The role of identity in international students’ psychological well-being in the United States: A model of depression level, identity gaps, discrimination, and acculturation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2007.04.001Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examines contributing factors to international students’ depression levels, focusing on the gaps between different aspects of identity. Two types of identity gaps, one between personal and enacted identities and the other between personal and relational identities, were selected for this study. The data were collected from 218 international students from various countries. A hypothesized path model was tested, which includes sequential relationships from acculturation level and perceived discrimination to the two types of identity gaps to depression level. The mediation effects of the two types of identity gaps between the two exogenous variables and depression level were tested. Also, the moderation effects of social support and social undermining were tested. Both acculturation level and perceived discrimination significantly predicted the two types of identity gaps. The personal–enacted identity gap significantly predicted depression level and mediated the effects of acculturation and perceived discrimination, but personal–relational identity gap exhibited neither effects. The only significant moderation effects were those of social undermining, which moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and depression level.

Introduction

International students come to the United States from all over the world with the hopes of receiving a better educational and professional experience than they would receive in their home countries. However, living in the US may be challenging for them due to difficulties related to communication and cultural differences as well as academic stress. They can experience culture shock, homesickness, lack of support, limited social skills, stereotyping and prejudice, and so on. Facing all these challenges may be stressful and produce negative psychological outcomes, such as depressive symptoms, that interfere with their educational experience.

Depression is often referred to as the common cold of psychopathology (Charney & Weissman, 1988; Gilbert, 1992). In the US, more than 14% of adults ages 18 and older and 13.7% of youths ages 12–17 had at least one major depressive episode in their lives (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2006). Besides those clinical depressions, everybody experiences depressive symptoms, such as feeling of sadness, worthlessness, others’ unfriendliness, helplessness, loneliness, etc. to some degree in everyday life (Munoz, 1987). People who have more possible stressors may be more vulnerable to depressive symptoms. Students in a foreign country often have problems interacting with members of the host culture and adjusting to daily life. These additional stressors may be related to depressive symptoms (Spencer-Oatety & Xiong, 2006). That is, international students are a vulnerable group whose members are at risk for depressive symptoms and depression. This study attempts to identify some sources of international students’ depressive symptoms.

Self or identity issues are reported to be associated with depression. Different types of self-construals appeared to have different effects on depression (Lam, 2005). A choice of ethnic identity has been found to play a role in developing depression (Abu-Rayya, 2006). Thus, this study focuses on international students’ identity issue, particularly that resulting from interaction with the host culture group members.

Due to cultural differences and communication barriers, international students’ expressions of selves may be restricted when they communicate with members of the host culture. They also may experience discontinuities between their self-concepts and how Americans see them. These identity inconsistencies (i.e., between how they express their self and how they see themselves as well as between how they see themselves and how others see them) are labeled ‘identity gaps’ and have been found to be related to negative consequences among US college students (Jung & Hecht, 2004), as well as depression levels among a community sample of Korean Americans (Jung & Hecht, in press). Thus, identity gaps are examined as possible sources of international students’ depressive symptoms.

An international student's identity gaps arise when his/her self-concept, communication behavior, and ascriptions by Americans are not aligned in communication. These gaps are likely to be influenced by a number of factors that influence international students’ communication with Americans. An international student's familiarity with American culture can influence his/her communication with Americans and subsequently, the identity gaps occurring in the communication. Also, Americans’ attitudes toward international students and an international student's perception of those attitudes may influence communication with Americans. In particular, prejudicial attitudes and discrimination are likely to produce identity gaps. Thus, international students’ acculturation and perceived prejudice are also examined as antecedents to identity gaps in this study.

Negative consequences may not be inevitable outcomes of identity gaps and their antecedents because coping mechanisms can function to ameliorate the effects of stressors. Research suggests that social support is one such coping mechanism (Holt & Espelage, 2005; Plant & Sachs-Ericsson, 2004). Effects of identity gaps on depression can be mitigated among international students who have acquaintances or friends who support them and, alternatively, can be exacerbated when an international student not only fails to receive support, but has people in his/her social groups who annoy and criticize him/her. That is, effects of identity gaps, acculturation, or perceived discrimination on depression can be moderated by social support or social undermining.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of identity gaps on depressive symptoms among international students, considering the sequence of relationships from acculturation and perceived discrimination to identity gaps to depression level, as well as moderation effects of social support and social undermining.

