How Academic Performance Influences Social Integration: The Moderation Effect of Cultural Distance Among Chinese Cross-borderers

Overview

Journal Brain Behav

Specialty Psychology

Date 2022 Sep 14

PMID 36102099

Authors

Hu Jieyi

Cheung Chau Kiu

Xie Baojian

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Internal migration or cross-border migration differs from traditional migration. The influence of academic performance on social integration among migration or cross-border student groups has drawn attention.

Method: A survey collected data from cross-border students in Mainland China. The sample included 616 university students (bachelor's, master's, and doctoral students) coming from Hong Kong studying in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

Results: The moderating effect of cultural distance in the relationship between academic performance and social integration was significantly negative (β = -0.081, p < 0.05). The effect of academic performance on social integration was significantly positive (β = .104, p < .05). Length of time studying in the Mainland, social status, entrance exam score (which might affect the current academic performance), and acquiescence are as the control variable in examining the role of cultural distance in the effect of academic performance on social integration. This result embodies the functionalist theory.

Conclusion: The host society is the structural whole requiring the function of social integration, whereas education is the structural component fulfilling the function. When cultural distance is large, the function of education for social integration decreases. The practical implication for enhancing social integration is relieving or bridging the distance.

Citing Articles

How academic performance influences social integration: The moderation effect of cultural distance among Chinese cross-borderers.

Jieyi H, Kiu C, Baojian X Brain Behav. 2022; 12(10):e2759.

PMID: 36102099 PMC: 9575612. DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2759.

References

Newsham Beckley M . Community participation following cerebrovascular accident: impact of the buffering model of social support. Am J Occup Ther. 2006; 60(2):129-35. DOI: 10.5014/ajot.60.2.129. View

Cunningham A, Lockwood G, Cunningham J . A relationship between perceived self-efficacy and quality of life in cancer patients. Patient Educ Couns. 1991; 17(1):71-8. DOI: 10.1016/0738-3991(91)90052-7. View

Jetten J, Spears R, Postmes T . Intergroup distinctiveness and differentiation: a meta-analytic integration. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2004; 86(6):862-79. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.86.6.862. View

Stahl G, Caligiuri P . The effectiveness of expatriate coping strategies: the moderating role of cultural distance, position level, and time on the international assignment. J Appl Psychol. 2005; 90(4):603-15. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.90.4.603. View

Paige C . Assessment and psychologic factors in stroke rehabilitation. Neurology. 1995; 45(2 Suppl 1):S29-32. View

Friedland J, McColl M . Social support and psychosocial dysfunction after stroke: buffering effects in a community sample. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1987; 68(8):475-80. View

Na L, Hample D . Psychological pathways from social integration to health: An examination of different demographic groups in Canada. Soc Sci Med. 2016; 151:196-205. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.007. View

Hu J, Cheung C . Gender difference in the effect of cultural distance on academic performance among cross-border students in China. Psicol Reflex Crit. 2021; 34(1):33. PMC: 8531142. DOI: 10.1186/s41155-021-00199-4. View

He J, van de Vijver F . Response styles in factual items: Personal, contextual and cultural correlates. Int J Psychol. 2016; 51(6):445-452. DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12263. View

10.

Bloom J, Spiegel D . The relationship of two dimensions of social support to the psychological well-being and social functioning of women with advanced breast cancer. Soc Sci Med. 1984; 19(8):831-7. DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(84)90400-3. View

11.

Nicholson Jr N, Dixon J, McCorkle R . Predictors of diminished levels of social integration in older adults. Res Gerontol Nurs. 2013; 7(1):33-43. DOI: 10.3928/19404921-20130918-02. View

12.

Velasco Gonzalez K, Verkuyten M, Weesie J, Poppe E . Prejudice towards Muslims in The Netherlands: testing integrated threat theory. Br J Soc Psychol. 2008; 47(Pt 4):667-85. DOI: 10.1348/014466608X284443. View

13.

Ward C, Geeraert N . Advancing acculturation theory and research: the acculturation process in its ecological context. Curr Opin Psychol. 2018; 8:98-104. DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.021. View

14.

Muthukrishna M, Bell A, Henrich J, Curtin C, Gedranovich A, McInerney J . Beyond Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) Psychology: Measuring and Mapping Scales of Cultural and Psychological Distance. Psychol Sci. 2020; 31(6):678-701. PMC: 7357184. DOI: 10.1177/0956797620916782. View

15.

Jieyi H, Kiu C, Baojian X . How academic performance influences social integration: The moderation effect of cultural distance among Chinese cross-borderers. Brain Behav. 2022; 12(10):e2759. PMC: 9575612. DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2759. View