Superficial Causes of AUM Theory Affect Uncertainty and Anxiety among Students in a High-Context Culture

Abstract

International students in Malaysian universities face uncertainty and anxiety toward a multi-new culture, a must-encountered cultural shock. This study investigated the relationship between superficial causes of AUM theory and uncertainty and anxiety in a high-context culture. In this study, 388 international students from different faculties were chosen through a method called stratified random sampling, which sampled two public universities with the largest number and richest nationalities of international students. The researchers used a self-administered questionnaire to gather information from the participants, which was analyzed by AMOS and applied to the validation of theoretical construct through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), and other statistical methods were employed to analyze the data and test seven hypotheses. The findings of the study showed that five superficial causes affect the management of uncertainty and anxiety in AUM theory. The results of this study have important implications for Malaysian public universities in terms of understanding the factors that influence uncertainty and anxiety management among students.