Acculturation and adaptation of international students at Portuguese universities

Abstract

The importance of understanding the adaptation of international students is particularly relevant to the expansion of the internationalization of higher education. This paper examines various psychosocial features with regard to the intercultural relations of international students (IS) in Portugal. This country is receiving an increasing number of IS. Two key components of intercultural relations are acculturation and adaptation. As regards the acculturation process, we examine studies on cultural identity, acculturation strategies, and perceived discrimination. As regards psychological adaptation, we examine studies on several indicators of subjective well-being (overall well-being, satisfaction with life, satisfaction with academic life, satisfaction with migration life), and loneliness. Finally, it is reviewed research on sociocultural adaptation. This set of reviewed studies on international students is consonant with the perspective that most migrant people adapt well in the society of settlement, notwithstanding the difficulties found across the intercultural contact. A relevant contribution to the acculturation field was the demonstration that sociocultural adaptation difficulty fully mediated the relationships of perceived discrimination and two indicators of psychological adaptation, satisfaction with life and loneliness. This underlying relationship of perceived discrimination with psychological adaptation means that programs to decrease sociocultural adaptation difficulties among international students may help to improve their psychological adaptation. Several other practical recommendations can be drawn from this set of studies.