Cultural alienation and psychological well-being in Mongolian pre-college students: a person-centered profiling study

These findings highlight cultural loneliness as a critical mechanism in minority students' psychological adaptation, providing empirical support for belongingness theory within cross-cultural educational contexts. By demonstrating that social connection deficits, rather than cultural separation or perceived discrimination, most strongly predict psychological distress, this study extends acculturation theory to emphasize the primacy of relational belonging in cultural transitions. These insights advance broader cultural psychology research on minority adaptation while offering practical implications for developing targeted support systems in minority education programs.