Examining how positive intergroup contact and intercultural sensitivity facilitate sociocultural adaptation of international students by reducing intergroup anxiety.

Studying abroad offers many benefits for international students, but their intercultural contact with the host society can also lead to prejudice and anxiety, which may hinder successful adaptation. To explore this dynamic, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the role of positive intergroup contact and intercultural sensitivity in promoting sociocultural adaptation by reducing intergroup anxiety. The study involved 447 international students, who completed a set of self-report questionnaires to measure the key variables. Pearson's correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and mediation analyses were performed using SPSS v.26 and the jAMM module (medmod) software. Our findings revealed that both positive intergroup contact and intercultural sensitivity were significant predictors of sociocultural adaptation. Additionally, the study confirmed the hypothesis that intergroup anxiety partially mediated the relationship between the predictors and sociocultural adaptation, suggesting that both intergroup contact and intercultural sensitivity have direct and indirect effects on adaptation through intergroup anxiety. These results highlight the paramount importance of positive intergroup contact and intercultural sensitivity in facilitating sociocultural adaptation among international students. Therefore, university communities should take these factors into account when fostering sociocultural adjustment of their students.