northcentral university - api abroad › greta_couper.pdf · 2013-10-09 · northcentral university...
TRANSCRIPT
Northcentral University
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRAVEL: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW STUDY ABROAD AND
POSITIVE REGRESSION AFFECT PERSONAL GROWTH
A Dissertation Submitted to the
Graduate Faculty of the Department of Psychology in
Candidacy for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in PSYCHOLOGY
by
Greta Elena Couper
January 2001
Copyright © 2001
Greta Elena Couper
All rights reserved
APPROVAL
We, the undersigned, certify that we have read this dissertation and approve it as fully adequate in scope and quality for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology.
Author: Greta Elena Couper Title: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRAVEL: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW STUDY ABROAD AND POSITIVE REGRESSION AFFECT PERSONAL GROWTH
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is deeply grateful to the many people who helped lift this Augean task
over Daedalus wings and around Odyssean shoals toward its final completion. Special
thanks goes to my father Clive Richard Hamilton Couper, who told me from the day I
arrived on this planet “You can do anything,” long before such advice was fashionable!
He was born in Rome, Italy, of American artist parents, and triggered my interest in
travel and the arts. Next, to my mother Louisa Couper for arranging many special
summers in Santa Barbara with the international community there. To Paul A.
Cantalupo, M.D., for inspiring me to study psychology, philosophy, and psychoanalysis.
To Michael D. Welch, Ed.D., for his motivation, coaching and positive belief in human
potential. And finally, to Lisa Merryman, for being my safety net when all seemed
impossible.
A large thank you to my dissertation committee for keeping me moving forward:
Lori Phelps, Gil Linné, and Richard Jones. Thanks also to many others who include
Martha Monroe, Lynn Velazquez, Kim Gibbs, Susan Cox, and Vanessa Reyes. The
outstanding contributions of everyone who assisted on this project are much appreciated.
Grazie tanto! Va’ dove ti porta il cuore. . .
iii
ABSTRACT
Title: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRAVEL: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW STUDY ABROAD AND POSITIVE REGRESSION AFFECT PERSONAL GROWTH
Author: Greta Elena Couper, Ph.D. Degree: Doctor of Philosophy, 2001
Institution: Northcentral University Scope of Study:
This theoretical analysis and retrospective study explores the psychology of travel, and how and why study abroad affects personal growth and career choice. International travelers often experience something far beyond the acquisition of new subject matter or cultural awareness—they undergo a personal paradigm shift that alters their perception of themselves and their world in such a way as to clarify areas of their lives that were previously unclear. Many conceptual frameworks in developmental psychology are outlined to help define how people acquire new behavioral skills. This sometimes occurs through re-experiencing regressive situations from earlier childhood stages of development and adaptation in the more secure adult years. The theories outlined include those of Kohlberg (1984), Erikson (1968), Loevinger (1976), Kegan (1982), Basseches (1984), Cantalupo (1978), Marcia (1980), P. Adler (1975), Perry (1970), and Dabrowski (1977). Transformative learning refers to a dialectic, experiential form of learning through which one reexamines and changes perceptions, values, and behavior.
The participants in this study were 126 college alumni five or more years after
graduation, both who had and had not attended a study abroad program. A survey was distributed that consisted of demographic information, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS-II), a portion of the Omnibus Personality Inventory, and six open-ended questions related to regression, career consolidation, world-mindedness, and life goals. The emphasis was on self-awareness, not on the design, development, or administration of a study abroad program.
Findings and Conclusions:
Quantitative and qualitative data comparing the differences between study abroad alumni and non-study abroad alumni were analyzed using the statistical procedures of two-way analysis of variance (2x2 ANOVA) and chi-square (χ2). Findings showed that (1) one’s temperament did not determine whether the study abroad experience was effective; (2) vocational goals were toward service careers and away from monetary pursuits; (3) childhood feelings (not actions) in times of frustration were more evident
iv
but less emotional; (4) new challenges and environments were more readily accepted; (4) time allocation was more flexible and less scheduled; and (5) corporate culture was easier to adjust to for those with experience abroad. Of particular interest were the differences in personality traits between female and male participants. This is important because other cultures provide varied experiences based on their unique definitions of appropriate gender behavior and opportunity. Thus, research on the influence of travel on personal growth should include analysis by gender.
