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The Dark Side of International Student Mobility: Which Students Suffer from Loneliness?
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
Universität Bielefeld, Fak. für Soziologie, Centre on Migration, Citizenship and Development (COMCAD)
Abstract For students, study abroad has its advantages but might also have unwanted adverse effects, such as social isolation and loneliness. We analyze the role of emotional support in understanding loneliness among Chinese international students in Germany, in comparison to local students, from a gender pe... view more
For students, study abroad has its advantages but might also have unwanted adverse effects, such as social isolation and loneliness. We analyze the role of emotional support in understanding loneliness among Chinese international students in Germany, in comparison to local students, from a gender perspective. Based on a representative sample, our findings suggest that Chinese international students feel lonelier than local ones. Female Chinese international students are less lonely compared to male ones, whereas the opposite is true for local students. Contrary to our expectations, a higher number of emotionally supportive ties is associated with higher levels of loneliness for all the students. Our further analysis of the correlation between emotional support and loneliness separately for the four subgroups indicates that while for female local students having more emotionally supportive ties is associated with lower levels of loneliness, for female Chinese international students we find the opposite trend. For all male students, we find no significant effect of emotional support on loneliness. We recommend conducting a longitudinal study for examining the causality of the relationship between networks and loneliness in the future. Results have important implications for universities and higher education research in understanding the role of networks on loneliness.... view less
Keywords
student; mobility; solitude; emotionality; social isolation; foreign countries; social relations; Federal Republic of Germany; China; gender-specific factors; university
Classification
University Education
Social Psychology
Free Keywords
personal networks; international student mobility; emotional support
Document language
English
Publication Year
2023
City
Bielefeld
Page/Pages
23 p.
Series
COMCAD Working Papers, 178
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications