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ABSTRACT

This study proposes and validates a sequential digital-physical-psychological (DPP) pathway model to explain how social media use facilitates international students' cross-cultural adaptation through behavioral and psychological mediation. Building on media system dependency theory and social learning theory, the model posits that digital engagement (e.g., WeChat interactions) initiates a cascading process: it first reduces barriers to extracurricular activity participation, which subsequently enhances the sense of multidimensional social integration (psychological identification, social interaction, and cultural adaptation). Data from 713 international students at Chinese universities, analyzed via structural equation modeling, confirmed significant direct (ß = 0.27, p < 0.001) and chain-mediated effects (ß = 0.04, p < 0.001), demonstrating that adaptation progresses sequentially from the digital domain to the physical domain to the psychological domain. The findings challenge parallel-process frameworks such as Ward's ABC model, instead emphasizing the temporal dynamics of digital-era acculturation. By integrating digital pathways into adaptation theory, this study advances a structured framework for understanding technology-mediated intercultural transitions. These findings address critical gaps in acculturation research by integrating digital pathways and temporal dynamics, offering evidence-based strategies for universities to design integrated digital-physical support systems.

Keywords: Cross-cultural adaptation, digital-era acculturation, social integration, international student mobility, Chinese higher education

INTRODUCTION

The convergence of digital transformation and international educational mobility represents a defining challenge in contemporary higher education, particularly within China's rapidly expanding international student ecosystem. As the world's second-largest destination for international students, China enrolled more than 492,000 international students in 2019, demonstrating sustained growth despite fluctuations in global mobility (Ministry of Education China, 2021). This expansion has occurred within a distinctive digital communication landscape characterized by platform-specific ecosystems-notably WeChat's dominance-and regulatory frameworks that fundamentally differentiate Chinese social media environments from their Western counterparts (Yang et al., 2018). For international students navigating cultural adaptation, these digital-physical intersections create unique opportunities and challenges requiring sophisticated theoretical frameworks to understand technology-mediated acculturation processes (Zhang & Ting, 2025).

China's distinctive social media policy environment significantly influences international students' digital adaptation strategies (Koech et al., 2025). Unlike Western contexts, where platform diversity enables varied engagement patterns, China's integrated digital ecosystem centers on WeChat's multifunctional capabilities, combining messaging, social networking, payment systems, and cultural information access (Forbush & Foucault-Welles, 2016). This platform consolidation creates concentrated dependency relationships that amplify media system...

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