With the dawning of the twenty-first century, positive psychology is emerging as a
field in its own right. This specialty encompasses the science of positive influences and strives to improve the quality of life for all people. Further research should be pursued on how and why international travel affects personal growth, whether regressive experiences during travel help trigger learning, and how much pretravel training and emotional support during travel is required for optimal learning conditions. This will assist with the design of, and decisions to attend, such programs. Travel and multicultural encounters provide opportunities for personal growth. These experiences can transform individuals, organizations, and society.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... iii
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1
Introduction................................................................................................................ 1
Definition of Terms.................................................................................................... 3
Statement of the Problem.......................................................................................... 5
Overview of Related Literature................................................................................ 6
Methodology............................................................................................................. 13
Limitations of the Study.......................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .......................................... 18
Travel and Study Abroad ....................................................................................... 19
Self-Awareness Through Travel......................................................................... 20
Historical Grand Tour......................................................................................... 21
Study Abroad Research ...................................................................................... 24
Measurement Techniques ....................................................................................... 37
Theories of Cognitive, Moral, and Ego Development .......................................... 39
Identity and Self-Esteem .................................................................................... 43
Postformal Adult Development: Relativism and Dialectics............................... 47
Career Development................................................................................................ 51
Personal Growth Through Travel.......................................................................... 58
Experiential and Transformative Learning......................................................... 59
Permission to be Different.................................................................................. 63
vi
Heightened Awareness and Perception .............................................................. 64
Culture Shock ..................................................................................................... 72
Adaptation/Accommodation............................................................................... 83
Reentry ............................................................................................................... 91
Positive Regression .................................................................................................. 94
Summary ................................................................................................................ 106
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY.............................................................................. 107
Introduction............................................................................................................ 107
Constructs............................................................................................................... 108
Instruments and Validity ...................................................................................... 110
Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) ................................................................ 111
Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI).............................................................. 112
Personality Career Inventory (PCI) .................................................................. 113
Internet Survey Forms ...................................................................................... 114
Computer Software........................................................................................... 114
Population Sample ................................................................................................. 114
Procedures .............................................................................................................. 116
PCI Instrument Development ........................................................................... 116
Population Sample Confound Control.............................................................. 116
Data Collection and Processing ............................................................................ 117
Statistical Analysis ................................................................................................. 120
Limitations ............................................................................................................. 121
Conclusions............................................................................................................. 123
CHAPTER 4. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS.............................................................. 124
Participant Demographics .................................................................................... 124
Personality Traits .................................................................................................. 125
vii
Temperament ......................................................................................................... 130
Career Choice and Vocational Type .................................................................... 130
Evaluation of General Questions.......................................................................... 134
Integration and Synthesis of Data........................................................................ 164
CHAPTER 5. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................... 168
Limitations ............................................................................................................. 169
Summary of Findings and Relationship to Literature ....................................... 170
Recommendations.................................................................................................. 173
Conclusions............................................................................................................. 175
APPENDICES............................................................................................................... 177
Appendix A. U.S. Population: Temperament, Traits, and Vocational Type .. 177
Appendix B. Letter of Consent, Instruction, and Rationale for Study............ 178
Appendix C. Personality Career Inventory (PCI) ............................................. 179
Appendix D. Assessment Utilization Request Form.......................................... 182
Appendix E. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS) ................................ 183
Appendix F. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) .................................. 183
Appendix G. Demographics/Scores..................................................................... 185
BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................... 191
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Synopsis of Study Abroad and Travel Research ............................... 29
Table 2.2 Comparative Theories of Development to Early Adulthood............. 50
Table 2.3 Comparison of Developmental Stages to Travel Regression.......... 105
Table 4.1 Five Personality Traits .................................................................... 126
Table 4.2 Judging/Perceiving Trait Scores...................................................... 129
Table 4.3 Frequencies of Occupation Type..................................................... 131
Table 4.4 Vocational Types............................................................................. 133
Table 4.5 Representative Activity Analysis .................................................... 135
Table 4.6 Culture Shock Analysis ................................................................... 137
Table 4.7 Life Goal Analysis........................................................................... 142
Table 4.8 Childlike Regression Analysis ........................................................ 146
Table 4.9 Reentry Reactions Analysis ............................................................ 152
Table 4.10 Greatest College Impact Analysis ................................................. 158
Table G.1 Participant Occupations.................................................................. 185
Table G.2 Participant Quantitative Scores ...................................................... 188
1
CHAPTER 1.
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
All people have a destiny to fulfill, regardless of their geographic location or
status in society. One of the primary challenges in human growth and development is for
individuals to explore their talents and uniqueness, and develop their “gifts” in order to
establish a raison d’être on this planet. It is not enough to learn just the basic facts and
skills required to survive. People have unique, personal dreams that make them immortal
through following a special path with purpose and accomplishments to offer future
generations, either through individual discoveries or fulfilling part of a collective task.
They must find a way to understand themselves better and develop goals that match their
inherent talents or life may seem a prolonged and tedious pattern of work and bills, or the
proverbial “birth, death, and taxes.” How, then, can greater internal awareness be
accomplished?
Human beings are influenced by family, friends, relatives, peers, social mores,
inherited skills, media, and their immediate environment. Some seek self-awareness and
growth through joining psychotherapy groups, entering into individual long-term
psychoanalysis, following the regimen of training to be a skilled athlete, exploring family
genealogy, or immersing themselves in a religious philosophy, etc. Although such
programs usually do result in an increase in personal awareness when utilized for self-
growth, they can be very slow and extremely expensive, either in direct cost or indirect
loss of income. Is there a way to jump start this process and fast forward through the
experiences needed to explore self-identity? The answer for this researcher, and for
many others, has been through international travel (Kauffmann, 1983; Kennedy, 1994;
2
Kottler, 1997; Sleek, 1998). Weaver (1994) stated “The overseas experience, like that of
an encounter or sensitivity group, offers a new social milieu to examine one’s behavior,
perceptions, values, and thought patterns” (p. 175).
