The Influence of Self-Esteem on Sociocultural Adaptation of College Students of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: The Chain Mediating Role of Social Support and School Belonging

Purpose: Mainland universities have become one of the important choices for students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, but the maladaptation caused by environmental migration will have a negative impact on the mental health of them. Therefore, it is urgent to explore the psychological mechanism of sociocultural adaptation of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan students. Methods: In order to explore the influence of self-esteem on the sociocultural adaptation of college students of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan studying in mainland universities, as well as the mechanism of social support and school belonging, a survey was conducted among 1108 college students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan studying in mainland universities, with the help of Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Sociocultural Adaptation Scale, Perceptive Social Support Scale and The Psychological Sense of School belonging Scale. Results: The results show that (1) Different grades of college students of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have differences in school belonging and sociocultural adaptation (P< 0.05); (2) Self-esteem, social support, school belonging and sociocultural adaptation were positively correlated (P < 0.01); (3) The mediation model test showed that self-esteem could directly and positively predict sociocultural adaptation with a direct effect size of 0.245; Social support and school belonging played a mediating role between self-esteem and sociocultural adaptation, and the mediating effect sizes were 0.094 and 0.085, respectively. The chain mediating effect of social support and school belonging was also significant, and the mediating effect size was 0.108. Conclusion: Self-esteem can not only directly affect college students' sociocultural adaptation, but also indirectly affect college students' sociocultural adaptation through the chain mediating effect of social support and school belonging. This study further reveals the mechanism of self-esteem on sociocultural adaptation and provides psychological basis for universities to improve the sociocultural adaptation level of different groups of students. Keywords: self-esteem, sociocultural adaptation, social support, school belonging, college students of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan