Analyzing International Students' Social Support Through Intercollegiate Sport Team Identification
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v13i1.4415Keywords:
International Student, Team Identification, Sense of Community, Social CapitalAbstract
International students often experience difficulties acclimating to campus climates in the United States. While identifying oneself as a fan of college sports has been shown to assist domestic students in their social adjustment to college environments, little is known about the relationship between international students’ college sports team identification and their social adjustment. As such, the purpose of this study is to determine the effect of team identification on international students’ sense of community and social capital and the conceptual relationship between the sense of community and social capital. Analysis of the hypothesized model with a sample of international students (n = 487) revealed that international students’ team identification develops their sense of community and social capital. Implications focused on how the international student office and athletic departments can utilize intercollegiate sport to support international students and assist this population in adapting to campus life in the United States.
References
Allport (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Addision-Wesley.
Atherley, K. M. (2006). Sport, localism and social capital in rural Western Australia. Geographical Research, 44(4), 348-360. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2006.00406.x
Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46(1), 5-34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x
Berry, J. W., Kim, U., Minde, T., & Mok, D. (1987). Comparative studies of acculturative stress. International Migration Review, 21(3), 491-511. https://doi.org/10.1177/019791838702100303
Caligiuri, P., DuBois, C. L., Lundby, K., & Sinclair, E. A. (2020). Fostering international students’ sense of belonging and perceived social support through a semester-long experiential activity. Research in Comparative and International Education, 15(4), 357-370. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499920954311
Carlson, S., & Galbally Jr., J. F. (2020). How to Recognize the Warning Signs of a Death Spiral – and How Colleges Can Avoid One. The Chronicles of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-recognize-the-warning-signs-of-a-death-spiral-and-how-colleges-can-avoid-one/
Clopton, A. W., & Bourke, B. (2011). Big-time college sport in black and white: Perceptions of the impact of athletics on campus. College Student Affairs Journal, 30(1), 31-45.
Clopton, A. W., & Finch, B. L. (2009). Vicarious Connection of Athletics Into University Identification, Adjustment of Students. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 80(1), A108.
Clopton, A. W., & Finch, B. L. (2010). Are college students’ bowling alone? ‘Examining the contribution of team identification to the social capital of college students. Journal of Sport Behavior, 33(4), 377-402.
Clopton, A. W., & Finch, B. L. (2011). Re-conceptualizing social anchors in community development: utilizing social anchor theory to create social capital’s third dimension. Community Development, 42(1), 70-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2010.505293
Clopton, A. W. (2007). Predicting a sense of community amongst students from the presence of intercollegiate athletics: What roles do gender and BCS-affiliation play in the relationship?. The SMART Inancial Journal, 4(1), 95-110.
Clopton, A. W. (2008). College sports on campus: Uncovering the link between fan identification and sense of community. International Journal of Sport Management, 9(4), 343-362.
Clopton, A. W. (2009). One for the team: The impact of community upon students as fans and academic and social integration. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, Special Issue, 24-61.
Clopton, A. W. (2012). The Impact of Athletics upon the Social Sustainability of the College Campus. In DeVitis, J. L. (Eds.), Contemporary Colleges and Universities. A Reader.
Constantine, M. G., Anderson, G. M., Berkel, L. A., Caldwell, L. D., & Utsey, S. O. (2005). Examining the cultural adjustment experiences of African international college students: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(1), 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.1.57
Davidson, W. B., & Cotter, P. R. (1986). Measurement of sense of community within the sphere of City 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16(7), 608-619. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1986.tb01162.x
de Araujo, A. A. (2011). Adjustment issues of international students enrolled in American colleges and universities: A review of the literature. Higher Education Studies, 1(1), 2-8.
Gallagher, H. C. (2013). Willingness to communicate and cross-cultural adaptation: L2 communication and acculturative stress as transaction. Applied Linguistics, 34(1), 53-73. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams023
Glass, C. R., & Gesing, P. (2018). The development of social capital through international students’ involvement in campus organizations. Journal of International Students, 8(3), 1274-1292. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1254580
Gold, S. J. (2016). International students in the United States. Society, 53(5), 523-530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-016-0060-2
Gómez, E., & Urzua, A., & Glass, C. R. (2014). International Student Adjustment to College: Social Networks, Acculturation, and Leisure. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 32(1), 7-25.
Gong, Y., & Fan, J. (2006). Longitudinal examination of the role of goal orientation in cross-cultural adjustment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1), 176-184. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.176
Harris, J. C. (1998). Civil society, physical activity, and the involvement of sport sociologists in the preparation of physical activity professionals. Sociology of Sport Journal, 15(2), 138-153. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.15.2.138
Havard, C. T., Grieve, F. G., & Lomenick, M. E. (2020). Marvel, DC, and sport: Investigating rivalry in the sport and comic settings. Social Science Quarterly, 101(3), 1075-1089. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12792
Hayes, R. L., & Lin, H. R. (1994). Coming to America: Developing social support systems for international students. Journal of Multicultural counseling and Development, 22(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.1994.tb00238.x
Heere, B., & James, J. D. (2007). Sports teams and their communities: Examining the influence of external group identities on team identity. Journal of Sport Management, 21(3), 319-337. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.21.3.319
Heere, B., & Katz, M. (2014). Still undefeated: Exploring the dimensions of team identity among fans of a new college football team. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 6(1), 25-42.
Hill, J. L. (1996). Psychological sense of community: Suggestions for future research. Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 431-438. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6629(199610)24:4%3C431::AID-JCOP10%3E3.0.CO;2-T
Institute of International Education (2020). Open Doors. https://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors
Inoue, Y., Berg, B. K., & Chelladurai, P. (2015). Spectator sport and population health: A scoping study. Journal of Sport Management, 29(6), 705-725. https://doi.org/10.1123/JSM.2014-0283
Inoue, Y. & Havard, C.T. (2015), “Sport and disaster relief: a content analysis”, Disaster Prevention and Management, 24(3), 355-368. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-12-2014-0276
James, J. D., Delia, E. B., & Wann, D. L. (2019). No” is not “low”: Improving the assessment of sport team identification. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 28(1), 34-45. https://doi.org/10.32731/SMQ.281.032019.03
Kağnıcı, D. Y. (2012). The role of multicultural personality in predicting university adjustment of international students in Turkey. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 34(2), 174-184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-012-9149-5
Kalpidou, M., Costin, D., and Morris, J. (2011). The relationship between Facebook and the well-being of undergraduate college students. CyberPsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(4), 183-189. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2010.0061
Katz, M., & Heere, B. (2016). New team, new fans: A longitudinal examination of team identification as a driver of university identification. Journal of Sport Management, 30(2), 135-148. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2014-0258
Katz, M., Dixon, M. A., Heere, B., & Bass, J. R. (2017). Front porch, small house: A longitudinal study of team and university identification among incoming students at a Division III university. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 10(1), 103-125. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2016-0043
Katz, M., & Clopton, A. W. (2014). Town & gown… & jerseys? NCAA Division III athletics as social anchors. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 7, 285-306.
Katz, M., Dixon, M. A., Heere, B., & Bass, J. R. (2017). Front porch, small house: A longitudinal study of team and university identification among incoming students at a Division III university. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 10(1), 103-125. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2016-0043
Kenny, D. A. (n.d.). Measuring model fit. http://www.davidakenny.net/cm/fit.htm
Kim, K., Moiseichik, M., Han, J., & Stokowski, S. (In Press). Exploring the Effect of Team Identification on International Students’ Adjustment to Higher Education in the United States. Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE).
Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford publications.
Koo, G. Y., Sung, J., & Martinez, J. M. (2015). Effects of team identification on social and emotional adjustment in higher education. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 8(2), 247-265. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2014-0081
Krishna, A., & Shrader, E. (1999). Social capital assessment tool. In Conference on social capital and poverty reduction (Vol. 2224). World Bank.
Kutintara, I., & Min, S. (2016). Sport participation and U.S. sport culture influences among college-age international students. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 8(2), 49-60.
Kwak, M. J. (2018). International Student Experiences of Migration and Consuming Canadian Education. Korean Immigrants in Canada (pp. 88-112). University of Toronto Press. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442690387-009
Lock, D., & Heere, B. (2017). Identity crisis: A theoretical analysis of ‘team identification’ research. European Sport Management Quarterly, 17(4), 413-435. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2017.1306872
Luo, Z., Wu, S., Fang, X., & Brunsting, N. (2019). International students’ perceived language competence, domestic student support, and psychological well-being at a U.S. university. Journal of International Students, 9(4), 954-971. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v0i0.605
Ma, J. (2020). Supporting practices to break Chinese international students’ language barriers: The first step to facilitate their social adjustment. Journal of International Students, 10(1), 84-105. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10i1.773
MacCallum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Sugawara, H. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1(2), 130-149.
Mael, F. A., & Ashforth, B. E. (2001). Identification in work, war, sports, and religion: Contrasting the benefits and risks. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 31(2), 197-222.
McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6-23. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1%3C6::AID-JCOP2290140103%3E3.0.CO;2-I
Mukminin, A. (2019). Acculturative experiences among Indonesian graduate students in Dutch higher education. Journal of International Students, 9(2), 488-510. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v0i0.265
NAFSA (2018, November, 13). New NAFSA Data: International Students Contribute $39 Billion to the U.S. Economy. https://www.nafsa.org/about/about-nafsa/new-nafsa-data-international-students-contribute-39-billion-us-economy
Nahpiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-66.
National College Athletics Association (2021, July). NCAA student-athletes at the 2020 Summer Olympics. https://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2021-07-21/ncaa-student-athletes-2020-summer-olympics
Palmer, C., & Thompson, K. (2007). The paradoxes of football spectatorship: On-field and online expressions of social capital among the “Grog Squad”. Sociology of sport journal, 24(2), 187-205. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.24.2.187
Peterson, N. A., Speer, P. W., & McMillan, D. W. (2008). Validation of a brief sense of community scale: Confirmation of the principal theory of sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(1), 61-73.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1998). Intergroup contact theory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49(1), 65-85. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.65
Poyrazli, S., & Kavanaugh, P. R. (2006). Marital status, ethnicity, academic achievement, and adjustment strains. College Student Journal, 40(4), 767-780.
Puddifoot, J. E. (1996). Some initial considerations in the measurement of community identity. Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 327-336. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6629(199610)24:4%3C327::AID-JCOP3%3E3.0.CO;2-R
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon and Schuster.
Ra, Y. A., & Trusty, J. (2017). Impact of social support and coping on acculturation and acculturative stress of East Asian international students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 45(4), 276-291. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12078
Sandhu, D. S., & Asrabadi, B. R. (1998). An acculturative stress scale for international students: A practical approach to stress management. Evaluating Stress: A Book of Resources, 2, 1-33.
Sarason, S. B. (1974). The psychological sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. Jossey-Bass.
Smith, R.A. (1988). Sports and freedom: The rise of big-time college athletics. Oxford University Press.
Sonn, C.C. (2002). Immigrant adaptation: Understanding the process through sense of community. In A.T. Fisher, C.C. Sonn, & B.J. Bishop (Eds.), Psychological sense of community: Research, applications, and implications pp. 205–222). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Steinglass, P., De‐Nour, A. K., & Shye, S. (1985). Factors influencing psychosocial adjustment to forced geographical relocation: The Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55(4), 513-529. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1985.tb02702.x
Stensland, P. J., Taniyev, O., Scola, Z., Ishaq, F. J., Wilkerson, Z., & Gordon, B. S. (2019). The Ties That Bind: Examining Division I Athletics as a Social Anchor. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 12, 287-313.
