| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 947443 | International Journal of Intercultural Relations | 2011 | 12 Pages |
Traditional acculturation research has focused mainly on acculturative stress and its negative consequences on the mental health of migrants. However, there has recently been a substantial paradigm shift in acculturation research from a psychopathological perspective to a resilience framework, which focuses on positive adaptation outcomes and their contributing protective factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate how to improve the emotional well-being of migrants by developing and testing a resilience model of acculturation using mainland Chinese postgraduate students in Hong Kong as the sample. A total of 400 mainland Chinese students were recruited from six universities in Hong Kong through a cross-sectional survey. A resilience-based and meaning-oriented model of acculturation was developed for Chinese students by path analysis and structural equation modeling. Threat appraisal and sense-making coping partially mediated the relationship between acculturative hassles and negative affect. The effect of acculturative hassles on positive affect was mediated by two pathways: the first was mediated by threat appraisal, sense-making coping, and negative affect; the second was mediated by meaning-in-life. The findings suggest that acculturative hassles and threat appraisal are significant risk factors and that sense-making coping and meaning-in-life are important protective factors for psychological adjustment in cross-cultural adaptation.
► This study developed and tested a resilience-based and meaning-oriented model of acculturation for Chinese students. ► Threat appraisal and sense-making coping partially mediate the relationship between acculturation hassles and negative affect. ► The effect of acculturative hassles on positive affect is mediated by two pathways: one is mediated by threat appraisal, sense-making coping and negative affect; the other is mediated by meaning-in-life.
