This study examined how cultural distance, acculturative stress, and social support interacted to influence emotional responses among international students studying in the northern part of Cyprus. Acculturation models and the stress-buffering hypothesis served as theoretical frameworks. The research questions involved understanding whether international students experienced more negative emotional responses compared to students from the home culture and whether social support moderated acculturative stress and reactions to being in the northern part of Cyprus. An analysis of variance examined differences in emotional reactions between domestic and international students, whereas hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the moderation hypotheses. Analysis of variance results indicated that domestic students had more positive emotional responses than international students to being in the northern part of Cyprus. Results did not show social support as a moderator for either international students’ acculturative stress or their emotional responses to being in the host culture. However, results suggested that having unmet expectations, low financial satisfaction, and low social support predicted acculturative stress, whereas being in a relationship, having higher Turkish proficiency, having unmet expectations, and experiencing higher acculturative stress predicted more negative emotional responses. These results may help universities design programs to support psychological adaptation among international students, which could ultimately facilitate student retention. © 2019, Laureate Education. All Rights Reserved.

International students Social support Cultural distance Psychological adaptation Acculturative stress

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