Stodolska, M., & Tainsky, S. (2015). Soccer spectatorship and identity discourses among Latino immigrants. Leisure Sciences, 37(2), 142-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2014.970720
Sullivan, C., & Kashubeck-West, S. (2015). The interplay of international students’ acculturative stress, social support, and acculturation modes. Journal of International Students, 5(1), 1-11.
Sung, J., Koo, G. Y., Kim, S., & Dittmore, S. W. (2015). Enhancement of non-academic enviornment by intercollegiate athletics and its intangible benefit in higher education. Journal of Physical Education & Sport, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.7752/jpes.2015.01012
Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. Organizational identity: A reader (pp.56-65). Oxford University Press
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behaviour. In S. Worchel, & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7-24). Nelson-Hall.
Tang, X., Collier, D. A., & Witt, A. (2018). Qualitative study on Chinese students’ perception of U.S. university life. Journal of International Students, 8(1), 151-178. https://doi.org/10.581/zenodo.1134279
Telbis, N. M., Helgeson, L., & Kingsbury, C. (2014). International students’ confidence and academic success. Journal of International Students, 4(4), 330–341.
Toma, J. D. (1998). Representing the university: The uses of intercollegiate athletics in enhancing institutional identity. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, 1-29.
Toma, J. D. (2003). Football U.: Spectator sports in the life of the American university. University of Michigan Press.
Toma, J. D. (2005, September). Amateur ideals, commercial realities, and strategic uses: Exploring the false divide between spectator sports and the overall university. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85(3), 32-37.
Tonts, M. (2005). Competitive sport and social capital in rural Australia. Journal of Rural Studies, 21(2), 137-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2005.03.001
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Basil Blackwell.
Walseth, K. (2008). Bridging and bonding social capital in sport—experiences of young women with an immigrant background. Sport, Education and Society, 13(1), 1-17.
Wann, D. L. (2006). Examining the potential causal relationship between sport team identification and psychological well-being. Journal of Sport Behavior, 29(1), 79-95.
Wann, D. L., & Branscombe, N. R. (1992). Emotional responses to the sports page. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 16(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/019372359201600104
Wann, D. L., & Branscombe, N. R. (1993). Sports fans: Measuring degree of identification with their team. International Journal of Sport Psychology. 24(1), 1–17.
Wann, D. L., Dunham, M. D., Byrd, M. L., & Keenan, B. L. (2004). The five-factor model of personality and the psychological health of highly identified sport fans. International Sports Journal, 8(2), 28-36.
Warner, S., & Dixon, M. A. (2011). Understanding sense of community from the athlete’s perspective. Journal of Sport Management, 25(3), 257-271. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.25.3.257
Warner, S., & Dixon, M. A. (2013). Sports and community on campus: Constructing a sports experience that matters. Journal of College Student Development, 54(3), 283-298. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2013.0044
Warner, S., Dixon, M. A., & Chalip, L. (2012). The impact of formal versus informal sport: Mapping the differences in sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology, 40(8), 983-1003. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21506
Wolanin, T. R. (2000). Strategies for increasing the enrollment of international students in U.S. postsecondary education. The Institute for Higher Education Policy, National Association for Foreign Student Affairs, Association for International Educators.
Xing, D. C., & Bolden, B. (2019). Treading on a Foreign Land: A Multiple Case Study of Chinese International Students’ Academic Acculturation Experiences. Student Success, 10(3), 25-35. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v10i3.1406
Yeh, C. J., & Inose, M. (2003). International students’ reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 16(1), 15-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951507031000114058
Yu, R., Wong, M., & Woo, J. (2019). Perceptions of neighborhood environment, sense of community, and self-rated health: an age-friendly city project in Hong Kong. Journal of Urban Health, 96(2), 276-288.
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of International Students
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All published articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License.