The Communication Theory of Identity identifies four aspects of identity: personal, relational, enacted, and communal layers (Hecht, 1993; Hecht, Jackson, & Ribeau, 2003). The personal layer of identity is an individual's self-concepts, which reflects the traditional conceptualization of identity. The relational layer takes a number of forms, perhaps the foremost among which is an individual's perception of how others view of him/her (i.e., ascribed identity). The enacted layer is an individual's self as expressed in communication. The communal layer of identity is the collectivity or group's conceptualization of identities. The communal layer exists on a group or collective level instead of the individual and dyadic units of identity that are reflected in the other layers. Because this study focuses on individual identities, the communal layer of identity is not included in the study.

An identity gap refers to the differences between or among different layers of identity and tends to occur in the process of or as a result of communication (Jung & Hecht, 2004). Among many possible identity gaps, two specific identity gaps that occur directly from communication were focused in this study.

The personal–enacted identity gap is defined as the difference between an individual's self-view and the self expressed or performed in communication (Jung & Hecht, 2004). Since the Communication Theory of Identity sees these expressions as an element of identity itself rather than a cause or effect of identity, this involves inconsistencies among the layers of identity. It is probably rare for people to express themselves exactly the same as the way they view themselves. Sometimes, however, the gap between these layers is more pronounced. For example, people may suppress expressing their authentic selves to fit in a given situation (Jack (1991), Jack (1999)) or manipulate expression of selves to manage impressions (Goffman, 1959; Petronio, 2000; Rowatt, Cunningham, & Druen, 1998). The concept of the personal–enacted identity gap includes all of these discrepancies between an individual's personal self and expressed self in communication.

The personal–relational identity gap is defined as the difference between an individual's self-view and the identity ascribed by others (i.e., an individual's perception of how others view the individual) (Jung & Hecht, 2004). Again, the Communication Theory of Identity sees these ascriptions as an element of identity. It is not unusual to experience this difference, as well, in social interaction. Others may underestimate or overestimate an individual due to their inaccurate information, stereotypes, or relational issues with the individual. These misportrayals can be detected in communication by the individual and form the individual's personal–relational identity gap. Communication and relationships play essential roles in the formation of this gap.

As such, personal–enacted and personal–relational identity gaps have communicative aspects by nature. The communicative nature of these two types of identity gaps were supported by observed high correlations between the two types of identity gaps and communication outcome variables, such as communication satisfaction, feeling understood, and communication appropriateness and effectiveness (Jung & Hecht, 2004). As predicted, larger gaps were associated with less satisfaction, understanding, appropriateness and effectiveness. Due to the communicative nature of the identity gaps, it is expected that the gaps are more likely to occur among international students, who often lack mainstream American communication skills and are subject to stereotypical and/or ignorant attributions, in their communication with Americans.

Previous research findings demonstrate that identity gaps are likely to be related to depression. Constructs similar to the personal–enacted gap, such as a woman's expression of an inauthentic self suppressing an authentic one (Jack (1991), Jack (1999)) and involuntary subordination strategies (Gardner & Price, 1999; Sloman, Price, Gilbert, & Gardner, 1994) appear to influence depression. A construct similar to the personal–relational gap, such as the discrepancy between attributes that someone believes he/she actually possesses and attributes that others want someone, ideally, to possess is associated with depression (Higgins, 1987; Higgins, Bond, Klein, & Strauman, 1986; Higgins, Klein, & Strauman, 1985). Jung and Hecht (in press) found that identity gaps predicted depressive symptoms among Korean immigrants.

These results suggest that a personal–enacted and a personal–relational identity gap can be possible contributing factors to depression levels among international students, especially in their communication with Americans where the identity gaps could be more likely to be pronounced due to cultural differences and communication barriers. Therefore, the first hypothesis of this study is:

H1

International students’ personal–enacted and personal–relational identity gaps formed in communication with Americans positively predict their depression levels.

In international students’ communication with Americans, cultural differences, and language barriers are often major sources of the difficulties that international students experience and, thus, a potential source of identity gaps. These difficulties are essential parts of acculturation processes people experience in a new culture. Acculturation is the process of cultural change resulting from contact with a different culture and the process of adapting to new cultural environment at an individual or group level (Berry, 2003; Berry & Kim, 1984; Bourhis, Moise, Perrauly, & Senecal, 1997; Kim (1988), Kim (2001), Kim (2004); Ting-Toomey, 1999; Trimble, 2003). Acculturation can occur in unidirectional linear fashion, with one's cultural change toward a new or mainstream culture abandoning his/her original one, or can take various other forms including one's obtaining new cultural identity while retaining original culture rather than abandoning it (Liebkind, 2006).

Birman (1998) specifies acculturation as familiarity with host culture members, popular culture, and language. Accordingly, sojourners, such as international students, with higher levels of English proficiency, comfort in relationships with Americans, and familiarity with American popular culture are likely to be more confident and competent in communication with Americans, less hesitant in expressing themselves freely and better able to express themselves accurately to Americans. That is, international students with higher acculturation levels probably experience reduced levels of differences between their self-images and expressed selves in communication with Americans. In turn, international students’ accurate and confident expression of their selves may help Americans understand them accurately. If Americans’ more accurate understanding of international students is communicated to international students, it would reduce the gaps between international students’ self-views and the parts of their selves resulting from how Americans see them.

In the process of adapting to a new culture, people experience various types of stresses, which are the results of personal, demographic, or social makeup of an acculturating individual and a host culture (Berry & Kim, 1984; Lucero-Miller & Newman, 1999). These stresses include perceived discrimination, homesickness, fear, guilt, and perceived hatred (Kimbrough, Molock, & Walton, 1996; Noh & Kaspar, 2003; Oh, Koeske, & Sales, 2002; Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994). Among these stresses, perceived discrimination seems to be the most common stress in international students’ acculturation processes (Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994). Because this common stressor is related to host culture members’ attitudes and behavior toward the students, it can directly influence international students’ relationships and communication with host culture members. International students who perceive Americans’ discriminatory attitudes may not feel comfortable with expressing him/herself freely in communication with Americans. This restriction in expressing self opens a personal–enacted identity gap. Also, Americans’ portrayals of an international student based on their discriminatory attitudes are likely to be different from the student's own self-portrayal. Thus, an international student who detects discrimination from Americans is also likely to perceive differences between self-concepts and his/her self ascribed by Americans. From these discussions, the following hypotheses are formed:

H2a

International students’ acculturation levels negatively predict their personal–enacted and personal–relational identity gaps.

H2b

International students’ perceived discrimination positively predicts their personal–enacted and personal–relational identity gaps.

Acculturation and discrimination are likely not only to predict depressive symptoms through the two types of identity gaps but also directly affect depression. Among international samples in the US, acculturation level was negatively related to a range of psychosocial outcomes (Abe & Zane, 1990; Yu, 1984). The effects of acculturation level on depressive symptoms were also found in the studies with Korean immigrants (Oh et al., 2002), Jamaican immigrant students (Buddington, 2002), and Chinese immigrants in Australia (Parker, Chan, Tully, & Eisenbruch, 2005). All these studies revealed that higher acculturation levels lead to lower depression levels. These results may be extended to the relationship between international students’ acculturation levels and depression levels. Perceived discrimination was also found to be a contributing factor to depression level in Noh and Kaspar's (2003) study of Korean immigrants in Canada. This finding suggests that international students’ perceived discrimination may influence their depression levels. Therefore, the following hypotheses are posed:

H3a

International students’ acculturation levels negatively predict their depression levels.

H3b

International students perceived discrimination positively predicts their depression levels.

According to the above hypotheses, the effects of acculturation and perceived discrimination influence depression level via the two types of identity gaps, suggesting mediation effects of the identity gaps between the two antecedent variables and depression level. A variable is regarded as a mediator when it meets the following three conditions: (a) an independent variable (i.e., acculturation and perceived discrimination) significantly predicts a possible mediator (i.e., identity gaps), (b) the possible mediator (i.e., identity gaps) significantly predicts a dependent variable (i.e., depression level), and (c) when the relationships from an independent variable to a mediator and from this mediator to a dependent variable are controlled, the original effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable reduces significantly (Baron & Kenny,1986; Mackinnon & Dwyer, 1993). The hypotheses of this study include the first and second conditions and provide a possibility for the mediating functions of the identity gaps. Therefore, the fourth hypothesis of this study is:

H4

International students’ personal–enacted and personal–relational identity gaps mediate effects of their acculturation levels and perceived discrimination on depression levels.

