Abstract
Among many factors, individual difference variables are believed to be critical aspects of students’ psychological adjustment. The present study was, therefore, conducted in this context to determine the relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem and psychological adjustment variables of depression and life satisfaction. The participants of the study were international university students (N = 328) studying in three Chinese universities in Hubei Province, Wuhan. To obtain the data, self-report questionnaires were distributed among the participants measuring their levels of self-efficacy, self-esteem, life satisfaction and depression. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to explore the relationship between the study variables while controlling the demographics. The regression output showed that both self-efficacy and self-esteem were positively related to life satisfaction and negatively related to depression. The study further conducted mediation analyses with the help of regression PROCESS macro. The mediation results indicated that self-esteem and life satisfaction showed full parallel mediating effects on the relationship between self-efficacy and depression. Self-esteem also mediated the self-efficacy-depression relationship. Exploring the relationships between the study variables may enrich the scientific understanding of acculturative psychological outcomes in the context of individual difference variables. Findings may also provide direction for host university communities in nurturing the self-esteem and self-efficacy of their fellow international students to better deal with their psychological adjustment difficulties.
Highlights
Globalization, one of the most prominent features of the 21st century, has rapidly been maintaining a global ground for social, cultural, economic, and political integrity [1]
The present study was, conducted in this context to determine the relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem and psychological adjustment variables of depression and life satisfaction
The values of skewness and kurtosis of the present sample data appeared to fit into the acceptable range, indicating that there was no violation of normality
Summary
Globalization, one of the most prominent features of the 21st century, has rapidly been maintaining a global ground for social, cultural, economic, and political integrity [1]. Globalization appears to impact every aspect of human change and growth. It is the foundation of the knowledge-based global economy. As part of the global integrity, internationalization of higher education has been undergoing rapid changes, which has accelerated the mobility of international students around the globe. Due to China’s remarkable achievement in the realm of science and technology and the popularity of the Chinese language across the world, Chinese higher education internationalization has been recently swiftly growing, making the country to be one of the top study destinations in the world, attracting a considerable number of international students [5] [6]. According to data from the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People’s Republic of China, there were more than 489,200 international students in the country in the year 2017 [7]
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