Foreign students’ well-being

Abstract

The article attests to materials analysing the psychological well-being of foreign students with little experience of staying in Russia. A large number of foreign students come to Russia every year. They immediately fall into an unusual environment in which it is necessary for them to quickly adapt. The process of such adaptation involves many components: adaptation to new climatic conditions, time, a new language, culture, and educational system, the cosmopolitain character of educational groups and activities, and others. Effective intercultural adaptation improves the quality of foreign students’ education, provides a high motivation to study, and determines psychological well-being. The first years of stay in a new place have a significant impact on foreigners’ mental health and so various psychological problems may emerge. The main purpose of the study is to analyse psychological well-being among foreign students with little experience in Russia. The study sample included 100 foreign students in their second year at Tula State University. Respondents’ ages ranged between 19 and 21 years with a length of stay in Russia from 1.5 to 3 years. Subjects were given a special set of diagnostic techniques. According to the results well-adapted and maladapted students can be identified by the parameter of adaptation to the new socio-cultural environment. Most respondents pay great attention to national identity, but in the groups there is a difference in the content of knowledge about the Russian Federation. This parameter determines the level of adaptation and psychological well-being of foreigners. In the group of unadapted students there is a pronounced level of psycho-emotional stress and low level of subjective well-being.