Abstract
To examine the relationship between acculturation, acculturation stress, demographic variables, and psychologic adaptation among long-term Chinese residents in Japan, an online survey was conducted. Data of 307 Chinese residents who have lived in Japan for more than 3 years was analyzed.
In addition to demographic variables, host/ethnic culture orientation as acculturation; Japanese language insufficiency, social isolation, perceived discrimination as acculturation stress; subjective well-being as a positive aspect and depression as a negative aspect of psychologic adaption were utilized in this study.
The results of multiple regression analysis revealed 3 significant predictors of subjective well-being: social isolation (β = −.54, p < .001), host culture orientation (β = .17, p < .001), and marital status (β = .15, p < .001). The results also revealed 5 significant predictors of depression: social isolation (β = .40, p < .001), Japanese cognitive status (β = .17, p < .001), age (β = -.19, p < .001), educational background (β = -.18, p < .001) and perceived discrimination (β = .16, p < .01).
The results confirmed the negative effect of social isolation in the largest foreign group in Japan. The results also show that while the experience of discrimination significantly increased depression, the lack of Japanese language proficiency had no significant effect on either the positive or negative aspects of intercultural adaptation.
In addition, Japanese culture orientation encourages a better subjective well-being. All factors including demographic variables were discussed by comparing studies on Koreans in Japan and overseas Chinese in other countries.
Author Information
Shizhe Zhao, Yamaguchi University, Japan
Tomoko Tanaka, Okayama University, Japan
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