Demographic correlates of acculturation and sociocultural adaptation: Comparing international and domestic students

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between international and domestic students’ demographic factors on acculturation and sociocultural adaptation. It also examined the extent to which cultural values, uncertainty avoidance (UA) and power distance (PD), might explain two types of sociocultural adaptation: social interaction and localizing. A sample of 207 international and 173 domestic students from a northern California university completed a self-report survey. As expected, international students had higher sociocultural adaptation than U.S. students, but this difference did not vary by marital status or length of stay. Also, women who came from high UA and large PD countries (vs. low UA and high PD countries) had greater social interaction adaptation. These findings demonstrate that students’ cultural backgrounds play an important role in their adaptation. This is an important finding as it signals that counselors in higher education institutes might need to collaborate with academic staff to help international students adjust. Female students from high UA and large PD countries may be especially in need of assistance to cope with sociocultural adaptation. Additional implications and future research needs are discussed.