A Study On The Relationship Between Personality Traits And Psychological Acculturation Of African Students In China

In the context of the deepening cooperation between China and Africa,the number of African students in China has risen sharply.African students inevitably experience the acculturation process in the new cultural environment,and the psychological acculturation is one of the important aspects of the acculturation.Present theories have proposed that personality trait is an important factor affecting the psychological acculturation,however,the relationship between personality trait and psychological acculturation still needs to be further explored in the empirical research.Thus,the current study aims to fill this gap by examining the present condition of their psychological acculturation,as well as the relationship between the psychological acculturation and their personality traits.The main research questions are as follows.(1)How is the psychological acculturation of African students in China?(2)What are the personality traits of African students in China?(3)What is the relationship between personality traits and psychological acculturation of African students in China?A total number of 106 international students from 16 African countries have been investigated.The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire was used to exam the personality traits,the General Health Inventory and the Life Satisfaction Inventory were used to measure their psychological acculturation.And the Adult Multicultural Inventory was used to investigate the acculturation strategies adopted by African students in China in their process of acculturation.Independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to describe the psychological acculturation and personality traits of the survey objects.Factor analysis was used to explore the potential dimensions of personality traits and psychological acculturation.Through correlation analysis and regression analysis,this paper demonstrates the relationship between personality traits and psychological acculturation,and mainly draws the following findings:(1)The psychological acculturation of African students in China is relatively good,and their psychological acculturation includes five dimensions: somatic symptoms,anxiety and insomnia,social dysfunction,depression,and life satisfaction.The mean score of their life satisfaction is low and the results also show that they have some social barriers,while their depression is low.(2)The personality traits of African students in China contain four dimensions:cultural empathy,openmindness,social interaction,and flexibility.Among the four dimensions,African students in China have relatively good openmindness and cultural empathy,while flexibility and social interaction are relatively weak.(3)The personality traits of African students in China are the predictor of psychological acculturation,and there is a negative correlation between two of them.The more complete the development of the international student’s personality traits,the better their psychological acculturation.There is a significant correlation between the openmiandness dimension of personality traits and the life satisfaction dimension of psychological acculturation.The higher the openmindness of international students,the higher their life satisfaction.African students with strong flexibility in China have more serious anxiety and insomnia.Acculturation strategies do not mediate between personality traits and psychological acculturation.