Experiencing the diversity of other cultures allows people to perceive alternate
forms of behavior and cognition, and to question their own beliefs and attitudes through a
multitude of factors that utilize all the senses. Often persons returning from their first
sojourn abroad make statements like “This trip transformed me,” “I became more my
own person,” “Now I know what I want to do with my life,” etc. (Desruisseaux, 1998;
Kauffmann, 1983). These travelers have experienced something far beyond acquisition
of new subject matter or cultural awareness—they have undergone a kind of personal
paradigm shift. A cognitive jolt, or mindquake, has altered their perception of themselves
and their world in such a way as to clarify areas of their lives that were previously
unclear. Just what caused this change—how can it be explained?
The theories of developmental psychology help define how people acquire new
behavioral skills as they pass through stages of growth. There are many conceptual
frameworks, such as the developmental theories of Piaget (1969), Erikson (1968), and
Kohlberg (1984), that help to define transformative learning that involves a substantive,
qualitative shift in perception. In addition, international treatises on deep learning,
change learning, or transformative learning (noted by a variety of names) focus on
learning that occurs from a change in perception or personal view. Developmental
“triggers” that cause change to occur have been described abstractly (Hansel, 1985;
Kauffmann, 1983), but few have been explored empirically, partly due to the difficulty in
defining, obtaining, and measuring reliable data. There is a strong link between this shift
and learning. The developmental process is transformative learning about knowledge
and self-identity.
3
With the dawning of the twenty-first century positive psychology is emerging as a
field in its own right. This specialty encompasses the science of positive subjective
experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions that strive to improve the
quality of life for all people. The positive emphasis is in direct contrast to the dominant
psychological focus in the past that has stressed pathology. According to Seligman and
Csikszentmihalyi (2000), psychologists, teachers, and parents should seek to help others
through “identifying and nurturing their strongest qualities, what they are best at, and
helping them find niches in which they can best live out these strengths” (p. 6).
Practitioners should amplify abilities in addition to noting weaknesses. Psychologists
who want to improve the human condition are in a position to help everyone, not just
those who suffer. “The majority of ‘normal’ people also need examples and advice to
reach a richer and more fulfilling existence” (p. 10). People’s values and goals mediate
between external events and the perceived quality of experiences. “It is not what
happens to people that determines how happy they are, but how they interpret what
happens” (p. 9). Thus, experiential learning that opens new horizons in cultural
awareness should expand self-understanding, increasing options for personal success.
Definition of Terms
For purposes of this research the following terms are used as defined:
Adaptability. Uses the four traits of emotional resilience, flexibility, perceptual
acuity, and personal autonomy.
Culture Shock. A set of emotional reactions [mild irritability to panic and crisis]
caused by the loss of perceptual reinforcements from one’s own culture, by new cultural
stimuli that have little or no meaning, and by the misunderstanding of new and diverse
experiences (Adler, 1975, p. 13).
4
Dialectics. Developmental transformation that occurs via constitutive and
interactive relationships, which includes knowledge acquisition that involves the active
processes of conceptually organizing and reorganizing phenomena rather than the
accumulation of fixed truths. (Adult postoperational stage of cognitive learning and
development). (Basseches, 1984, p. 22; Mines & Kitchener, 1986; Moshman, 1999).
Frame Switching. Shifts between forms of interpretive cognition by a
multicultural individual in response to cues in the social environment (Hong, Morris,
Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000, p. 709).
Identity. A metaphor for the flexible self-in-context (historical, biological,
cultural, social) (Fitzgerald, 1993, p. 188).
KTS II. Keirsey Temperament Sorter; similar to the Myers-Briggs Temperament
Indicator, but a shorter, non-validated version.
MBTI. Myers-Briggs Temperament Sorter; a career-oriented personality survey.
Personal Growth. Changes in self-identity, personality, and adaptability.
Positive Psychology. The science of positive subjective experience, positive
individual traits, and positive institutions that strives to improve the quality of life for all
people (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000, p. 6)
Positive Regression. A temporary retreat to earlier forms of behavior while under
stress that leads to disharmony, self-evaluation of values and behavior, reintegration, and
personal growth.
Quasi-experimental Design. Research design that attempts to approximate a true
experiment in a naturalistic setting by systematically eliminating alternative explanations
of the observed phenomenon (Levin & Hinrichs, 1995, p. 255).
Self-awareness. Who individuals think they are, including the fundamental issues
of feelings, self-esteem, identity, importance, appearance, and worthiness.
5
Self-Esteem. A personal judgment of worthiness and attitude toward being
capable, significant, and successful (Coopersmith, 1967, p. 5).
Sojourner. A person who travels to a new place or foreign country for a
temporary short period of time for leisure, study, or work (Brein & David, 1971, p. 217).
Study Abroad. Experiential learning of at least four weeks in another country
where learners live in a culture with a language different from their native language, and
where some independent activities and autonomy with the local inhabitants are required.
Transformative Learning. Learning that involves a substantive, qualitative shift
in perception or understanding that results in permanent change in cognition and
behavior. This includes a change in one’s perceptions, underlying assumptions, values,
and ways of interacting.
Statement of the Problem
Most study abroad, international work, and travel programs state that personal
growth and transformative change occur (Kauffmann, 1983; Kennedy, 1994; Kottler,
1997; NAFSA, 1997), but few studies have researched or attempted to explain how the
phenomena unfold relative to theories of developmental psychology. Anecdotal self-
reports, surveys, and ethnographic observational descriptions are more common.