Combining the above hypotheses results in the theoretical path model presented in Fig. 1. This model includes a series of relationships from acculturation level and perceived discrimination to the two types of identity gaps to depression level as well as the direct effects from acculturation level and perceived discrimination to depression level. All relations among the variables are tested and adjusted based on this model.

While the hypothesized model reflects the series of relationships to depression level, previous works suggest that the effects of stressors such as identity gaps can be ameliorated by coping mechanisms or exacerbated by additional stressors. That is, the effects can be moderated by coping mechanisms or additional stressors. Social support, which includes others’ emotional comfort, respect, and informational and practical help (Xu & Burleson, 2001), is reported to have positive effects on several health, relational, psychological, and communication outcomes (Allen, Amason, & Holmes, 1998; Amason, Allen, & Holmes, 1999; Braithwaite & Eckstein, 2003; Kimbrough et al., 1996; Segrin, 2003; Xu & Burleson, 2001). Moreover, social support appears to moderate the effects of problems in father–daughter communication on depression (Landman-Peeter, Hartman, van der Pompe, Minderaa, & Ormel, 2005) as well as the effects of ethnicity on depression (Plant & Sachs-Ericsson, 2004). The association between victimization in dating relationship and psychological well-being also was moderated by social support (Holt & Espelage, 2005). Accordingly, among international students, social support may moderate relationships between the exogenous variables posited in the hypothesized model and the depression levels. That is, international students who receive social support would be better equipped to handle discrimination, unfamiliarity with new culture, and identity gaps because they would have others to assure them of their worth and help protect them from negativity.

Social support is a positive by-product of relationships. However, there are also negative ones. The counter concept of social support is called social undermining. Social undermining includes one's friend's, acquaintance's, or family member's display of negative affect (dislike or anger), negative evaluations, or behaviors that hinder one's attaining goals (Vinokur & van Ryn, 1993). Social undermining is reported to function in a similar but opposite direction from social support (Finch, Okun, Pool, & Ruehlman, 1999). In fact, social undermining has exhibited stronger effects than social support on psychological states such as mood disorder (Bertera, 2005), psychological well-being (Rook, 1984), and depressive symptoms (Horwitz, McLaughlin, & White, 1998). Because of its opposite but comparable function to social support, social undermining is also expected to moderate effects of the exogenous variables in the hypothesized model on depression levels. Thus, the final hypothesis of this study is:

H5a

The social support experienced by international students negatively moderates the effects of their personal–enacted identity gaps, personal–relational identity gaps, acculturation levels, and perceived discrimination on depression levels.

H5b

The social undermining experienced by international students positively moderates the effects of their personal–enacted identity gaps, personal–relational identity gaps, acculturation levels, and perceived discrimination on depression levels.

Section snippets

Participants and procedure

Participants were 218 international students enrolled in a large northeastern university. The number of undergraduate students was 96 (44%), 111 (51%) were graduate students, and the rest 11 (5%) did not indicate this information. In all, 74 were female (34%), 141 were male (65%), and three of them did not indicate gender. The students were from a variety of different countries (35% from China, 22% from Korea, 2% from Japan, 23% from one of other Asian countries, 7% from one of mid-eastern

Model adjustment

The hypothesized model (see Fig. 1) was tested and estimated by use of EQS program utilizing Maximum Likelihood method. The indices of goodness of fit indicated that the model did not fit well (X2=32.46, p<.01; NFI=.81; CFI=.82; GFI=.95; RMSEA=.26), and thus, the model needed modification. Wald statistics showed that the path coefficients from acculturation level to depression level and from personal–relational identity gap to depression level were not significant (β=−.09, p> .05 and β=.07, p>

Discussion

This study examined the effects of international students’ identity gaps formed in their interaction with Americans on their depression levels. An overall model positing that international students’ acculturation levels and perceived discrimination would influence depression directly as well as through their effects on identity gaps was mostly supported, but the hypotheses that social support and social undermining moderates these relationships received minimal support. These findings have a

References (70)

  • J.W. Berry

    Conceptual approaches to acculturation

  • J.W. Berry et al.

    Comparative studies of acculturative stress

    International Migration Review

    (1984)
  • E.M. Bertera

    Mental health in US adults: The role of positive social support and social negativity in personal relationships

    Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

    (2005)
  • D. Birman

    Biculturalism and perceived competence of Latino immigrant adolescents

    American Journal of Community Psychology

    (1998)
  • R.Y. Bourhis et al.

