Predictors of Academic Life Satisfaction among Indian International Students

Description

Naseeha P.¹, Sahana Fathima², and Fresnal Das³ (Department of Psychology, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala¹, Department of Psychology, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, Delhi², Department of Psychology, Fatima Mata National College, Kollam, Kerala³)

International students struggle to adjust to new cultural, educational, social, and environmental settings in a host country. Based on the report of the MEA (2025) there are over 1.8 million Indian students studying in various countries. Academic life satisfaction refers to a student’s overall positive evaluation and sense of fulfilment regarding their academic journey. This study investigated how self-efficacy, acculturative stress, and perceived social support contribute to academic life satisfaction among Indian international students. Data were collected from 101 Indian international students using a cross-sectional correlational approach. Participants completed a set of self-administered questionnaires, including the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer et al.,1997), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dalhem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988), the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994), and the Academic Life Satisfaction Scale (Nogueira, Antunes, & Sequeira, 2019). Data were analysed using SPSS with Spearman’s correlation, Mann-Whitney U-test, and regression analysis. The mean age of the participants was 24 years, with 55.44% female, mainly from the UK, Germany, and China. The findings indicated significant negative correlations between acculturative stress and both self-efficacy (p<0.01) and academic life satisfaction (p<0.05). Male students reported higher academic life satisfaction than females. Length of stay significantly affected acculturative stress and perceived social support (p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that the acculturative stress, self-efficacy, and social support were not significant predictors of academic life satisfaction.