Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Is Prospectively Associated With Early Trajectories of Acculturation Among New International Students

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a marker of parasympathetic activity hypothesized to index a neurophysiological system supporting social engagement behaviors. Following migration, people must navigate and adapt to a new sociocultural environment. Whether RSA affects this psychological acculturation process is unknown. This longitudinal study investigated whether resting RSA on arrival in the receiving country was related to changes in cultural orientations toward both mainstream and heritage cultural groups during the first 5 months following migration. Sixty new international students provided information on their cultural orientations toward the mainstream and heritage cultural groups shortly after arrival in the new country and 2 and 5 months after the first assessment. Results indicated that both heritage and mainstream orientations increased linearly over time. Furthermore, greater resting RSA at baseline was prospectively associated with larger increases in positive orientation toward the mainstream culture but not the heritage culture, over and above individual differences in extraversion, depression, and anxiety. These data provide longitudinal evidence that higher RSA promotes an approach-oriented stance toward a novel cultural environment.