Zhao Wenwen
School of Literature and Journalism, Guangdong Ocean University, China.
PLoS One. 2025 May 9;20(5):e0323407. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323407. eCollection 2025.
Social media has become an essential part of international students' daily lives. As the world becomes increasingly globalized and communication and transportation systems rapidly develop, the number of international students is growing remarkably. Consequently, the influence of social media on the psychological adaptation of international students has become a matter of concern. However, the relationship between these two factors remains inconclusive. Moreover, there is a scarcity of studies investigating the influence of social media use motivations on the psychological adaptation of international students. Previous research has evidenced that the relationship is indirect, but limited studies have identified psychological mechanisms such as acculturation orientations. Therefore, this study aims to identify the mediating role of acculturation orientations (Malaysian and Chinese cultural orientations) in the relationship between social media use motivations (information seeking, social, and entertainment motivations) and the psychological adaptation of Chinese students in Malaysia. An online survey was administered, employing the convenience sampling technique to collect data from a sample of Chinese international students in Malaysia. A total of 438 questionnaires were analysed by using SPSS and AMOS software. The results demonstrated that three types of use motivations can help Chinese students improve their psychological adaptation in Malaysia, while entertainment motivations have the greatest influence. Likewise, acculturation orientations also benefited psychological adaptation, with mainstream orientations having a stronger contribution. Furthermore, this study reported an indirect mechanism whereby information seeking and social motivations influenced psychological adaptation through Malaysian and Chinese cultural orientations. The findings suggested that Chinese students can use social media purposefully to obtain a better psychological adaptation in Malaysia. Besides, social media designers can enhance the functions and services of social media to provide more support for international students. Relevant departments and educators in Malaysia should appreciate the role of social media and acculturation orientations in helping international students have a better overseas experience and enhance Malaysia's competitiveness in the international education market.
社交媒体已成为国际学生日常生活的重要组成部分。随着世界日益全球化以及通信和交通系统迅速发展，国际学生的数量显著增加。因此，社交媒体对国际学生心理适应的影响已成为一个备受关注的问题。然而，这两个因素之间的关系仍不明确。此外，研究社交媒体使用动机对国际学生心理适应影响的研究匮乏。先前的研究表明这种关系是间接的，但仅有有限的研究确定了诸如文化适应取向等心理机制。因此，本研究旨在确定文化适应取向（马来西亚和中国文化取向）在社交媒体使用动机（信息寻求、社交和娱乐动机）与马来西亚中国学生心理适应之间关系中的中介作用。采用便利抽样技术进行在线调查，从马来西亚的中国国际学生样本中收集数据。使用SPSS和AMOS软件对总共438份问卷进行了分析。结果表明，三种类型的使用动机可以帮助中国学生在马来西亚提高心理适应能力，其中娱乐动机的影响最大。同样，文化适应取向也有利于心理适应，主流取向的贡献更大。此外，本研究报告了一种间接机制，即信息寻求和社交动机通过马来西亚和中国文化取向影响心理适应。研究结果表明，中国学生可以有目的地使用社交媒体以在马来西亚获得更好的心理适应。此外，社交媒体设计者可以增强社交媒体的功能和服务，为国际学生提供更多支持。马来西亚的相关部门和教育工作者应认识到社交媒体和文化适应取向在帮助国际学生获得更好的海外体验以及提升马来西亚在国际教育市场竞争力方面的作用。