Researchers agree that it is difficult to measure the benefits of study abroad programs
(Church, 1982; Hutchins, 1996; Kauffmann, 1983). Factors such as advanced
preparation, expectations, length of program, course content, attitude and personality
characteristics of the traveler, depth of immersion, and poststudy follow-up may not all
be present, and research design is diverse and not amenable to meta-analysis. In
addition, consensus does not exist regarding what assessment instruments should be used
to measure change.
6
Lack of consistent thinking regarding what and how changes should be measured
reduces the amount of comparative data, statistical macro-analysis, and ability to predict
behavioral patterns from the results. The goals and emphasis of each study need to be
analyzed carefully. For example, when academic program content and the degree to
which facts are learned is the emphasis of a study, then transformative changes in
personality or self-awareness may be only loosely addressed in the assessment. Thus, it
would be difficult to measure just how much these latter traits were affected.
Intercultural adjustment is often defined by means of a U-curve or W-curve of
culture shock (Brein, 1971; Gullahorn & Gullahorn, 1963; Oberg, 1960). Some have
portrayed adjustment as a series of psychological stages. But few researchers have used
an integrated theoretical methodology and the concepts of positive regression to explain
and understand how adjustment and personal transformative changes occur during travel.
The proposed study will address the following problems: (a) What are the affects
of study and travel abroad on personal growth (identity, personality, and adaptation) and
career selection, and (b) Do patterns of adaptation mimic earlier developmental stages?
Specific research questions within this problem are as follows:
• What personal transformation occurs (or is perceived to occur) through travel and study abroad?
• How does study abroad influence life goals and career choice?
• Can adult cultural adaptation be explained in terms of regression to earlier developmental psychological stages of adjustment?
Overview of Related Literature
Travel and study abroad can influence our understanding of global issues,
interpersonal relations, and career selection, as well as personal growth and self-image.
For purposes of this study personal growth includes changes in self-identity, personality,
7
and adaptability. Some additional factors that have been explored relative to study
abroad include world-mindedness, ethnocentrism, tolerance, flexibility, self-esteem,
autonomy, confidence, refined career goals, foreign language ability, interest in
international affairs, political orientation, prejudices, tolerance of ambiguity, grades,
attitude toward diverse cultures, and concern for others (Kauffmann, 1983).
Because language has imbedded within it a certain way of perceiving the world
(sentence structure and idiomatic expressions), and the global economy affects most
industries, it is important to have some exposure to foreign languages, culture, and
diversity. This learning is expedited through travel. Without such knowledge people are
left with a narrow approach to cognition that may lead to failure in the global business
world. They lack the potentially more successful methods of acumen found in diverse
cultures (McCully, 1976). It is by honoring diversity while acknowledging personal
internal biases of perception that people are led to greater world understanding and
infinite approaches toward new solutions to problems.
While most foreign students attend college in the United States to obtain a degree,
American students usually go abroad for short language intensives, home-stay exchanges,
or an academic semester or year with the intention of adding an international perspective
to their education. In a survey of all major U.S. institutions by the Chronicle of Higher
Education, results showed that from 1996 to 1997 there was an increase of 11.4% of
American college students participating in study abroad programs (Desruisseaux, 1998).
Increasing interest and participation in the experience of other cultures will assist with
the intercultural communication and recognition of diversity needed to stay competitive
in a global community—a “cultural diversity competence.” This experience also offers
new modes of developmental learning.
Until recently, cognitive learning was believed to reach completion at the end of
adolescence (Erikson, 1968; Piaget, 1969), but current metatheories identify new learning
8
stages into the adult years (Basseches, 1984; Moshman, 1999; Muuss, 1996). Each stage,
or period of time, is unique, where new behavior and responses are established, moving
from simple to more complex activities (Chickering, 1969; Erikson, 1968; Kohlberg,
1984; Piaget, 1969). People learn new skills, attitudes, and knowledge that are
appropriate to their maturation, physical makeup, individual traits, and social
environment.
Psychological growth is often described in sequential stages, where individuals
must master the tasks of one stage or they will have difficulty advancing to the next one.
Understanding is cumulative. The knowledge gained sets the framework for the next set
of lessons. What happens if the basic skills are not adequately learned? Is there a way to
“go back” and repeat earlier experiences? Psychiatrist Carl Jung believed that voluntary
analysis or therapy was a means of personal growth for everyone, not merely a treatment
for mental problems. Success was achieved not just by removing maladaptive behavior
but by developing a new balance of inner psychological forces that released creative
energy (McCully, 1976).
The challenge-response theory (Piaget, 1969; Sanford, 1967) is one method used
to define the process of psychological development. Through this, learning is facilitated
by exposure to situations and ideas that cannot be understood within an individual’s
perception or worldview. Previously learned responses are no longer effective.
