Value foundations of experiencing stress and adaptation of students: Cross-cultural study

Introduction. Present work is dedicated to an urgent problem that has emerged as a result of a global trend – an increase in the number of young people moving to other countries in search for a higher education, which often leads to stress during the process of cultural adaptation.

In the current research, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of the normative and individual values of students from China and Russia, studying at the Russian university. The relevance of the research is based on the existing need for distinguishing psychological resources that could be helpful in the process of cultural adaptation and experiencing stress during the contact with the new cultural environment. Value foundations are considered as one of such potential resources, capable of affecting process of experiencing stress and adaptation.

The aim of the present article was to conduct a cross-cultural analysis of the normative and individual values of students from China, who experience stress and adapt to stressful situations in a new culture, and students from Russia studying with them.

Methodology and research methods. The research uses a comparative analysis of values of different cultures and a complex analysis of value foundations in the context of experiencing stress and adaptation to stressful situations among migrant students.

Results and scientifi novelty. In the course of the research, it was found out that values corresponding to the cultural specifi of the native countries of the students (China and Russia) are statistically more pronounced among students with a low level of stress. Among students with a high level of stress, values, which are not that part of the normative of their native culture, are more pronounced. Hedonistic values hamper the process of cultural adaptation both for Russian and Chinese students. A comprehensive study of the relationship between adaptation to stressful situations and stress experience revealed the groups of students with a cross-cultural specifi

of the value foundations for experiencing stress. The data obtained both correlate with the existing studies of changes in values of students from China and Russia, and provide a basis for further research in the direction of studying stress and adaptation among students from both countries.

Practical significance. The research results can be used in the analysis of stress exposure among students from Russia and China and the subsequent development of adaptational strategies. The discovered specificities of cultural value foundations could be employed to form potential resources of preadaptation to stressful situations among student youth.

1. Kim Y. Y. Integrative communication theory of cross-cultural adaptation. In: Kim Y. Y. (ed.). The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2021 Feb 13]. DOI: 10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0041 Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0041

2. Boiko Z. V. Cross-cultural specifics of confidence of students from China and Ecuador. Vestnik Rossiyskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Psikhologiya i pedagogika = Bulletin of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Series: Psychology and Pedagogy. 2008; 2: 85–89. (In Russ.)

3. Batotsyrenov V. B., Erdyneeva K. G. Psychological specifics of volitional self-regulation among Russian and Chinese students. Vestnik Chitinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Chita State University. 2010; 2 (59): 73–78. (In Russ.)

4. Lebedeva Yu. V. Cross-cultural analysis of the phenomenon of empathy. Izvestiya Ural’skogo federal’nogo universiteta. Seriya 1. Problemy obrazovaniya, nauki i kul’tury = Bulletin of the Ural Federal University. Series 1. Problems of education, science and culture. 2015; 1 (135): 169–176. DOI: 10.17853/1994-5639-2016-4-65-80 (In Russ.)

5. Minkov M., Hofstede G. The evolution of Hofstede’s doctrine. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal. 2011; 18 (1): 10–20. DOI: 10.1108/13527601111104269

6. Minkov M., Dutt P., Schachner M., Morales O., Sanchez C., Jandosova J., Kassenbekov Y., Mudd B. A revision of Hofstede’s individualism-collectivism dimension: A new national index from a 56-country study. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management. 2017; 24 (3): 386–404. DOI: 10.1108/CCSM-11-2016-0197

7. Minkov M., Kaasa A. A test of Hofstede’s model of culture following his own approach. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management. 2020; 28 (3): 384–406. DOI: 10.1108/CCSM-05-2020-0120

8. Xiumei S., Jinying W. Interpreting Hofstede model and GLOBE model: Which way to go for cross-cultural research? International Journal of Business and Management. 2011; 6 (5): 93–99. DOI: 10.5539/ijbm.v6n5p93

9. Inglehart R. F. Cultural evolution: People’s motivations are changing and reshaping the world. American Journal of Sociology. 2018; 125 (5): 273–278. DOI: 10.1086/708024

10. Bomhoff E. J., Gu M. L. East Asia remains different: A comment on the Index of “Self-Expression Values”. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2012; 43 (3): 373–383. DOI: 10.1177/0022022111435096

