How Does Personality Impact Study Abroad Experience?
Abstract
This study aimed to build on previous research that examined personality differences between undergraduate students who studied abroad and undergraduate students who did not study abroad. Our research aims to analyze these differences in an effort to aid undergraduate institutions in their understanding of why certain students choose to study abroad while others do not in hopes that they will be able to improve their assistance and programming for all students. We investigated this difference by examining levels of openness to experience, ethnocentrism, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy via a survey in which participants self-reported their levels of each trait. The sample was collected from 612 current students attending Wake Forest University through exponential snowball sampling. We hypothesized that students who have studied abroad will be higher in levels of life satisfaction, self-efficacy, and openness to experience with the amount of time spent abroad acting as a mediator. Further, we hypothesize that students who do not study abroad will be higher in ethnocentrism. Contrary to the hypothesis, there was no significant difference in these four personality traits between students who did study abroad and those who did not study abroad. Additionally, time spent abroad was not found to be a mediating variable
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Study Abroad Experience as it Relates to Openness to Experience, Ethnocentrism, Life Satisfaction, and Self Efficacy
Previous literature has shown that students who study abroad in college can experience powerful character development in a variety of realms (Harrowing et al., 2012). However, it is unclear how an individual’s personality is influenced by study abroad experiences. Understanding the influence of personality on the decision to study abroad is important for students because this knowledge could impact their decision to study abroad. Further, this influence is important for education institutions because this knowledge could improve the resources provided to students in an effort to better their preparation to go abroad as well as their experience while abroad.
While there is ample evidence that a study abroad experience provides psychological impact, including increased positive emotions, it is still unknown if personality traits are associated with students who decide to study abroad (Cristofolini et al., 2018). The current study aims to address this by analyzing the relationship between traits of openness to experience, ethnocentrism, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy with identification of students as those who spend a semester abroad or those who did not spend a semester abroad.
Transformational Learning and Studying Abroad
Previous research suggests that a study abroad experience is associated with many benefits, including personal growth, professional growth, cultural sensitivity, cultural competence, and cognitive development (Kelleher, 2013). The study abroad program at Wake Forest University lists the following reasons for studying abroad:
“experience a new culture first hand, grow personally, gain independence, flexibility, and cross-cultural communication skills, gain a new perspective on world affairs, your country and even your own school, improve your professional and financial potential, dispel stereotypes, take advantage of the opportunity to travel, conduct personal research and prepare for graduate school” (Wake Forest University, 2015).
In conjunction with this research, transformative learning theory (TLT) is the concept of constructed knowledge based on direct experience, being placed in uncomfortable situations and critical reflection (Mezirow, 1991). Study abroad programs align with this theory by seeking to change how students view themselves, the world and their role in it, by emphasizing a global knowledge, connectivity, an understanding of human–environment interaction (from multiple disciplines and geocultural perspectives) and the responsibility of humans to global issues (Bell et al., 2014).
Study Abroad and Self Belief: Life Satisfaction and Self Efficacy
Previous research has found that personal beliefs lie at the heart of personality and give unique insight into how personality evolves in an individual (Dweck, 2009). Thus, life satisfaction and self-efficacy are two aspects of personal belief that are relevant to the discussion of personality in regard to our research. Satisfaction with life has been identified as a representation of cognitive and global evaluations of the quality of an individual’s life. Further, SWL involves an assessment of the quality of an individual’s life according to their own criteria. This assessment depends on the circumstances of their life and the context that is considered appropriate (Pavot & Diener, 1993). There is very limited research on the relationship between satisfaction with life and studying abroad. A study exploring life satisfaction among a group of students before and after experiencing studying abroad found that SWL decreased from 82.5% to 65% and that females reported decreased SWL on four items while males reported decreased SWL on two items (Nilsson, 2015). Based on this study, we hypothesize that students who have studied abroad will report lower satisfaction with life than students who have not studied abroad.