Individuals must accommodate to their surroundings by developing new responses. If
challenges are not present, development will cease—if too great, development will be
avoided or the person will retreat. Perry (1970) defined an important difference between
adolescent and adult thinking. Whereas adolescents regard the world in polarities (e.g.,
right vs. wrong, us vs. them), adults emerge from this dualistic thinking toward multiple
thinking, as they begin to see other types of effective cognition and develop new
opinions. When ideas are challenged, multiple thinking yields to relative subordinate
9
thinking, where an analytic approach to learning is pursued. Then, in a shift to full
relativism, there is an understanding that truth is relative, confined to the specific
framework in which the event occurs. Experience in other cultures increases the
awareness of alternate cognitive styles and may enhance this transitional process.
David Moshman (1999) used a metatheoretical perspective to describe adolescent
and early adult development, integrating concepts from Piaget’s Theory of Formal
Operations, Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development, and Erikson’s Theory of Identity
Formation. By borrowing ideas from many sources, he proposed a constructivist
approach to identity and cognition that can be used to address issues of human diversity.
He stated that, like physiological changes, long-term psychological cognitive changes are
qualitative, progressive, and internally directed.
There is evidence that certain types, forms, or levels of cognition are common
among young adults but are rarely seen in childhood (Moshman, 1996). One well-known
theory concerning a state of cognitive maturity beyond Piaget’s fourth and final stage of
formal operations is dialectical thinking (Basseches, 1986). This “fifth stage”
emphasizes a transformative reality in which a set of relationships continuously changes
over time and is understood in a subjective context. This type of cognition, which
involves processing, knowing, and thinking, is necessary to appreciate the physical and
social complex realities of an interrelated world. Perry (1970) named the stage beyond
Piaget’s operational stage the “period of responsibility.” By exploring multiple theories
and stages of developmental psychology, patterns of cognitive learning can be matched to
actual experiences in order to provide new insights into why and how transformative
changes occur.
The single activity that fills most persons’ daily life is work (Baron & Byrne,
1997). To find employment that matches individual interests and skills, especially in a
complex technical world, is an important challenge and one that requires increasing self-
10
awareness. When life was slower and simpler, one generation was able to pass along
enough information to the next to succeed relatively well in personal and business
endeavors. But now the world, access to information, and the need for vocational
refinement and specialties changes faster than the generations, and to succeed individuals
must constantly be learning (Cross, 1981). Kegan (1994), in his book In Over Our
Heads, warned that access to increasing information threatens to overwhelm and exhaust
people unless they establish authority over this data. He suggested that this be achieved
through a qualitative change in mental complexity.
Anthony Marsella (1998) stated that changes in telecommunications, economics,
politics, media, environment, and transportation are strengthening the links between our
daily welfare and that of people in distant lands. But, the maintenance of ethnocultural
diversity is “as important for human survival as is biological diversity because it provides
social and psychological options and choices in the face of powerful unpredictable
environmental demands” (p. 1288).
Selecting a career, and developing a rewarding occupation is a complex
undertaking. In the 1990s career instability and choice became critical life issues. James
Marcia (1980) extended Erikson’s work on identity formation to include the process of
determining identity and styles of coping that an adolescent uses related to career
consolidation. This involves: (1) a transition from no direction or interest in making a
commitment; (2) a decision based on ideas from others; (3) an internal struggle with
choices and issues; and (4) finally arriving at a relatively firm vocational commitment.
As the processes of cognitive development and career choice are understood,
individuals can be encouraged to explore personal interests, identity, and skills; to
become more self-aware; and to strive toward more satisfying and rewarding life goals.
By learning more about themselves, people are in a better position to plan and implement
goals and develop careers that lead to greater success and fulfillment.
11
According to Arthur Chickering (1969), the establishment of identity is the
primary element around which other developmental traits revolve. He believed the quest
for self-understanding is a lifetime task that reaches its highest point in early adulthood
(ages 18-25). Identity is “that solid sense of self that assumes form as the developmental
tasks for competence, emotions, and autonomy are undertaken with some success, and
which, as it becomes more firm, provides a framework for interpersonal relationships,
purposes, and integrity” (p. 80).
Chickering stated that self-awareness refers to who individuals think they are,
which includes the superficial aspects of appearance and the fundamental issues of
feelings, self-esteem, importance, and worthiness. Affirmation of self does not
necessarily mean following current styles, peer groups, or dictates of authority, but is
more an integration of influences—of situations, others’ opinions, and orientation. The
establishment of identity leads to a lessening of anxiety and greater personal integration
and stability. Through travel, identity is altered by changes in perception, personality,
acceptance, and cultural influences.
The psychology of travel attempts to explain the effects a sojourn abroad has on
personal growth (identity, personality, and adaptability), regardless of the academic
curriculum or travel itinerary. This theme has been overlooked in the fields of
psychology and psychiatry. Some related research has been done on very specific
groups, as noted below:
• Case studies by colleges interested in promoting and/or developing their semester abroad programs (Carlson, et al., 1990; Kauffmann, 1983).
• Entry and reentry studies with Peace Corps volunteers (Cross, 1998; Harris, 1972; Pearson, 1964; Schillaci, 1997).
• Tourism and marketing studies on how and why people travel (Baloglu, 1996; Lawler, 1989; Richardson, 1996; Woodside, et al., 2000).
12
• Business etiquette and protocol studies on persons working abroad (Andrus, et al., 1998; Cook, 1988).
