Cross‐group contact propensity buffers the costs of identity concealment for university and sociocultural adjustment

Abstract This research examines how concealing a devalued identity shapes immediate and longer‐term adjustment among mainland Chinese students studying at Hong Kong universities. In Study 1 ( N = 154), experimentally induced concealment in anticipated interactions with ostensible local Hong Kong peers reduced momentary belonging, but did not significantly affect authenticity concerns or expectations for future cross‐group interactions. In Study 2 ( N = 249), using a two‐wave longitudinal design, we tested whether concealment beliefs—beliefs that concealing one's devalued identity protects against bias—predict poorer university adjustment (belonging and academic engagement) and sociocultural adjustment, and whether the propensity to initiate cross‐group contact buffered these associations. Concealment beliefs at university entry predicted weaker academic engagement. Among students low in cross‐group contact propensity, these beliefs also predicted lower belonging and poorer sociocultural adjustment. These associations were absent among students high in contact propensity. Together, these findings suggest that proactively initiating cross‐group contact may help alleviate the psychological and sociocultural costs of concealment for mainland Chinese students adjusting to Hong Kong, with possible implications for other immigrant‐background students navigating devalued identities in receiving societies.