Acculturative Stress: Mental Well-Being and Bicultural Self Efficacy among Indian Students Studying Abroad

Abstract

There has been an increase in the number of students traveling abroad from India. This has become a widespread concern in the country’s economic transformation and urbanization. Thus, it is important to discover the problems faced by the students. This study focuses on the relationship between or impact of acculturation stress, bicultural self-efficacy, and mental well-being among Indian students going abroad for higher education. The data was collected from 150 Indian students who are currently living abroad for their higher education. The participants were from different countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Qatar, Russia, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The tools used were the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), and Bicultural Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES). A total of 150 students falling in the age group of 18-30 participated voluntarily in the study of which 75 were boys and 75 were girls. The study used a correlational research design and the statistical tests being done were descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple linear regression, and Independent samples t-test. Based on all the responses received and the analysis that was done, the major finding of the study was that there was a significant correlation between acculturation stress, bicultural self-efficacy, and mental well-being, it was found that acculturation stress has a significant impact on bicultural self-efficacy and bicultural self-efficacy. The results revealed that there is no significant gender difference regarding bicultural self-efficacy and mental well-being.