Intercultural Transition Experiences: Challenges to Psychological Well-being of Students

Description

Page: 668-673

Ravi Kumar and Alka Bajpai (Department of Psychology, Delhi University, Delhi)

Students have been undergoing intercultural transitions, whether outside the country or within the country, for a long time. However, a blind spot in literature has been observed regarding the exploration of experiences of within-country sojourners. The present study aimed to investigate how sojourning students make sense of their intercultural transition experiences in the socio-cultural contexts of the host culture at the intrapersonal level and explore the challenges related to their psychological well-being in the host culture. To achieve these objectives, ten students from Kerala living in Delhi were approached and interviewed. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis framework by Clarke and Braun (2012). Themes suggested A sense of positive shift in self-concept, between loneliness and belonging in the host culture, Gender differences in the intercultural transition experience of males and females, and some other themes such as the push and pull of the heritage identity. The findings of the study suggest that sojourners’ sense-making of their experiences in the socio-cultural contexts of the host culture at the intrapersonal level mainly revolves around self, identity, and the struggle to maintain a certain aspect of identity. A complex pattern of relation between transition experience and psychological well-being was observed. The study holds significance for understanding the challenges to psychological wellbeing of students coming from different states into the metro city culture. Implications for sojourner adjustment and counselling are discussed.