Abstract —The role of foreign students in higher education sector in Malaysia is increasing. Thus, with the growing number of these students, administrators and academics are identifying ways to enable them to adapt to the new environment. This study aims to assess the level of acculturative stress experienced by international undergraduates in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Three hundred and seventy eight students completed the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS). Data were analyzed using Social Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 and the results indicated that the majority of international undergraduates are suffering moderately from some degree of cultural stress especially for items relating to change or culture shock, homesickness and perceived hate. The findings suggest that there are calls for several improvements to programs designed to assist the international undergraduates adapt to their new cultural setting. Index Terms—Aacculturative stress, culture shock, homesickness, perceived hate. I. INTRODUCTION How individuals cope with adjustment has been studied for many years by researchers as every individual faces an adjustment period in their life as they move into a new environment. Similar situations will be encountered by students who enter a new institution for further study in a foreign country. They will have to adjust not only to the new environment in that particular country, but also the society, food, traditions and religion that come as a package. Life in the new surroundings can bring many challenges to the students particularly if they are living away from home for the first time. Being away from their family means they will have to survive without the support system that they had in their own environment, which can pose possible danger in the form of stress. They will also experience new pressures especially with the high hopes of performing and achieving well in their academics from family and sponsors in the new education system. According to Sandhu and Asrabadi [1], moving from their hometown to a new environment may result in internal stress and missing their family, friends and homesickness are common symptoms expressed by foreign students. Even though they require more time to adapt and adjust to the new environments, success for these students comes in the forms of adjusting well to the institution and the ability to adapt to psychological stress. Thus, when moving to a new country, the aim of the students is to become Manuscript received July 20, 2013; revised September 24, 2013. Azizah Rajab and Nur Syazwin Mansor are with the Language Academy, Johor Bahru Campus, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Hamidah Abdul Rahman and Siti Aisyah Panatik are with the Faculty of Management, Johor Bahru Campus, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (e-mail: r_azie@yahoo.com). accustomed with the new environments, people and to become familiar with the culture and social life in the new country. There are numerous studies on adjustment in various disciplines including organization and health. For example, a study by Mackay and Pakenham [2] focuses on adjustment among caretakers of mental adult patients due to high stress levels associated with taking care of the patient. The study finds that the best way to deal with stress is through high social support as well as being optimistic, forming good relationships with patients and stress adaptation on behalf of caretakers. In the context of this study, Malaysia is also experiencing an overflow of foreign students into the country as a result of government policy of 2009 which opened the doors for international enrolment in its higher learning institution. Even though the number of international students is increasing dramatically every year, study on international students’ adaptation to the country and culture is not getting similar attention in line with its international reputation. Acculturation in the context of this study refers to the replacement of the traits of one culture with those of another during the process of studying in the host country. International students come from different countries, and bring with them a distinctive personality from their own culture. According to Charles and Steward [3], cultural sensitivity is an important element which influences international students. They may be confused about the cultural differences between their own culture and Malaysian culture which can affect their goals, beliefs, feelings and motivation. Tseng and Newton [4] share the same sentiment stating that it is important for international students to immediately adjust to the new environment to minimize the potential of cultural issues arising. To them, students need to learn how to deal with differences in intercultural contacts, social life and food. The fact is, when international undergraduates enroll in UTM, they are required to take a course on BahasaMelayu for the purpose of equipping and exposing them to the local culture and at the same time developing their language skill. Even though the underlying principle is genuinely to give them exposure to the culture of the host country, this may contribute to the existing pressure as adapting to the new environment may prove to be difficult and problematic which may result in acculturative stress. Previous research shows that 60 to 70 per cent international students suffer from this feeling [5]. A new culture often challenges international students’ belief and values. They must consider different ways of thinking and behaving as they adjust to the new environment. Due to these cultural changes such as language limitation, different academic system and loss of friends and peers from home, they are subjected to stress [6]. Is pressure or stress imposed upon them when adjusting to the new environment in UTM? Hence this study is important especially in disseminating information and giving clearer pictures to the outside world of the acculturative stress experienced by the international Azizah Rajab, Hamidah Abdul Rahman, Siti Aisyah Panatik, and Nur Syazwin Mansor Acculturative Stress among International Students Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2014 262 DOI: 10.7763/JOEBM.2014.V2.136