Further examining the role motivation to study abroad plays in the adaptation of international students in Canada

We investigated the role self-determined motivation and the goals international students have for studying abroad play in the adaptation of international students. We studied samples of international students from three Canadian Universities at the beginning of an academic year (N = 228) and at the end of the same year (N = 72). The results supported the hypotheses that autonomous motivation to study abroad is a predictor of students’ various adjustment outcomes at different times of the academic year and that the preservation goals have a weaker negative effect upon the adjustment outcomes and this effect is relatively independent from the effect of autonomy. These results are consistent with the previous study of Chinese international students in Belgium and Canada [Chirkov, V.I., Vansteenkiste, M., Tao, R., & Lynch, M. (2006). The role of motivation to study abroad in the adaptation of international students: A self-determination theory approach. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31(2), 199–222]. The role that gender, marital status and country of origin play in moderating these relations is also studied and discussed. The main conclusion further justifies the importance of motivation in understanding the adjustment dynamics of various groups of migrants.