The role of digital media consumption in sojourners’ identification and adaptation abroad

The global sojourner population is continuously growing. Previously, this population has been the focus of primarily adaptation research. However, this body of research leaves many gaps, such as sojourner identity on a larger scale, and the influence of modern traditional media, being consumed online. The current thesis aims to explore the relationships between digital media consumption, different types of identities and adaptation, explored through the following research question: To what extent does the consumption of digital media affect sojourners’ identities and their psychological and sociocultural adaptation? To answer the research question, a survey was distributed online. The gathered data showed that strong home identities resulted in less psychological adaptation, while strong host identities lead to more psychological adaptation as well as sociocultural adaptation. Moreover, increased consumption of digital media from one’s home country encouraged stronger home identification, international identification, and IWAH. More specifically, the consumption of host entertainment and news media showed a positive relationship with increasing home identification. Moreover, more media consumption from one’s host country found an increase in host identification and international identity. Again, host entertainment and news media consumption specifically were found to correlate positively to host identification. Meanwhile, host news consumption found a positive relationship with sojourners’ international identity. Lastly, consuming more global media lead to stronger international identities and IWAH for sojourners, where global entertainment media consumption showed a positive relationship with international identity. The present research contributes to the existing body of literature in various ways. Firstly, it helps expand the current knowledge regarding two newer identity types: international identity and IWAH. Moreover, it fills in a research gap regarding media and sojourners, which has previously disregarded digital media consumption while not focusing on social media. This exploration paves the way for future research to expand on. contribution Suggestions for future research are proposed, including an alternative way to measure sojourners’ connection to countries and cultures through media consumption.