• Military studies on personnel assigned for overseas duty (Simplicio, 1989).
• Research on conveyances of travel and their impact on man (Reason, 1974).
• Historical accounts of expatriate artist colonies (Couper, 1986).
The projects above are sometimes slanted toward defining commercial products
and services, describing historical events, or accomplishing organizational goals, but do
not specifically address the influence of international travel on personal growth and
development. Psychologist Jeffrey Kottler (1997) described an international learning
process in his book Travel That Can Change Your Life: How to Create a Transformative
Experience. He outlined the requirements for pretravel preparation, which include
defining what the sojourner expects to learn. Although such preparation is useful to
enhance an experience, some learning takes place through travel regardless of planning, a
proposition that was supported by Kottler himself when he stated: Traveling can bring out in you parts of yourself that can’t be accessed any other way. Always looking for more efficient and effective ways to promote personal change, I realized that most of the constructive growth I’ve undergone in my own life has not come from books, or the classroom, or even therapy, but from traveling. . . . Travel teaches you most about yourself—about what you miss when you are gone and what you don’t, about what you are capable of doing in strange circumstances, about what you really want that you don’t yet have. (Kottler, 1997, Preface, p. x)
Psychologists are beginning to recognize that personal transformation occurs
through work or travel abroad (Sleek, 1998). Many literary authors have previously
noted the impact of experiencing new cultures. In the incidental notes on author Willa
Cather’s first trip to Europe (Cather, 1956/1988), editor George N. Kates commented
“how much she has matured since the first days of her arrival in ‘quaint’ Chester, merely
a matter of weeks before!” (p. 165)
13
Research in tourism by Richardson (1996) revealed certain themes on the value of
self-discovery as the result of visiting new international countries that focused on the
discovery of the individual, cultural, and global ‘self’. Such experiences were shaped
through two factors: (1) negotiation within the host cultures, and (2) tension or stress
from the role of tourist; and were made extant through signature, portal, and reflective
processes.
Travel offers more opportunities for change than almost any other human
endeavor. But there is little consistency regarding how to study and explain
transformative change, particularly through utilizing the theories of developmental
psychology. Three questions regarding the stages of learning need to be addressed:
Description, explanation, and optimization (Baltes & Staudinger, 1996). Description
defines “what” is changing; explanation defines “why” change occurs, and optimization
defines “how” change can be enhanced. Most studies concentrate on the first and third
categories, bypassing why transformation occurs. New methods need to be explored to
understand the complexity of adult developmental change that will help guide individuals
who seek greater self-awareness and adaptability in an ever-changing world community.
Methodology
The emphasis of this research project is to define how change might occur in
personal growth and self-awareness through an overseas study program, regardless of the
academic goals or travel details of the program. Changes in personal growth may be
increased or modified using enhanced curricula but can occur independent of these
details and applications. Changes in identity, perception, and adaptability will be
measured and statistically analyzed. Then an etiology of change will be proposed in
terms of metatheoretical stages of developmental psychology (Moshman, 1999) and
positive regression (Dabrowski, 1964).
14
College alumni who graduated five or more years previously will be studied. (1)
The first group will consist of alumni of a semester-abroad (SA) program. (2) A second
comparison group will consist of randomly selected alumni who have not experienced
extended international travel or study abroad (NA). (3) A third, demographically
comparable matched-pairs comparison group, will consist of subsets of alumni from
groups 1 and 2 (MP).
Three methods of testing will be employed, with results compared using a
triangulation method of analysis. The assessment instruments are: (1) the
Personality/Career Inventory (PCI) developed specifically for this research and based on
questions from the validated Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI); (2) The Keirsey
Temperament Sorter II (similar to the MBTI); and (3) six open-ended questions.
The Personality/Career Inventory (PCI) is a questionnaire that collects
demographic and personality data, and self-reported anecdotal information on awareness,
personal growth, adaptation, complexity, autonomy, positive regression, goals, and career
choice. Because career consolidation is not strongly formed in the first five years after
graduation (Marcia, 1980; Super, 1976) college alumni will be selected from those who
have graduated between five to seven years earlier.
Selection of Participants
Alumni from an undergraduate study abroad program of a medium-sized (7,000
students) liberal arts college will be selected, based on different countries of destination.
Both random and demographically matched comparison groups will be chosen from
similar ethnic backgrounds and majors, who have not attended a study abroad program,
and who have not traveled abroad for more than two weeks for vacation. The
comparison groups will not be segmented based on whether they wanted to attend a study
abroad semester, since this decision is based on many factors, including cost and family
obligations, and is not necessarily related to whether transformative changes in personal
15
growth occur through travel. Alumni who respond are not selected randomly, since their
willingness to participate in the survey will differentiate them from the entire group that
receive the inventories.
Procedures
Multiple methods of assessment have been selected in order to strengthen the
design and analysis of the hypotheses. Format differences will be analyzed using a
triangulation method (i.e., input derived from multiple data sources to illustrate and
understand a complex process). Results from the open-ended questions will be
categorized subjectively. Given the nature of the study, to determine “how” travel
abroad affects personal growth, this flexibility is essential. It is important to remember
that the second and third groups are “comparison groups,” not “control groups.”
