A Study on Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Its Influencing Factors Among International Students in Xinjiang, China

With the deepening advancement of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, Xinjiang, China, has increasingly become an important study abroad destination for students from Central Asia. The research developed a cross-cultural adaptation scale and conducted a questionnaire survey among three groups, collecting a total of 2222 valid responses (1599 from current students, 260 from graduates and 363 from university lecturers) to assess the cross-cultural adaptation of international students in Xinjiang and identify group differences; one-way analysis of variance was employed to examine differences in cross-cultural adaptation among current students of different nationalities, whilst a multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the factors influencing cross-cultural adaptation among current students. The results indicate that the level of cross-cultural adaptation among international students in Xinjiang is relatively high (M = 3.74~3.97), there was no significant difference in cross-cultural adaptation between current students and graduates, and the self-reported scores for both groups were significantly higher than the observational scores provided by lecturers; after Bonferroni adjustment for six omnibus tests, differences across country-of-origin groups remained statistically significant for academic, language and psychological adaptation, with effect sizes ranging from small to near-moderate (η2 = 0.016~0.059), these nationality comparisons provided exploratory evidence for the observed differences in adaptation scores; factors such as personal resources and situational resources have a significant positive influence on cross-cultural adaptation. The research findings provide a scientific basis and guidance for the sustainable and high-quality development of education for international students in Xinjiang.