Effects of Acculturation Types on Acculturative Stress and Adjustment to South Korean Society: Focusing on Chinese Immigrants

Abstract

This study aims to empirically analyze the effects of acculturation types of Chinese immigrants who have settled in South Korea on their acculturative stress and adjustment to South Korean society. For this, 200 Chinese immigrants residing in Korea were surveyed. Of these, 12 were excluded from the survey for insincere or omitted responses, and the final 188 were surveyed. The research results are as follows: First, the effects of the types of acculturation of Chinese immigrants on their acculturative stress were analyzed. According to the results, among the subfactors of acculturation type, integration and assimilation had significant negative effects on acculturative stress, and marginalization had significant positive effects. Second, the effects of immigrants’ acculturative stress on their adjustment to South Korean society were analyzed, and it was found that their acculturative stress had significant negative effects on their adjustment to South Korean society. Third, the effects of immigrants’ acculturation types on their adjustment to South Korean society were analyzed. Among the subfactors of the acculturation types, integration and assimilation were found to have significant positive effects on adjustment to South Korean society, while marginalization had significant negative effects. Fourth, the mediating effect of acculturative stress on the relationship between the integration of Chinese immigrants and their adjustment to South Korean society was analyzed. As a result, it was found that the integration, separation, and marginalization of immigrants had significant indirect effects on their adjustment to South Korean society through acculturative stress. This study can be regarded as meaningful in that it presented the acculturation types necessary for immigrants, who are steadily increasing in South Korea in this era of globalization, to relieve the acculturative stress they feel in an unfamiliar foreign country and adjust to South Korean society.

The Faults of Neoliberal Education: Examining International Students’ Experiences within Korean Higher Education

“…It is apparent from the focus group and student interviews that the experiences demonstrate how the host institution is not accommodating or aware of the acculturation struggles of international students. The absence of social support in the cases of Illa and Ansar confirms the significance of Lee et al (2020) and Jung's (2022) recommendations that friendship, community, and other forms of social capital can buffer acculturative stress. Without such support, the inverse of the findings of Jin et al (2022) was found in which case the students' positive experiences of the host institution led to an acceptance of the host country's cultures and values.…”

“…The effects of acculturation can become amplified as the process moves further and further in one direction, with accumulative advantages attained by higher levels of cultural competency (Jin et al, 2022). Positive acculturation increases with more profound familiarity, and negative acculturation becomes more damaging when the individual is estranged from the host culture (Jung, 2022). Studies in acculturation and global education have demonstrated the critical function of HEIs in familiarizing students with the host country's culture (Kim et al, 2021;Penman et al, 2021;Sullivan & Kashubeck-West, 2015).…”

The Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Tertiary International Students in South Korea

“…International students encounter many challenges in transitioning to their host countries which include language barriers, psychological, and sociocultural adaptation issues (Peng & Wu, 2019). In South Korea (Hereafter, Korea), sociocultural adaptation issues stem from difficulty adapting and integrating into Korean society and culture (Jung, 2022). Many social and cultural matters afflicting international students are like those of other non-Korean citizens living in Korea, such as migrant workers and foreign spouses (Jung, 2023).…”