An Exploration of Relational Well-Being of African International Students at a South African University

Students are often faced with high academic pressures that create high levels of distress and anxiety, leading to low levels of psychological well-being.  International students, in particular, are more susceptible to threats to their psychological well-being as their immigrant status in host societies exposes them to unique challenges such as language difficulties, cultural differences, social isolation/limited social support, and discrimination to list a few. Relationships are an important component of individuals’ well-being, and the contribution of relationships to international students’ well-being has been largely neglected in the literature. As such, the overall aim of this study was to explore the experiences of relational well-being of African international students at a South African university. The supporting objectives of the study were to understand ‘how African international students experience relationships at the university campus space’, and by extension, ‘which of their relational experiences positively contribute to their well-being’.

This study adopted a qualitative design wherein semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data from 16 participants (ave. age = 24; females = 5; males = 11). To make sense of the findings, thematic analysis was used. From the findings, it was concluded that African international students have reciprocal positive relationships with local and other immigrant students that contribute to well-being outcomes in the social domain (financial/material support; locals assisting with navigating new environment, etc.); in the psychological domain (knowing one is not alone in their struggles exerts positive psychological experiences/outcomes, etc.); and in the educational domain (academic assistance). In addition, it was discovered that institutional culture and the availability of spaces that provide opportunities for interaction are important determinants of relational experiences in the university campus space. It was thus recommended that efforts should be made to create more spaces in which African international students could engage and interact with a diverse group of students to encourage relationship formation.