International students’ network patterns and cultural stress: What really counts

The cultural adaptation literature indicates that direct contacts with host people and international students have positive effects on adaptation. However, it is not clear how the quantity of host people affects this relationship. Therefore, this study investigates the question by exploring the role of “quantity”; in terms of the numbers of host people in international students’ communication networks and cultural stress (CS). This effect was examined from close interpersonal communication ties and casual communicative contacts perspectives (i.e., quantity alone versus quantity‐with‐quality of relationship). One hundred and two international students were asked to complete a questionnaire from which their CS scores were determined. The scores were used to determine the effect of casual versus close contacts for the students. In general, the findings indicate that the quantity of host people in a network is an important determinant of CS (i.e., both casual contacts and close communication contacts). However, the extent to which these interaction types are able to determine CS is dependent on the stress type.