The Differential Role of Heritage and Mainstream Social Support in Subjective Vitality of International and Exchange Students

With the the number of international and exchange students increasing in Canada, researchers have attempted to identify factors that help their adaptation to a new culture. Although international and exchange students have been traditionally grouped and studied together, they may encounter different life changes that could distinctively contribute to their adaptation. The present study investigated the differential role of heritage and mainstream social support in psychological adaptation of international and exchange students based on Berry’s (1997) framework on acculturation using a longitudinal design. Eighty-four international and 63 exchange students in two Montreal universities filled out an online questionnaire on their acculturation experience, social support, and subjective vitality – a marker of psychological adaptation – at three different time points. The results revealed two moderated mediations. For international students but not exchange students, heritage social support at Time 2 mediated the association between heritage orientation at Time 1 and vitality at Time 3, 95% CI [.020, .258]. However, mainstream social support at Time 2 mediated the association between mainstream acculturation at Time 1 and vitality at Time 3 for exchange student and not international students, 95% CI [.002, .204]. Vitality at Time 1 was controlled for in both models. Results indicate that different types of social support can affect the general well-being of international and exchange students such that exchange students seem to benefit more from mainstream-based social support whereas international students seem to benefit more from heritage-based social support. The findings are consistent with the complex literature on acculturation and Berry’s acculturation framework that highlight the importance of many mediating and moderating factors in psychological adaptation in a new culture. Future studies are needed to investigate the factors, such as length of stay, motivation, and financial status, that may be contributing to different acculturation experience for international vs. exchange students.