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Копинг-стратегии как механизмы адаптации иностранных студентов к условиям российской образовательной среды
Relevance. The success of the foreign students learning depends on the socio-cultural adaptation in the host country. Students studied in Russia use a variety of behavioral, emotional and cognitive coping strategies to deal with stress. Dominant coping strategies help to adapt more easily to new conditions of the educational environment of the university. At the same time, in addition to academic, personal and socio-psychological adaptation, for international students, adaptation to a new culture also causes some difficulties. Despite the existence of a small number of studies aimed at studying the adaptation strategies of foreign students, it should be noted that in most of them students are not differentiated by nationality and by the division by cultural specifics. Coping strategies are related to the extent to which the culture of foreign students differ from the culture of the host country.
Objective. The purpose of the work was to identify the characteristics of coping strategies and differences in the scales of sociocultural adaptation among foreign students, depending on their belonging to culture.
Methods. Two questionnaires were used as a methodological tool: Revised Sociocultural Adaptation Scale (SCAS-R) (Wilson, 2013) and Strategic Approach to Coping Scale (SACS) (Vodopyanova, Starchenkova, 2009). In the presented research features of coping strategies and differences in scales of sociocultural adaptation are revealed. Students from former CIS countries (n = 65) and China (n = 39), currently studying at Russian universities acted as respondents.
Results. In the course of the study, it was revealed that among the representatives of the former CIS countries, whose culture is similar to Russian in terms of polyactivity, collectivism and polychronicity, indirect and passive (cautious model of behavior) coping strategy are dominant. While students from China, whose culture can be characterized as highly contextual, reactive, with a predominance of collectivism and feminism, the pro-social strategy of behavior is dominant, which is expressed in the search for social support and entry into social contact. On the scales of sociocultural adaptation, there are differences in academic adaptation and the level of proficiency in language.
Conclusion. Representatives of highly contextual and reactive cultures (Chinese students) mostly difficult adapt to the specifics of education, the requirements of higher education and communication in the native language of the host country. The same type of culture underlies the formation of a prosocial strategy. Indirect and passive coping strategies dominate among representatives of polyactive and polychronous type of culture.