Are the student migrants satisfied with life Effect of acculturative stress and perceived discrimination

Abstract

International student migrants constitute the major population of world's leading universities and India is the second largest source of international students. Thus studying the psychological wellbeing of student migrants is imperative. This study analyses the effect of acculturative stress and perceived discrimination on student migrant's life satisfaction. Students who have migrated from other parts of India to Chennai (N = 132), and from India to other countries (N = 153) are the sample. The results suggest that acculturative stress and perceived discrimination individually have significant negative effect on life satisfaction of student migrants. The results of the multiple regression suggested that acculturative stress is so predominant that it wipes off any impact of perceived discrimination. This study makes out a strong case to address acculturative stress as it can negatively impact life satisfaction and prevent migration of students. Practical implications to parents and educators are discussed.