Dealing with Acculturative Stress Among International Students in Ghana: Influences Of Assertiveness, Self-Efficacy and Social Support

Abstract

Acculturation is both a cultural and a psychological process and contributes greatly to the stress of adapting to a new environment. Universities in Ghana continue to attract international students who enter every year and/or semester to study. As result, it is envisaged that the Ghanaian socio-cultural and academic environments may pose acculturative stress for international students. The study therefore sought to investigate the acculturative stress for international students living and studying in universities in Ghana by examining how assertiveness, self-efficacy, and social support help international students in dealing with the effects of acculturative stress. To achieve these, the study employed the explanatory sequential mixed methods approach (QUAN-qual technique). Participants for the study were drawn from University of Ghana (UG) representing a public university and Wisconsin International University College (WIUC), representing a private university all in Accra. For the survey, 256 participants completed the International Students Acculturative Experiences Questionnaire (ISAEQ) comprising socio-demographics, Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS), Student Stress Inventory, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and the modified Index of Social Support. Fifteen (15) indepth interviews were also conducted. Data analysis was done by descriptive and inferential statistics as well the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith et al. 2009). Overall, the study established that international students in Ghana do experience acculturative stress (M=2.59; SD=0.58), socio-culturally and academically, though not a debilitating one. Health, homesickness and perceived discrimination were found to be the top three sources of acculturative stress for the students, whereas fear and guilt were the least sources of acculturative stress. Analysis of Variance conducted revealed a complexity of acculturative stress experience continentally University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi (F=12.842, p<.05), with African international students experiencing the most acculturative stress (M = 2.73, SD = 0.58). In dealing with acculturative stress, the study established that being assertive (r = -.13, p<.05) and also receiving social support (r = - .19, p<.05), mainly from friendship networks established with Ghanaians and other international students, were significant in helping international students deal successfully with the experience of acculturative and academic stress. International students did not feel supported by administrators and teaching faculty of the universities they attended, and that having a sense of self-efficacy was not significant in dealing with acculturative stress. In conclusion, international students studying and living in Ghana are generally a vulnerable group as they find adapting to Ghana’s new socio-cultural environment as well as the academic culture of the universities a challenging experience. Recommendations for curriculum development where specialized intercultural course(s) to make international students gain some cultural awareness as well as cultural literacy will help reduce acculturative stress levels. Adult education programmes where university staff and faculty and governmental bodies are trained to provide support for international students is recommended. An institutionalization of a monthly Town Hall meeting where international students have the opportunity share their experiences, challenges and successes will help make the international student’s experience a worthy one. Also, two (2) sessions per semester on how to successfully navigate the academic culture of the universities as well as how to effectively manage examination-related anxiety will help deal with acculturative stress for international students. Directions for future research are discussed.