IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/qualqt/v52y2018i1d10.1007_s11135-016-0418-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What matters most: importance-performance matrix analysis of the factors influencing international postgraduate students’ psychological and sociocultural adaptations

Author

Listed:
  • Azadeh Shafaei

    (Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM))

  • Nordin Abd Razak

    (Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM))

Abstract

With the increase in international mobility in higher education especially in Asia, the issue of cross-cultural adaptation becomes paramount since international students try to overcome challenges and flourish psychologically and socioculturally in a new environment. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the factors influencing international postgraduate students’ psychological and sociocultural adaptations in Malaysian public universities, an emerging education hub in the region. It also further examined importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA) of the antecedents for psychological and sociocultural adaptations as the endogenous variables to provide managerial insights for the authorities in higher education. A quantitative research approach using questionnaire was applied to get response from randomly selected international postgraduate students (i.e. Master or PhD) from top five research universities in Malaysia. The findings revealed that among the identified factors in this study perceived stereotype image and adjustment attitude were significantly related to psychological and sociocultural adaptations of the international students in Malaysia. However, attachment attitude was not significantly associated with psychological and sociocultural adaptation; and English language proficiency was not related to psychological adaptation. Moreover, the results of IPMA in SmartPLS shed some light on perceived stereotype image and adjustment attitude as the factors with the highest priority with relatively lowest performance in relation with psychological and sociocultural adaptations. Based on the results, this study derives recommendations for education policymakers and academic administrators to ensure successful international postgraduate students’ cross-cultural adaptation.

Suggested Citation

  • Azadeh Shafaei & Nordin Abd Razak, 2018. "What matters most: importance-performance matrix analysis of the factors influencing international postgraduate students’ psychological and sociocultural adaptations," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 37-56, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11135-016-0418-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-016-0418-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11135-016-0418-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11135-016-0418-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marko Sarstedt & Erik Mooi, 2014. "The Market Research Process," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, in: A Concise Guide to Market Research, edition 2, chapter 2, pages 11-23, Springer.
    2. Ainuddin, R. Azimah & Beamish, Paul W. & Hulland, John S. & Rouse, Michael J., 2007. "Resource attributes and firm performance in international joint ventures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 47-60, March.
    3. Adrian Furnham & Shaheen Shiekh, 1993. "Gender, Generational and Social Support Correlates of Mental Health in Asian Immigrants," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 39(1), pages 22-33, March.
    4. Marko Sarstedt & Erik Mooi, 2014. "A Concise Guide to Market Research," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, Springer, edition 2, number 978-3-642-53965-7, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Man Luo & Xiaofang Zhang & Fang Peng & Jing Zhao & Haijun Deng, 2021. "Predictors of acculturation attitude of international students in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Sana Mumtaz & Sadia Nadeem, 2022. "Understanding the Integration of Psychological and Socio-cultural Factors in Adjustment of Expatriates: An AUM Process Model," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, February.
    3. Musheer A. Aljaberi & Abdulsamad Alsalahi & Muhamad Hanafiah Juni & Sarah Noman & Ala’a B. Al-Tammemi & Rukman Awang Hamat, 2021. "Efficacy of Interventional Programs in Reducing Acculturative Stress and Enhancing Adjustment of International Students to the New Host Educational Environment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-20, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adam Malešević & Dušan Barać & Dragan Soleša & Ema Aleksić & Marijana Despotović-Zrakić, 2021. "Adopting xRM in Higher Education: E-Services Outside the Classroom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Costa Synodinos, 2019. "Environmental purchase behaviour concerns of African Generation Y students in South Africa," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 9912363, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    3. Marzanna Witek-Hajduk & Tomasz Marcin Napiórkowski, 2017. "Manufacturers’ Benefits from Their Cooperation with Key Retailers in the Context of Business Models: A Cluster Analysis," International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, International School for Social and Business Studies, Celje, Slovenia, vol. 6(1), pages 97-114.
    4. Riffat Ara Zannat Tama & Md Mahmudul Hoque & Ying Liu & Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Mark Yu, 2023. "An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Ng, Wei Keat Benny & Appel-Meulenbroek, Rianne & Cloodt, Myriam & Arentze, Theo, 2019. "Towards a segmentation of science parks: A typology study on science parks in Europe," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 719-732.
    6. Xieyang Chen & Xingmin Shi, 2021. "Support or against coal mining? Host community perceptions of coal mining: a cluster analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 6819-6837, May.
    7. Elena Mieszajkina, 2021. "The Impact of Managers' Competences upon the Performance of Small Enterprises," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 730-740.
    8. Ming Yang & Jinglu Jiang & Melody Kiang & Fangyun Yuan, 2022. "Re-Examining the Impact of Multidimensional Trust on Patients’ Online Medical Consultation Service Continuance Decision," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 983-1007, June.
    9. Meldrick Arjay A. Magsino & Reynold S. Beredo & Arex A. Anza, 2014. "The Motivational Effects of LPU Awards of Excellence: Basis for Improvement," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 4(12), pages 371-397, December.
    10. Joyce Wanjiku Nderitu & Esther Waiganjo & George O. Orwa, 2021. "Evaluating effect of organizational culture on strategy implementation in private chartered universities in Kenya," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 123-133, March.
    11. Kuppelwieser, Volker G. & Sarstedt, Marko & Tuzovic, Sven, 2014. "The role of context and motivation variables in mobile commerce usage — A further perspective on Chong (2013)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 156-161.
    12. Supanutt Sasiwuttiwat & Somkiat Tangkitvanich, 2019. "Is There an “East Asian Education Model†? A Study on Varieties of Education Regimes," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 18(1), pages 123-146, Winter/Sp.
    13. Marc Dressler & Ivan Paunovic, 2021. "Not All Wine Businesses Are the Same: Examining the Impact of Winery Business Model Extensions on the Size of Its Core Business," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-16, September.
    14. Laura-Gabriela CONSTANTIN, 2014. "Catastrophe Bonds. From Structure to Strategy – A Cluster Analysis at European Level," Economia. Seria Management, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(2), pages 304-317, December.
    15. Schlägel, Christopher & Sarstedt, Marko, 2016. "Assessing the measurement invariance of the four-dimensional cultural intelligence scale across countries: A composite model approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 633-649.
    16. Gwen Weeldenburg & Lars B Borghouts & Menno Slingerland & Steven Vos, 2020. "Similar but different: Profiling secondary school students based on their perceived motivational climate and psychological need-based experiences in physical education," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, February.
    17. Tae Kyung Yoon & SoEun Ahn, 2020. "Clustering Koreans’ Environmental Awareness and Attitudes into Seven Groups: Environmentalists, Dissatisfieds, Inactivators, Bystanders, Honeybees, Optimists, and Moderates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-18, October.
    18. Cheng, John W. & Mitomo, Hitoshi, 2016. "Effects of ICT and media information on collective resilience after disasters – from a virtual crowd to a psychological crowd – Part 1 - ICT and media information and collective resilience in an emerg," 27th European Regional ITS Conference, Cambridge (UK) 2016 148663, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    19. Ivan Paunović & Marc Dressler & Tatjana Mamula Nikolić & Sanja Popović Pantić, 2020. "Developing a Competitive and Sustainable Destination of the Future: Clusters and Predictors of Successful National-Level Destination Governance across Destination Life-Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-15, May.
    20. Wei Keat Benny Ng & Robin Junker & Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek & Myriam Cloodt & Theo Arentze, 2020. "Perceived benefits of science park attributes among park tenants in the Netherlands," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1196-1227, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11135-016-0418-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.