Page 66 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

A concurrent communication model
The seminal models of sojourners’ adjustment focused on the role of FtF interactions with the host-country network in adjustment (Berry, 2006; Ward et al., 2001). However, with the development of communication technologies in the past years, the possibilities of social interactions have expanded. In this study, we proposed a concurrent communication model where we examined the relative importance of FtF and Facebook interactions in international students’ experiences of homesickness. Based on the reinforcement hypothesis of media use, people use various forms of communication channels concurrently, and that these communication channels are complementary and not necessarily isolated (Dienlin, Masur, & Trepte, 2017; English et al., 2012; Rui & Wang, 2015). It has been demonstrated, for instance, that those who use SNSs to communicate with others were also more likely to communicate with others FtF (Dienlin et al., 2017). Thus, one communication channel does not necessarily displace the other. In this study, we extended earlier models of sojourners’ adjustment (e.g., Berry, 2006; Ward et al., 2001) by including not just FtF interactions with the host-country network, but also Facebook interactions with both the host- and the home-country networks in our investigation.
FtF interactions and homesickness. Research shows that friendships in the host country are important for social support, satisfaction, and success of international students studying in foreign universities (Hendrickson, Rosen, & Aune, 2011; Ward et al., 2001). Students who feel welcomed, connected, and “at home” in their host culture were less likely to experience intense homesickness (Thurber & Walton, 2012). Thus, it seems likely that more frequent social interactions with significant others in the host country would reduce homesickness. Indeed, it has been found that greater social contact with the host-country network was linked to lower homesickness (Pedersen, Neighbors, Larimer, & Lee, 2011). However, interactions with the host-country network may also leave international students longing more for home (Hannigan, 2005). Students have been observed to experience bouts of homesickness even after a particularly good experience at a party with friends. According to Hannigan (2005), it could be that after FtF host- country interactions, international students become acutely aware of their longing for home and loved-ones. Given the inconsistent results, we posed the following research question:
RQ1: What is the impact of FtF interaction with the host-country network on homesickness?
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