Bandura (1994) defines self-efficacy as people's beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives. This trait fosters intrinsic interest and deep immersion in activities. Further, individuals high in self-efficacy are more likely to approach difficult tasks as challenges instead of threats (Bandura, 1994). Self-efficacy is associated with better intercultural adjustment for undergraduate students studying abroad and higher self-efficacy allows students to perform newly learned behaviors in foreign situations (Nguyen, 2018). Thus, based on definition and previous research we hypothesize that individuals who have studied abroad will have higher self-efficacy than those who have not studied abroad. Further, we hypothesize that the amount of time spent abroad will mediate the relationship between studying abroad and level of self-efficacy, with higher self-efficacy leading to spending more time abroad.
Study Abroad and Personality Traits: Openness to Experience and Ethnocentrism
Openness to experience is one of the Big Five dimensions of personality measured through levels of curiosity, imagination, artistry, variety of interests, excitability, and values. (John & Srivastava, 1999). Previous research has shown strong positive correlations between openness to experience and verbal/crystallized intelligence, intelligence that is based upon facts and rooted in prior experience (Schretlen et al., 2010; Barbey, 2018). Further, individuals with high levels of openness to experience show higher preferences for artistic, literary, and scientific activities which in turn leads to these individuals participating in more learning opportunities (Ziegler et al., 2012). There is currently little to no relevant research regarding the relationship between openness to experience in undergraduate students who decide to either study abroad or not study abroad. We hypothesize that individuals who are higher in levels of openness are more likely to go abroad because of their tendency to have heightened curiosity and interests. Further, we hypothesize that the amount of time spent abroad will mediate the relationship between studying abroad and level of openness, with higher openness to experience leading to spending more time abroad.
Ethnocentrism is the tendency of individuals to elevate their own culture as the standard against which they judge others, and to see their own as superior to others (Berry, Poortinga, Segall, & Dasen, 2002). Although ethnocentrism is not measured as a Big Five dimension, personality traits can be defined as describing one’s relatively stable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving (DeYoung, 2014). For this reason and for the purpose of this research, ethnocentrism will be identified as a personality trait. Characteristics of ethnocentrism have been identified as suspicion directed toward outsiders and group self centeredness (Price & Crapo, 2002; Bizumic & Duckitt, 2007). Additionally, individuals who are high in ethnocentrism desire to be near similar others and feel different from those who are different (Strickland, 2000). There is currently no research done on the relationship between ethnocentrism and studying abroad. Due to the resources found regarding ethnocentrism, we hypothesize that individuals who have high ethnocentricity are less likely to study abroad due to their desire to be near similar others.
Research Aims
As demonstrated above, there is a wide range of research done on the topics of openness to experience, ethnocentrism, life satisfaction, and self efficacy. However, the information available regarding the relationship of these traits to the decision of studying abroad during undergraduate studies is extremely limited. We hypothesize that (1) students who have studied abroad will report lower satisfaction with life than students who have not studied abroad (2) students with high self-efficacy are more likely to go abroad (3) students who score high on levels of openness will be more likely to study abroad and (4) students who have high ethnocentricity are less likely to study abroad. In order to test our hypotheses we conducted a study that investigated how students who study abroad and students who do not study abroad differ in self-reported measures of openness to experience, ethnocentrism, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy.
Method
Participants
For this study, 612 Wake Forest University undergraduate students were recruited via email and social media (Male = 172, Female = 435, Prefer Not to Answer = 5, Mage = 20.61, SDage = 8.45). 414 participants were excluded on the basis that they left at least one response blank on the questionnaire. All participants completed the survey on a voluntary basis and were not compensated for their participation in the study. Of the participants, 199 studied abroad and 413 did not study abroad during their four years completing an undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University.
Procedure
Participants completed the survey via a Qualtrics link provided to them via email or social media. The first page of the survey contained background information. The following pages were randomized in order and contained questions related to various aspects of life specific to college students in which participants responded using Likert-like scale options. This research paper focuses on measures of: openness to experience, ethnocentrism, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy. The remainder of the survey questions were not relevant to our study. Participants completed the survey on a personal computer at their own discretion. After the conclusion of the study, researchers evaluated the data.
Measures
For the purpose of this study there were five variables measured: study abroad experience, openness to experience, ethnocentrism, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy.
Study abroad experience. Study abroad experience was measured via four questions during the background information portion of the survey. Participants responded to the question “While at Wake Forest, have you studied abroad for at least one semester? If yes, approximately how many weeks were you abroad in total?” using text boxes to respond. The following two questions were “When did your study abroad experience start?” and “When did your study abroad experience end?” The response options included a drop-down menu that allowed participants to input the month and year. The final question asked “What is your current academic standing?” All three of these questions utilized drop down menus in which participants chose the GPA most similar to their own.
Openness to experience. Openness to experience was measured using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) designed to measure five dimensions of personality: extraversion/introversion, agreeableness/antagonism, conscientiousness/lack of direction, neuroticism/emotional stability, and openness/closedness to experience (John & Srivastava, 1999). For the purpose of this study, five questions from the BFI were used which focused on openness/closedness to experience. The five questions were chosen based on their relatability to a study abroad experience. Participants rated their level of agreement on a five point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) for items such as “I see myself as someone who is curious about many different things” and “I see myself as someone who is inventive.” Higher scores indicated greater openness to experience. Cronbach's α for this measure was 0.58.
Ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism was measured using a shortened version of the CETSCALE questionnaire, designed to measure an individual's tendencies related to purchasing foreign versus American made products (Shimp & Sharma, 1987). The original questionnaire utilizes 17 questions and we chose seven of those which related most to a study abroad experience. Participants rated their level of agreement on a seven point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) for items such as “Purchasing foreign-made products is un-American” and “We should purchase products manufactured in America instead of letting other countries get rich off us.” Higher scores indicated greater ethnocentrism. Cronbach's α for this measure was 0.86.
Life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was measured using all six questions in the Riverside Life Satisfaction Scale (Margolis, Scheitzgebel, Ozer & Lyubomirsky, 2019). Participants rated their level of agreement on a seven point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) for items such as “I like how my life is going” and “Those around me seem to be living better lives than my own.” Higher scores indicated higher level of life satisfaction. Cronbach's α for this measure was 0.73.
Self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was measured using a shortened version of the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale designed to assess optimistic self-beliefs to cope with a variety of difficult demands in life ( Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995). We used four out of the ten items on this questionnaire, choosing questions that were highly relatable to life as a college student. Participants rated their level of agreement on a four point scale (1 = not at all true, 4 = exactly true) for items such as “It is easy for me to stick to my aims and accomplish my goals” and “I can remain calm when facing difficulties because I can rely on my coping abilities.” Higher scores indicated higher levels of self-efficacy. Cronbach's α for this measure was 0.70.
Results
The current study investigated whether students who study abroad differ from students who do not study abroad in four personality dimensions: satisfaction with life, openness to experience, ethnocentrism, and self-efficacy. Prior to analysis, 414 participants were removed from the study due to missing information in either the personality dimensions or the reported time spent abroad. Participants (N = 612) ranged in class year from freshman to senior (Mage = 20.61) and were grouped based on if they had studied abroad or had not studied abroad. The sample was composed of 199 students who had studied abroad (Mage = 21.03) and 413 students who had not studied abroad (Mage = 20.40).
An independent samples t-test was performed to investigate whether students who study abroad would differ from students who did not study abroad in their level of satisfaction with life. A two-way ANOVA analysis was performed to investigate if studying abroad and the amount of time spent abroad affected levels of openness to experience, ethnocentrism, and self-efficacy.
Studying Abroad and Satisfaction with Life
In order to analyze the relationship between studying abroad and satisfaction with life, we conducted an independent samples t-test. Our first hypothesis was that students who study abroad will have lower levels of satisfaction with life when compared to their peers who did not study abroad. There was no significant difference in satisfaction with life between students who studied abroad (M = 25.87, SD = 4.95) and students who did not study abroad (M = 25.74, SD = 5.27), SE = 0.45, t(610) = 0.29, p > .05, 95% CI [-0.74, 1,01], d = 0.03. Contrary to our hypothesis, these results indicate that students who study abroad do not have significantly different levels of satisfaction with life when compared to their peers who did not study abroad.
