Abstract
The main purpose of this research was to examine the potential mediation effects of self-esteem on the association between international students’ emotional intelligence (EI) and adjustment, as indexed by academic adjustment, social adjustment, and psychological adjustment. Data from 151 international students in southern Thailand were collected. The path analysis indicated that self-esteem fully mediated the relationships between EI and social adjustment and psychological adjustment, whereas self-esteem acted as a partial mediator between EI and academic adjustment. In addition, self-esteem impacted the three outcomes much more strongly than EI. Practical suggestions for enhancing students’ adjustment are addressed and examined. The limitations of the research and suggestions for further studies are also briefly discussed.
Highlights
The concept of adjustment among international students has evolved into a multi-faceted human behavioural phenomenon (Ward & Kennedy, 1993; Mustaffa & Ilias, 2013) since the first study by Lysgaard, who introduced the U-curve theory, in 1955
emotional intelligence (EI), the predictor, was positively correlated with the three outcomes: academic adjustment (r = 0.45, p < 0.01), social adjustment (r = 0.28, p < 0.01), and psychological adjustment (r = 0.31, p < 0.01), as well as the mediator, self-esteem (r = 0.47, p < 0.01), confirming the positive results of the first two steps suggested by Kenney (2018)
The other correlations were statistically significant; self-esteem was positively correlated with academic adjustment (r = 0.67, p < 0.01), social adjustment (r = 0.35, p < 0.01), and psychological adjustment (r = 0.57, p < 0.01); the three outcomes had positive correlations, r = 0.52, p < 0.01, r = 0.65, p < 0.01, and r = 0.30, p < 0.01, respectively, academic and social adjustment, academic and psychological adjustment, and social and psychological adjustment, indicating statistical significance of all correlations among the variables at the level below 0.70
Summary
The concept of adjustment among international students has evolved into a multi-faceted human behavioural phenomenon (Ward & Kennedy, 1993; Mustaffa & Ilias, 2013) since the first study by Lysgaard, who introduced the U-curve theory, in 1955. Social, and psychological adjustment have been suggested to be indicators that construct the concept of adjustment (Baker & Siryk, 1999). Educational, psychological, social, and behavioural researchers have stressed the predictive roles of emotional intelligence (EI) and selfesteem on adjustment. Few studies have simultaneously examined the roles of self-esteem in the underlying mechanism between EI and the three indicators of adjustment. There is little academic interest on adjustment of Asian international students studying in Asian countries and on this topic
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