ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1668553
This article is part of the Research TopicIntercultural Communication and International StudentsView all 23 articles
Identity as a psychological compass: The mediating role of resilience in international students' college adjustment amidst culture shock
Provisionally accepted
Weimin Yang1
LILI GAO2*- 1Jiangsu Vocational Institute of Commerce, Nanjing, China
- 2Hohai University, Nanjing, China
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Introduction: The rapid increase in international students in China underscores the imperative to understand their successful adaptation. This study investigates the roles of identity and psychological resilience in facilitating college adjustment among international students confronting culture shock in China. Method: Drawing upon Social Identity Theory and Identity Consolidation Theory, we hypothesized that a strong sense of identity would positively influence psychological resilience, mediating the relationship between identity and college adjustment. A quantitative survey was conducted with 2097 international students in various universities across China. Results: The findings indicate that identity significantly predicted higher levels of psychological resilience, and psychological resilience, in turn, was a strong predictor of better college adjustment. Furthermore, psychological resilience significantly mediates the relationship between identity and college adjustment, suggesting that a well-defined identity contributes to resilience, equipping students to navigate the challenges of culture shock and adapt successfully to university life. Discussion: These results provide valuable insights for developing targeted support programs and interventions to enhance international students' well-being and successful integration in China.
Keywords: International students, Culture shock, college adjustment, Identity, psychological resilience
Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 02 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang and GAO. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: LILI GAO, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
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