Studying Abroad and Self Efficacy
We built upon this hypothesis by predicting that the amount of time spent abroad would be an important factor in levels of three personality traits: self-efficacy, openness to experience, and ethnocentrism. A two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of studying abroad and time spent abroad on self-efficacy. We hypothesized that students who study abroad will have higher levels of self-efficacy when compared to their peers who did not study abroad. The study did not show a significant difference in self efficacy between students who did study abroad and students who did not study abroad, F(1, 608) = 0.56, p > .05. Further, the study did not show a significant difference in self efficacy for the amount of time spent abroad F(1, 608) = 0.59, p > .05. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between the decision to study abroad and the overall amount of time spent abroad, F(1, 608) = 0.08, p > .05. Contrary to our hypothesis, these results indicate that students who go abroad do not differ from their peers who do not go abroad in their level of self-efficacy and that the amount of time spent abroad is not a mediating factor for self-efficacy.
Studying Abroad and Openness to Experience
Our third hypothesis investigated the amount of time spent abroad as a factor in participants' amount of openness to experience. A two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of studying abroad and time spent abroad on openness to experience. We hypothesized that students who study abroad will have higher levels of openness to experience when compared to their peers who did not study abroad. The study did not show a significant difference in openness to experience between students who did study abroad and students who did not study abroad, F(1, 608) = 0.53, p > .05. The study did not show a significant difference in openness to experience for the amount of time spent abroad F(1, 608) = 0.03, p > .05. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between the decision to study abroad and the amount of time spent abroad, F(1, 608) = 0.001, p > .05. Contrary to our hypothesis, these results indicate that students who go abroad do not differ from their peers who do not go abroad in their level of openness to experience and that the amount of time spent abroad is not a mediating factor for self-efficacy.
Studying Abroad and Ethnocentrism
Our fourth hypothesis investigated the amount of time spent abroad as a factor in participants' amount of ethnocentrism. A two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of studying abroad and time spent abroad on ethnocentrism. We hypothesized that students who study abroad will have lower levels of ethnocentrism when compared to their peers who did not study abroad. The study did not show a significant difference in ethnocentrism between students who did study abroad and students who did not study abroad, F(1, 608) = 2.17, p > .05. The study did not show a significant difference in ethnocentrism for the amount of time spent abroad F(1, 608) = 0.78, p > .05. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between the decision to study abroad and the overall amount of time spent abroad, F(1, 608) = 0.28, p > .05. Contrary to our hypothesis, these results indicate that students who go abroad do not differ from their peers who do not go abroad in their level of ethnocentrism and that the amount of time spent abroad is not a mediating factor for ethnocentrism.
Discussion
This study investigated the relationship between personality traits and the decision to go abroad in undergraduate students. Specifically, we investigated life satisfaction, openness to experience, extraversion, and ethnocentrism. It was hypothesized that students with high levels of life satisfaction, openness to experience, and extraversion would be more likely to go abroad while students with high levels of ethnocentrism would be less likely to go abroad. Further, we hypothesized that the amount of time spent abroad would be a significant mediating factor for openness to experience, extraversion, and ethnocentrism. The research found no significant difference in any of the four personality traits as they relate to studying abroad. Further, the amount of time spent abroad was not found to be a mediating variable for any of the four traits.
Nilsson (2015) found that life satisfaction decreased in students after studying abroad. For this reason, we hypothesized that students who went abroad would have lower levels of satisfaction of life when compared to their peers who did not study abroad. However, our data suggests that life satisfaction is not significantly different between students who study abroad and students who do not study abroad (Nilsson, 2015). This could be due to the confidence students have when making their decision to study abroad. All students who study abroad at Wake Forest are required to meet with an advisor in the global program studies office as well as submit an application to be accepted into the program. For this reason, it is likely that students who decide to go abroad for any amount of time are confident in their decision to leave the country. This confidence could likely play a role in why students who study abroad do not report lower levels of life satisfaction.
