Impact of the sense of power on loneliness among international students in China: the chain mediating role of perceived discrimination and loneliness stigma

Abstract Background Loneliness is a common emotional experience among international students that can affect their mental health, cultural adaptation, and academic development. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between a sense of power and loneliness among international students, and to examine the mediating role of loneliness stigma and perceived discrimination. Methods The study used the generalized sense of power scale, experiences with discrimination scale, stigma loneliness scale (SLS), and UCLA loneliness scale-6 (ULS -6) for 529 international students in China. The study conducted descriptive statistical analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, Spearman correlation analysis, and chain mediation model test on the obtained data using SPSS 20.0 and PROCESS v4.0. Results The sense of power was significantly negatively related to perceived discrimination, and loneliness stigma, with the result that loneliness, and perceived discrimination, loneliness stigma, and loneliness were significantly positively related. The sense of power can directly affect international students’ loneliness (β = -0.167, t = -4.298, p