The Relationship between Acculturative Stress, Perceived Social Support, and Perceived Discrimination in International Students

International students who temporarily move to another country for educational purposes experience difficulty in adapting to their new environment. In spite of this, there is limited research investigating the acculturation process and well-being of international students. Therefore, the current thesis aims to determine predictors of acculturative stress in Iranian and Nigerian international students studying at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU). It was expected that students’ demographic factors (i.e., age, gender and nationality), perceived social support and perceived discrimination would significantly predict acculturative stress in international students. A total of 174 Iranian and Nigerian international students (83 male/ 91 female), aged between 18 to 35 years (M=24.22) and enrolled in various programs such as engineering and psychology at EMU took part in the current study. Participants completed four self-report questionnaires: a demographics questionnaire, the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students, the Everyday Discrimination Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Results showed that gender, nationality, perceived social support and perceived discrimination, but not age, significantly predicted acculturative stress in Iranian and Nigerian international students. It was further found that perceived social support mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and acculturative stress. These findings indicate that demographic and social variables can affect international students’ adjustment to their new environment and further highlight the importance of perceived social support as a buffer against perceived discrimination and acculturative stress. Keywords: Acculturative stress, perceived social support, perceived discrimination.