A quantitative study on Chinese international students’ support mechanisms to address alienation caused by COVID-19 stigma encounters in the United States

Abstract

In this study, Chinese international students (N = 231) from multiple U.S. universities completed an online survey from 2021 to 2022. The data was examined by structural equation modeling to analyze the relationship between Chinese students’ stigma encounters and their feelings of alienation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Support mechanisms linking stigma encounters and alienation were also examined, including collective face concerns, perceived social support from Chinese and Americans, and social communication with the co-national and host cultures. The results suggested that stigma encounters increased Chinese international students’ alienation and collective face concerns; however, collective face concerns reduced alienation feelings. In addition, the relationship between stigma encounters and alienation was partially mediated by collective face concerns, while the mediating effects of perceived social support and social communication were not significant. The theoretical and practical implications of this study were discussed to examine support mechanisms that help Chinese international students to address stigmatization and improve their psychological well-being in response to COVID-19.