CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM FATA AND BALOCHISTAN STUDYING IN SOUTHERN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The concept of cultural adjustment is an essential component of the study of students' relocation in regional and cultural contexts within the same country, and it is one aspect that is frequently overlooked. The students from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan have their unique sociocultural, linguistic and psychological issues when they move to Universities in southern provinces of Punjab. The present study was designed to see the correlation between the new culture and psychological adjustment of undergraduate male students of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. A quantitative cross-sectional correlational design was used, and data were gathered from male students drawn using purposive sampling technique of 202 students, through Cultural Distance and Acculturation Orientation Scale (CDAOS) and Brief Adjustment Scale-6 (BASE-6). The correlation analysis showed a slight negative relationship between adopting a new culture and students' adjustment which was not statistically significant. A new culture also had a small effect on Student adjustment as shown in regression analysis. Overall cultural-adoption scores were not a good predictor of psychological adjustment in this sample, as students found cultural transition to be challenging overall. The findings call for further sub-dimensional research (examining language, food, climate and social-network variables independently and with moderators like social support) to examine the mechanisms that explain the relationship between the various dimensions of cultural adaptation and domestic migrant students in Pakistan.