International students’ reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 16(1), 15–28.