Alumni of study abroad (SA) programs and the comparison groups (NA & MP)
will be given the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS II) and the Personality/Career
Inventory (PCI). A statistical analysis of the mean and standard deviations will be done
using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques and chi-square (χ2) to
determine if there are any significant differences in perceived personal growth traits and
career direction between the groups. Concepts and perceptions related to metatheoretical
stages of developmental psychology and positive regression will be pursued and noted.
Instrumentation
There are a number of problems associated with testing personal growth and
change associated with study abroad. The researcher must choose between standardized
tests that are proven but may not be adjusted to properly assess cross-cultural experiences
or the specific traits under consideration, and internally designed tests in which the
reliability and validity are not known. For these reasons three diverse assessment
approaches will be used to collect results for analysis: a validated inventory, a well-used
inventory, and open-ended questions.
16
Participants were administered the Keirsey Temperament Sorter of 70 items, and
the Personality/Career Inventory (PCI) developed specifically for this study. The PCI
consisted of six open-ended questions and 26 multiple-choice items (of complexity and
autonomy) based on the validated Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI), an assessment
tool produced by The Psychological Corporation (Heist & Yonge, 1968). The full set of
OPI traits includes: Thinking Introversion (TI), Theoretical Orientation (TO), Estheticism
(Es), Complexity (Co), Autonomy (Au), Religious Orientation (RO), Social Extroversion
(SE), Impulse Expression (IE), Personal Integration (PI), Anxiety Level (AI), Altruism
(Am), Practical Outlook (PO), Masculinity-Femininity (MF), and Response Bias (RB).
The two factors of autonomy and complexity were selected based on their importance to
vocational success.
Data Analysis
Data will be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative methods
will be used to analyze responses from the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS II) and the
Personality/Career Inventory (PCI). Mean and standard deviations will be statistically
compared using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with main effects of study
abroad (SA/NA) and gender (F/M).
Qualitative methods will be applied to the open, nonstructured survey responses.
Scores will be categorized using the five-step process described by Anastasi and Urbina
(1997): (1) review the data; (2) organize the data into meaningful units; (3) separate the
units that are relevant to the investigation from those that are not; (4) separately analyze
the structured and nonstructured responses; and (5) synthesize the units into areas of
experience. Scores will then be analyzed using chi-square (χ2) two-way crosstabulations
with a layer of gender.
Results of both the quantitative surveys and the qualitative analysis will be
compared using a triangulation methodology, seeking patterns that reflect differences and
17
mimic stages of developmental psychology. Career choice, lifetime goals, and perceived
success will be the practical application marker used to indicate and hypothesize how
transformative change might occur through study abroad. The university’s research
faculty will be consulted to refine the data analysis plan before data collection begins.
Limitations of the Study
The participants of this study are not representative of all international sojourners,
and data obtained from them cannot be generalized to all college alumni. The sample is
not a true random selection since participants must volunteer in order to be included. The
test groups of college alumni will be described and matched demographically using
computer analysis based on gender, age, major, graduation date, and geographic
destination of the study abroad program.
Self-report inventories are open to deliberate misrepresentation if the test taker is
motivated to fake good or fake bad responses, which can occur where self-deception or
impression management are factors (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). The face validity (ease
of identifying the trait) of a survey item increases the possibility of a false response.
Clear test instructions and establishment of rapport with the participants helps to reduce
false responses.
Although the test groups for this project are limited by the selection and reporting
processes, the principles of developmental psychology that will be used to compare
differences in personal growth during travel abroad are based on validated and generally
accepted theories. The resulting psychological principles matched to transformative
experiences identified during this study could have relevance to individuals sojourning
abroad, offering new insights with which to help them make the choice of whether to
enroll in such a program. This study also attempts to define a potential new method
through which one can explore greater self-awareness and personal growth.
18
CHAPTER 2.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter presents a review of the literature relative to the psychology of
travel, study abroad, career consolidation, adult development, positive regression,
measurement processes, and transformation. When a new psychological theory is based
on etiological concepts, the patterns of adaptation being analyzed require insights beyond
the scope of general psychology. Roland Taft (1977) stated that a wide variety of
literature should be used in analyzing the process of adaptation to unfamiliar cultures,
particularly from the fields of psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Thus, the
annotated bibliographic statements in this literature review include information borrowed
from such related disciplines as anthropology, nonfiction travel, biography, sociology,
study abroad programs, classical literature, and popular psychology.
In terms of evolution, the barriers of travel on land, sea, and air have changed
drastically through technology, but physical and psychological constraints remain.
Countless generations of adaptation and adjustment have still left humans in the position
of self-propelled animals, designed to move at around four miles per hour in a relatively
two-dimensional world (Reason, 1974). Industrial psychologists have studied the
physical effects of travel, which include motion sickness, fatigue, stress, and perceptual
disorientation, for much of the 20th century, but few researchers have addressed the full
range of psychological effects.
