The present study explores how international students’ (IS; N = 169; Mage = 19.81 years, 36% male) identity fusion, the extent to which they feel connected with a particular social group, is concurrently and longitudinally correlated with belonging, loneliness, well-being, and perceived social support. IS reported higher fusion with other IS than with domestic students (DS). Fusion with IS at Time 1 (T1) was associated with greater IS support at T1 and Time 2 (T2). Fusion with DS was positively correlated with T1 belonging, well-being, and DS support at both time points, and was negatively linked with loneliness at T1 and T2. IS and DS fusion also interacted in predicting T1 belonging and loneliness. Students with proportionally greater DS than IS fusion reported greater DS support, and proportionally greater IS fusion was related to greater IS support. Discussion centers on promoting adjustment and intergroup relationships in higher education.
Al-SharidehK. A.GoeW. R. (1998).
Ethnic communities within the university: An examination of factors influencing the personal adjustment of international students. Research in Higher Education,
39, 699–725.
2.
AtriA.SharmaM.CottrellR. (2007).
Role of social support, hardiness, and acculturation as predictors of mental health among international students of Asian Indian origin. International Quarterly of Community Health Education,
27, 59–73.
3.
BabaY.HosodaM. (2014).
Home away home: Better understanding of the role of social support in predicting cross-cultural adjustment among international students. College Student Journal,
48, 1–15.
4.
BerryJ. W. (2003). Conceptual approaches to acculturation. In ChunK. M.OrganistaP. B.MarinG. (Eds.), Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 17–37).
American Psychological Association.
5.
BerryJ. W. (2005).
Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,
29, 697–712.
6.
BestaT.JaśkiewiczM.Kosakowska-BerezeckaN.LawendowskiR.ZawadzkaA. M. (2018).
What do I gain from joining crowds? Does self-expansion help to explain the relationship between identity fusion, group efficacy and collective action?European Journal of Social Psychology,
48(2), O152–O167.
7.
BestaT.MattinglyB.BłażekM. (2016).
When membership gives strength to act: Inclusion of the group into the self and feeling of personal agency. The Journal of Social Psychology,
156, 56–73.
8.
BhochibhoyaA.DongY.BranscumP. (2017).
Sources of social support among international college students in the United States. Journal of International Students,
7, 671–686.
9.
BrechwaldW. A.PrinsteinM. J. (2011).
Beyond homophily: A decade of advances in understanding peer influence processes. Journal of Research on Adolescence,
21, 166–179.
10.
BrunstingN. C.SmithA. C.ZachryC. E. (2018).
An academic and cultural transition course for international students: Efficacy and socio-emotional outcomes. Journal of International Students,
8, 1497–1521.
11.
BrunstingN. C.ZachryC.TakeuchiR. (2018).
Predictors of undergraduate international student psychosocial adjustment to U.S. universities: A systematic review from 2009–2018. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,
66, 2–33.
12.
BuhrmesterM. D.GómezÁ.BrooksM. L.MoralesJ. F.FernándezS.SwannW. B.Jr.(2012).
My group’s fate is my fate: Identity-fused Americans and Spaniards link personal life quality to outcome of 2008 elections. Basic and Applied Social Psychology,
34, 527–533.
ChavajayP. (2013).
Perceived social support among international students at a U.S. University. Psychological Reports,
112, 667–677.
15.
CrocettiE.PratiF.RubiniM. (2018).
The interplay of personal and social identity. European Psychologist,
23, 300–310.
16.
EthierK. A.DeauxK. (1994).
Negotiating social identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
67, 243–251.
17.
GareisE. (2012).
Intercultural friendship: Effects of home and host region. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication,
5, 309–328.
18.
GlassC. R.WestmontC. M. (2014).
Comparative effects of belongingness on the academic success and cross-cultural interactions of domestic and international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,
38, 106–119.
19.
GómezÁ.MoralesJ. F.HartS.VázquezA.SwannW. B.Jr.(2011).
Rejected and excluded forevermore, but even more devoted: Irrevocable ostracism intensifies loyalty to the group among identity-fused persons. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
37, 1574–1586.
20.
GraberJ. A.SontagL. M. (2009). Internalizing problems during adolescence. In LernerR. M.SteinbergL. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology, Vol. 1: Individual bases of adolescent development (3rd ed., pp. 642–682).
Wiley.
21.
HammJ. V. (2000).
Do birds of a feather flock together? The variable bases for African American, Asian American, and European American adolescents’ selection of similar friends. Developmental Psychology,
36, 209–219.
22.
HendricksonB.RosenD.AuneR. K. (2011).
An analysis of friendship networks, social connectedness, homesickness, and satisfaction levels of international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,
35, 281–295.
23.
HydeJ. S.MezulisA. H.AbramsonL. Y. (2008).
The ABCs of depression: Integrating affective, biological, and cognitive models to explain the emergence of the gender differences in depression. Psychological Review,
115, 291–313.
Institute of International Education. (2015). Report on international educational exchange.
26.
JayawickremeE.Dahill-BrownS. E. (2016). Student belonging [Unpublished measure].
27.
JiménezJ.GomezA.BuhrmesterM. D.VázquezA.WhitehouseH.SwannW. B. (2016).
