Background
Higher education institutions face both opportunities and challenges in meeting the needs of international students, especially as many institutions have large and growing numbers of international students. The demand for mental health wellbeing support has become a significant concern, with the supports offered by many institutions recognized as insufficient and often inaccessible to international students. This inaccessibility may arise, in part from disconnections between how international students understand wellbeing as opposed to traditional psychological treatment from a western perspective.
Hypotheses/Research Questions
This study investigates Chinese international students’ conceptualizations of wellbeing in order to broaden the understanding of wellbeing from a lay perspective and examine whether wellbeing is a prototypically organized concept for this population.
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
123 Chinese international students participated in the online survey. Specifically, 123 students completed step 1, 117 students completed step 2, and 90 students completed step 3. The sample comprised around one-third of male and two-third of female. On average, participants were between 21–29 years old.
Design
A modified prototype analysis was used to explore Chinese international students’ conceptualization of wellbeing. Through a three-step, free-response format online survey, 123 Chinese international students who were studying in Australia compiled a list of wellbeing component, rated the listed components and indicators of wellbeing, and wrote wellbeing narratives.
Results
Listing, rating, and narratives illustrated that Chinese international students’ concept of wellbeing is indeed prototypically structured, but that structure differs in some ways from traditional Western perspectives. The most frequently endorsed components of wellbeing include positive relationship, security, physical health, and mental health.
Scientific Contribution
The findings broaden the understanding of wellbeing concept from a lay perspective, provide new data of international students through a wellbeing lens, and offer a potential approach to further explore prototype-structured concepts.