Understanding friendship formation between international and host-national students in a Canadian university

Effect of Support from Lecturers and Host Country Nationals on Cross-Cultural Adjustment among International Students: Evidence from a Malaysian University

“…Moreover, while extant research on international students has investigated their psychological outcomes associated with perceived social support (see Andrade, 2006;Baba & Hosoda, 2014;Brunsting et al, 2018;Chavajay, 2013;Yusoff, 2012), to the researchers' best knowledge, no known study has undertaken an examination of the effects of support from lecturers and host country nationals (HCNs) on the CCA of international students. In fact, scholars have proven that both lecturers (McClure, 2007;Yee et al, 2018) and HCNs (Robinson et al, 2019;Shu et al, 2020) are distinct sources of support that facilitate international students' academic success and social embeddedness. To address this research gap, the present study applied the anxiety and uncertainty management (AUM) theory (see Gudykunst, 1998), which is based on the underlying assumption that minimising an individual's level of anxiety and uncertainty is likely to eventuate effective CCA and intercultural communication (Gudykunst, 1998;Hammer et al, 1998).…”

Misery Implicitly Loves Company: Implicit Homophily and Bully Victimization

“…Indeed, research has found evidence of deselection homophily among depressed youth (Schaefer et al, 2011), individuals who have engaged in self-injury (Prinstein et al, 2010), and psychopathology (Mercer & DeRosier, 2010). More recently, a Canadian study of international students' decisions to form close bonds with others of the same ethnic background or other international students (even if they were not of the same race/ethnicity) was primarily due to their descriptions of Canadian-born students rejecting them in unstructured social interactions (Robinson et al, 2020). Thus, while followers of Catholicism may show religious homophily clearly as a result of their preference for people who follow the same faith (McPherson et al, 2001), the phenomenon of homophily within breast cancer inpatient support groups (Andersen et al, 2008) and racial/ethnic homophily among international students (Robinson et al, 2020) takes place "in the absence of preference" (Schaefer et al, 2011, p. 766).…”

A home away from home? An interpretative phenomenological analysis of Vietnamese students’ acculturation experiences in Aotearoa-New Zealand

“…The literature suggests that international students rely heavily on their co-national networks for social, psychological, and academic support (H. Li & Pitkänen, 2018). Difficulties in forming relationships with local students are associated with language difficulties and cultural differences (H. Li & Pitkänen, 2018;Robinson, Somerville, & Walsworth, 2020). Some international students have not lived away from their extended families before studying overseas, and some lack the practical life skills needed for living independently (Forbes-Mewett & Sawyer, 2016).…”

“…A plethora of research has been conducted to explore the friendship formation of international students and how this network may impact on their experiences. Such issues remain a recurrent theme in the literature on international students (Marginson et al, 2010;Montgomery, 2010;Robinson et al, 2020). Bochner et al (1977) classified international students' friendship networks into three categories: co-national, host-national, and multi-national networks.…”

“…International students may need to invest time adjusting to unfamiliar learning environments, demanding subjects and heavy academic workloads, which reduces their time for social activities (H. Li, 2017). In their Canadian study, Robinson et al (2020) found a range of constraints that hindered international students from having meaningful interactions with local students, including their concerns over the ways local students received them, cultural boundaries, and the students' foreign accent. The authors explained that the students were not ready to form meaningful relationships with local students because they perceived some behaviours as too costly for them, for example, the perception of the need to adjust or sacrifice their lifestyle, academic experiences, and values to adapt to the local culture.…”