The dynamic identity fusion index: A new continuous measure of identity fusion for web-based questionnaires. Social Science Computer Review,
34, 215–228.
28.
KimY. Y. (2002).
Becoming intercultural: An integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,
26, 113–117.
29.
KovtunO. (2011).
International student adaptation to a U.S. college: A mixed methods exploration of the impact of a specialized first-year course at a large Midwestern institution. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice,
48, 349–366.
30.
LaneK. L.OakesW. P.MenziesH. M.OyerJ.JenkinsA. (2013).
Working within the context of three-tiered models of prevention: Using school wide data to identify high school students for targeted supports. Journal of Applied School Psychology,
29, 203–229.
31.
LeeC.SungY. T.ZhouY.LeeS. (2018).
The relationships between the seriousness of leisure activities, social support and school adaptation among Asian international students in the US. Leisure Studies,
37, 197–210.
32.
LinvilleP. W. (1987).
Self-complexity as a cognitive buffer against stress-related illness and depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
52(4), 663–676.
33.
LuoZ.WuS.FangX.BrunstingN. C. (2019).
International students’ perceived language competence, domestic student support, and well-being at a U.S. university. Journal of International Students,
9, 954–971. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v0i0.605
34.
MacDonaldG.LearyM. R. (2005).
Why does social exclusion hurt? The relationship between social and physical pain. Psychological Bulletin,
131, 202–223.
35.
MaundeniT. (2001).
The role of social networks in the adjustment of African students to British society: Students’ perceptions. Race Ethnicity and Education,
4, 253–276.
36.
RaffieldB.GreenlowC.PriceN.CollardM. (2015).
In-group identification, identity fusion and the formation of Viking war bands. World Archaeology,
48, 35–50.
37.
RussellD.PeplauL. A.FergusonM. L. (1978).
Developing a measure of loneliness. Journal of Personality Assessment,
42, 290–294.
38.
RyffC. D. (1989).
Happiness is everything or is it explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
57, 1069–1081.
39.
SamD. L. (2001).
Satisfaction with life among international students: An exploratory study. Social Indicators Research,
53, 315–337.
40.
SawirE.MarginsonS.DeumertA.NylandC.RamiaG. (2008).
Loneliness and international students: An Australian study. Journal of Studies in International Education,
12, 434–454.
41.
SmithR. A.KhawajaN. G. (2011).
A review of the acculturation experiences of international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,
35, 699–713.
42.
SugaiG.HornerR. H. (2009).
Responsiveness-to-intervention and school-wide positive behavior supports: Integration of multi-tiered system approaches. Exceptionality,
17, 223–237.
43.
SullivanC.Kashubeck-WestS. (2015).
The interplay of international students’ acculturative stress, social support, and acculturation modes. Journal of International Students,
5, 1–11.
44.
SwannW. B.Jr.BuhrmesterM. D. (2015).
Identity fusion. Current Directions in Psychological Science,
24, 52–57.
45.
SwannW. B.Jr.BuhrmesterM. D.GómezA.JettenJ.BastianB.VázquezA., … FinchilescuG. (2014).
What makes a group worth dying for? Identity fusion fosters perception of familial ties, promoting self-sacrifice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
106, 912–926.
46.
SwannW. B.Jr.GómezÁ.BuhrmesterM. D.López-RodríguezL.JiménezJ.VázquezA. (2014).
Contemplating the ultimate sacrifice: Identity fusion channels pro-group affect, cognition, and moral decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
106, 713–727.
47.
SwannW. B.Jr.GómezÁ.SeyleD. C.MoralesJ.HuiciC. (2009).
Identity fusion: The interplay of personal and social identities in extreme group behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
96, 995–1011.
48.
SwannW. B.Jr.JettenJ.GómezÁ.WhitehouseH.BastianB. (2012).
When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion. Psychological Review,
119, 441–456.
49.
SwannW. B.Jr.TalaifarS. (2018).
Introduction to special issue of self and identity on identity fusion. Self and Identity,
17, 483–486.
50.
VargasS. E. (2012). Coping resources and effects of a cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention among women at different points in breast cancer treatment [Open access dissertations]. The University of Miami.
WalshC. M.NeffL. A. (2018).
We’re better when we blend: The benefits of couple identity fusion. Self and Identity,
17, 587–603.
53.
WattS. E.BadgerA. J. (2009).
Effects of social belonging on homesickness: An application of the belongingness hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
35, 516–530.
54.
WilliamsC. T.JohnsonL. R. (2011).
Why can’t we be friends? Multicultural attitudes and friendships with international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,
35, 41–48.
55.
WoolfM. (2007).
Impossible things before breakfast: Myths in education abroad. Journal of Studies in International Education,
11, 496–509.
56.
YanK.BerlinerD. C. (2011).
Chinese international students in the United States: Demographic trends, motivations, acculturation features and adjustment challenges. Asia Pacific Education Review,
12, 173–184.
57.
YehC. J.InoseM. (2003).
International students reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counseling Psychology Quarterly,
16, 15–28.
58.
YipT. (2014).
Ethnic identity in everyday life: The influence of identity development status. Child Development,
85, 205–219.