11. Lavrič M., Gavrilović D., Puzek I., Klanjšek R. Values and value shifts in four countries of south-east Europe: Retraditionalization, erosion of trust and the decline in public morality. Facta Universitatis. Series: Philosophy, Sociolgy, Psychology and History. 2019; 18 (2): 55–66. DOI: 10.22190/FUPSPH1902055L

12. Kaasa A., Minkov M. Are the world’s national cultures becoming more similar? Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2020; 51 (7-8): 531–550. DOI: 10.1177/0022022120933677

13. Beugelsdijk S., Welzel C. Dimensions and dynamics of national culture: Synthesizing Hofstede with Inglehart. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2018; 49 (10): 1469–1505. DOI: 10.1177/0022022118798505

14. Schwartz S. H. Cultural value orientations: Nature & implications of national differences. Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics. 2008; 5 (2): 37–67. (In Russ.)

15. Smolina T. L. Research methods of cross-cultural adaptation (foreign experience). Izvestiya Rossiyskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta im. A. I. Gertsena = Izvestia: Herzen University Journal of Humanities & Sciences. 2013; 162: 282–287. (In Russ.)

16. Komarova A. I. Social and emotional intelligence: Cross-cultural study. Vestnik BGU. Obrazovanie. Lichnost’. Obshchestvo = BSU Bulletin. Education. Personality. Society. 2011; 5: 30–35. (In Russ.)

17. Asmolov A. G., Shekhter E. D., Chernorizov A. M. Preadaptatsiya k neopredelennosti kak strategiya navigatsii razvivayushchikhsya sistem: marshruty evolyutsii = Preadaptation to uncertainty as strategy for developing systems: Paths of evolution. In: Asmolov A. G. (ed.). Mobilis in mobili: lichnost’ v epokhu peremen = Mobilis in mobili: Personality in an era of change. Moscow: Publishing House YASK; 2018. p. 76–101. (In Russ.)

18. Petrovskii V. A. Implikativnaya model’ tselepolaganiya: konstanty adaptivnogo deistviya = Implicative model of goal setting: Constants of adaptive action. In: In: Asmolov A. G. (ed.). Mobilis in mobili: lichnost’ v epokhu peremen = Mobilis in mobili: Personality in an era of change. Moscow: Publishing House YASK; 2018. p. 331–362. (In Russ.)

19. Schwartz S. H. An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2021 Feb 13]; 2 (1). Available from: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=orpc

20. Rubtsov V. V., Elkonin B. D. The creative potential of culture and human development. Cultural-Historical Psychology. 2018; 14 (4): 41–51. DOI: 10.17759/chp.2018140406

21. Karandashev V. N. Metodika Shvartsa dlya izucheniya tsennostei lichnosti: kontseptsiya i metodicheskoe rukovodstvo = Schwartz’s methodology for studying personal values: Concept and methodological guidance. St. Petersburg: Publishing House Speech; 2004. 157 p. (In Russ.)

22. Yasyukova L. A. Frustratsionnyi test Rozentsveiga. Diagnostika reaktsii v situatsiyakh konflikta: metodicheskoe rukovodstvo = The Rosenzweig P-F Test. Diagnosis of frustration: Methdological guidance. St. Petersburg: Publishing House IMATON; 2007. 128 p. (In Russ.)

23. Pochebut L. G. Kross-kul’turnaya i etnicheskaya psikhologiya = Cross-cultural and ethnic psychology. St. Petersburg: Publishing House Piter; 2012. 336 p. (In Russ.)

24. Deng X., Ding X. Contra-hedonic attitudes toward pleasant emotions in China: Links to hedonism, emotion expression, and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 2019; 38 (2): 140–159. DOI: 10.1521/jscp.2019.38.2.140

25. Lebedeva N. M., Tatarko A. N. Basic values in Russia: Their dynamics, ethnocultural differences, and relation to economic attitudes. Psychology in Russia. 2018; 11 (3): 36–52. DOI: 10.11621/pir.2018.0303

26. Lin L., Chan H.-W. The associations between happiness motives and wellbeing in China: The mediating role of psychological need satisfaction and frustration. Front Psychology. Personality and Psychology [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 Feb 13]; 11: 2198. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02198 Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02198/full

27. Sun J., Ryder A. G. The Chinese experience of rapid modernization: Sociocultural changes, psychological consequences? Front Psychology [Internet]. 2016 [citied 2021 Feb 13]; 7: 477. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00477 Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00477/full