Page 160 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

Summary
Social network sites (SNSs), such as Facebook, hold much promise for international sojourners. International sojourners are individuals who are temporarily away from their home country to attain a particular goal in the host country (Safdar & Berno, 2016). With the use of SNSs, interactions of international sojourners with their social networks are no longer limited to face-to-face interactions in the host country. SNSs enable sojourners to communicate with significant others in the host- and the home-country. These social interactions could be helpful in maintaining meaningful relationships that are important in sojourners’ overall adjustment (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). However, scientific knowledge on the relevance of SNSs in international sojourners’ adjustment is still limited. Thus, this dissertation aimed to advance our understanding of the roles of social network sites in sojourners’ adjustment.
This dissertation presents a set of studies designed to answer the overarching research question: How and to what extent do SNS interactions relate to sojourners’ adjustment? These studies were guided by a general conceptual framework derived from scholarship in various disciplines such as media and communication, cross-cultural/acculturation psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, and migration studies. This general framework of sojourners’ adjustment was premised on the proposition that social interactions with the host- and the home- country networks impact sojourners’ adjustment via subjective outcomes (such as perceived social support and homesickness) (Berry, 2003, 2006; Ward, Bochner, & Furnham, 2001). The studies were conducted under two relational contexts: A broad relational context which tackled sojourners’ social interactions with significant others, such as family and friends (Chapters 2 and 3); and, a specific relational context which focused on sojourners’ romantic relationships (Chapters 4 and 5).
Main Findings
The roles of SNSs in Sojourners’ Adjustment via Subjective Outcomes
Chapters 2 and 3 investigated the role of SNSs in sojourners’ adjustment (psychological and socio-cultural adjustment) via subjective outcomes (perceived social support and homesickness) using a concurrent communication model. A
158 Summary