    Toward an interactive acculturation model: A social psychological approach

    International Journal of Psychology

    (1997)
  • D.O. Braithwaite et al.

    How people with disabilities communicatively manage assistance: Helping as instrumental social support

    Journal of Applied Communication Research

    (2003)
  • S. Buddington

    Acculturation, psychological adjustment (stress, depression, self-esteem) and the academic achievement of Jamaican immigrant college student

    International Social Work

    (2002)
  • E.A. Charney et al.

    Epidemiology of depressive illness

  • J.F. Finch et al.

    A comparison of the influence of conflictual and supportive social interactions on psychological distress

    Journal of Personality

    (1999)
  • R. Gardner et al.

    Sociophysiology and depression

  • P. Gilbert

    Depression: The evolution of powerlessness

    (1992)
  • E. Goffman

    The presentation of self in everyday life

    (1959)
  • M.L. Hecht

    2002: A research odyssey toward the development of a communication theory of identity

    Communication Monographs

    (1993)
  • M.L. Hecht et al.

    African American communication: Exploring identity and culture

    (2003)
  • E.T. Higgins

    Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect

    Psychological Review

    (1987)
  • E.T. Higgins et al.

    Self-discrepancies and emotional vulnerability: How magnitude, accessibility, and type of discrepancy influence affect

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1986)
  • E.T. Higgins et al.

    Self-concept discrepancy theory: A psychological model for distinguishing among different aspects of depression and anxiety

    Social Cognition

    (1985)
  • M. Holt et al.

    Social support as a moderator between dating violence victimization and depression/anxiety among African American and Caucasian adolescent

    School Psychology Review

    (2005)
  • A.V. Horwitz et al.

    How the negative and positive aspects of partner relationships affect the mental health of young married people

    Journal of Health and Social Behavior

    (1998)
  • D.C. Jack

    Silencing the self: Women and depression

    (1991)
  • D.C. Jack

    Silencing the self: Inner dialogue and outer realities

  • E. Jung et al.

    Elaborating the communication theory of identity: Identity gaps and communication outcomes

    Communication Quarterly

    (2004)
  • Jung, E., Hecht, M. L. (in press). Korean Americans’ identity gaps in interethnic interaction and levels of depression....
  • B.S.K. Kim et al.

    A qualitative study of adaptation experience of 1.5-generation Asian Americans

    Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology

    (2003)
  • Y.Y. Kim

    Communication and cross-cultural adaptation: An integrative theory

    (1988)
  • Cited by (121)

    • Perceived discrimination and Asian cultural values are associated with beliefs about psychological services among Chinese international students

      2022, International Journal of Intercultural Relations
      Citation Excerpt :

      A growing body of research has examined perceived discrimination among Asians and Asian Americans (Spencer et al., 2010), but little work has been done among Chinese international students (Zhang-Wu, 2018). Research indicates that many Asian students are subjected to a variety of racial stressors that include being subjected to the model minority myth (i.e., being healthy, successful, and meritorious; Kiang et al., 2017), psychological distress (Gupta et al., 2011), ethnic stigma mental illness (Gee et al., 2007; Jung et al., 2007), internalizing and externalizing problem situations (Shrake & Rhee, 2004), posttraumatic stress symptoms (Wei et al., 2015), and interpersonal strain (Chung & Epstein, 2014). Perceptions about psychological or mental health services consist of positive and/or negative associations an individual has towards seeking or utilizing mental health services.

    • A peer mentoring social learning perspective of cross-cultural adjustment: The rapid-acculturation mateship program

      2021, International Journal of Intercultural Relations
      Citation Excerpt :

      The literature is brimming with studies investigating stressors on i-Students, such as academic, acculturative, and life stresses, discrimination and prejudice, lack of social support, and low identification with the host cultures (Smith & Khawaja, 2011; Wadsworth, Hecht, & Jung, 2008; Zhang & Goodson, 2011). Other factors impeding acculturation include psychological factors, such as depression, a lack of belongingness, spiritual problems among religious students (Brunsting et al., 2018; Jung et al., 2007; Mui & Kang, 2006), financial, language, and physical challenges (Nailevna, 2017). When considering factors that help to overcome these challenges, existing literature points to a variety of individual factors that impede acculturation or help to expedite acculturative adjustment.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text