Nguyen (2018) found that higher reported levels of self-efficacy allows students to perform newly learned behaviors in foreign situations (Nguyen, 2018). For this reason we hypothesized that students who have higher levels of self-efficacy would be more likely to study abroad on the basis that these students would be comfortable in unfamiliar situations in another country. However, our findings suggest that this is not true and students who study abroad do not differ from their peers who do not study abroad in terms of self-efficacy. There are a number of reasons that this could be true. Although self-efficacy was found to improve adjustment in study abroad situations, this trait is also associated with intrinsic interest and deep immersion in activities. Students who choose not to study abroad could make this decision based on commitments they have to activities or programs on campus which would make it hard to leave for an entire semester. These aspects of decision making also indicate high levels of self-efficacy in a different realm from foreign travelling, which could explain the lack of significance in self-efficacy. for students who study abroad over and above those who do not.
Both ethnocentrism and openness to experience lack previous research to support or refute our findings. Therefore our study neither supports or contradicts any existing literature regarding these personality traits as they relate to study abroad. Our research creates novel findings, although insignificant, due to the lack of information regarding these two traits. The insignificance of our findings should be noted for further research but there must be future studies done that can either replicate or refute this data. Due to the contradiction of our hypotheses and these findings, we hope that future studies will primarily investigate these two personality traits in more depth as they relate to studying abroad.
Limitations of our study should be considered. Our survey did not require any proof of identification or log-in information. This lack of identity confirmation makes it difficult for researchers to be sure that each data point is unique and/or truthful. There is no way for researchers to confirm the responses of each student without having some sort of identification component in the study. Additionally, the survey used for this study contained many questions that were not used for our research analysis. The addition of these questions made the survey quite lengthy which could have resulted in respondent fatigue, a phenomena in which participants attention and motivation drop toward the end of the survey (Lavrakas, 2008). This fatigue could have resulted in inaccurate or missing data.
Due to our insignificant findings and lack of support for our hypotheses, there is great potential for future studies to build upon our research. Although our results were not significant within our sample and survey, we still believe that there may be relationships between these variables and undergraduate students who study abroad. Future studies should create a survey that is either shorter in length or replace some of the unnecessary questions with questions that may relate to the personality trait in a better way. Additionally, this study should be performed in a more monitored fashion with a requirement that participants input their email. The survey can still remain anonymous but this addition could aid in providing a greater sense of personal responsibility to answer each survey item honestly and thoughtfully.
Beyond these design improvements, there are further ways that this research topic can be improved. Future studies should adapt this research into a longitudinal study in which students are given the same survey before and after they go abroad. As previously mentioned, the study abroad office at Wake Forest University requires students to meet with an advisor before going abroad. This would be an ideal time for the pre-test to be administered. The post-test could be given upon return to the United States or upon return to campus the following semester, depending upon the researchers decision and ability to administer the surveys. Although this study design varies a little from our original intent, it provides an additional lens through which research can analyze a reverse impact of study abroad experience on personality. This could provide important findings on how students perception of themselves changes after spending time abroad and could even be broken down into trends among different study abroad locations.
Although we did not find significant results, we believe that this study is very important due to the novelty of our research questions. Two out of four personality traits had not been studied in relation to studying abroad prior to our research. We present important data to the field of psychology that has never been investigated before. Future data, that either replicates or refutes our findings, has important implications for a wide variety of people. Gaining a better understanding of how personality traits affect the decision to study abroad could educate undergraduate study abroad programs across the nation. Upon identifying which traits are related to studying abroad and which are related to not studying abroad, universities can tailor new resources and programs to student populations who want to study abroad but lack certain individual skills/traits to do so. Additionally, the knowledge of what types of students choose to study abroad could better inform professors teaching these programs in regard to their methodology both inside and outside of the classroom. This would allow class time and assignments to improve the study abroad experience in a way that students are given more opportunity to explore educational content that both aligns with their personality as well as challenges them. Ultimately, this research has great potential to positively influence and even change study abroad recruiting and resources both on campus as well as in another country. Although there is much work to be done in the future to gain a concrete understanding of this research, our study has broken new ground for undergraduate universities and their study abroad programs.
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