Sachidananda Mohanty (1998), of the University of Hyderabad, noted the recent
importance of travel literature in research: It is not just its universal appeal to abiding nature across all cultures that makes travel literature so powerfully irresistible, but that in recent times, newer approaches to literary studies such as colonial discourse, gender,
19
post-colonial and translation studies have powerfully brought travel and travel literature into the forefront of the mainstream academia. The image of the journey or voyage as in The Illiad, The Tempest or The Ancient Mariner has often served as a universal archetype for the human condition and man’s turbulent passage through the world. . . . What is radically new is perhaps the perception that travel books map out the territories of the mind, define contours of nations and communities, determine forms of cultural and political representations, and mediate across disciplinary boundaries and knowledge systems. (p. 37)
Etiological theories of behavior are often the result of personal experience,
anthropological observations, accidental discoveries, or patterns observed in anecdotal or
autobiographical books and journals. Although literature based on such naturally
occurring phenomena is not scientifically controlled or validated, it is important to
expand the review of related topics to include some anecdotal information in order to
assist in the initial development of a theory, to identify patterns of behavior and greater
self-awareness, and to induce the face validity of newly defined theories and assessment
items. With this in mind, a number of travel, biographical, and career-related articles are
included in the research for this thesis. Books on unfolding awareness through travel
(Iyer, Lee, Castaneda, Twain, Thoreau, Theroux, Chatwin), literature (Cather, Durrell,
Loti), and popular psychological insights into self-awareness through travel (Dikman,
Kottler) were explored to determine patterns in personal growth.
Travel and Study Abroad
Study abroad can be an extraordinary adventure in which education does not stop
when a class ends. A foreign setting exposes the student to a whole new gamut of
cultural, personal, and developmental experiences that open new perspectives. These
dialectical points of view can help in understanding political and economic issues, career
selection, and interpersonal issues (Howard, 1988). Travel also enables one to bring new
insights and visions to the people encountered along the way.
20
Self-Awareness Through Travel
Travel is one method to turn our dreams into reality and increase self-awareness
in a fully immersed setting. Steve Zikman (1999) provided a good introduction to this
concept: “Travel attests to our will, our determinations to push the boundaries of our
spirit. Travel is the lifeline to our inner passion, to the life that lies within us all” (p. 28).
Literary figure Lawrence Durrell (1957) described the process of personal growth
and introspection through travel in his book Bitter Lemons as follows: Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will—whatever we may think. They flower spontaneously out of the demands of our natures—and the best of them lead us not only outwards in space, but inwards as well. Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection. (p. 15)
Travel journalist Pico Iyer (1998) made a simple, but profound statement about
why we travel: “We travel, initially, to lose ourselves, and we travel, next, to find
ourselves” (p. 32). He further stated that one of the joys of travel is leaving beliefs and
certainties at home, and seeing everything anew, in a different and sometimes distorted
light. Iyer related Harvard philosopher George Santayana’s theory that travel is work
(travail), where we put ourselves into situations of potential hazard in order to sharpen
our lives, and are compelled for a moment to work desperately to resolve new issues, no
matter what they are. This stress on work as a transformative experience is what
separates the tourist, who simply views differences from afar, and the traveler or
sojourner, who strives to be a part of, and understand, new situations. Iyer reminded us
of Proust’s statement that the real voyage of discovery is not in seeing new places, but in
seeing things with new eyes (new perceptions). Thus travel spins us around in two ways at once. It shows us sights and values and issues we ordinarily might ignore, but it also, and more deeply,
21
shows us all the parts of ourselves that might otherwise grow rusty. For in traveling to a truly foreign place, we inevitably travel to moods and states of mind and hidden inward passages that we’d otherwise seldom have cause to visit. . . . We travel, then, in search of both self and anonymity—and in finding the one we apprehend the other. (p. 34)
Historical Grand Tour
The English developed the international “Grand Tour” in the 18th century,
considered a necessity for university graduates to polish and refine their classroom
education and prepare for life in the business world. “The wanderings of young
Englishmen across Europe in their quest for artistic and intellectual enlightenment . . .
acquired a fixed pattern; and for the next hundred years and more that pattern was to
remain unchanged, making a deep and ineradicable imprint on cultural life” (Norwich,
1987, p. 5). After the Napoleon Wars in 1815, travel ceased to be limited to the upper
classes, and middle-class young adults followed the exotic roads of the European and
Asian continents (Black, 1997). By 1820 women joined their ranks, among them
Mariana Starke, who wrote one of the first guidebooks for travel in 1840, published by
John Murray as Murray’s Handbooks. Appreciative descriptions of natural beauty were
included along with the details of language, art, and architectural sites of interest. Karl
Baedeker (1899, 1911) later wrote a similar series of handbooks, popular with British,
American, and German travelers. His books became essential travel accouterments.
During the last half of the 19th century, Americans began taking their own
“Grand Tours” in the form of extended vacations. These usually began with a 7- to 10-
day ocean voyage from New York to a port in Europe, and then continued via sea or land.
In 1867, Mark Twain began one of the most elegant of these tours, a 12-month voyage
from New York to Europe and the Holy Land, along with 500 other passengers. In
typical Twain fashion he sent sarcastically humorous journal notes back to a newspaper
in San Francisco, which he later outlined in his book The Innocents Abroad. These tours
22
were little more than insulated visual feasts during which the tourists did not socialize
with members of the host country, nor did they attempt to understand their cultures. The
travelers took along their Baedeker Handbooks, and kept each other “informed” while
rushing between architectural sites. Twain (1911) described a fellow traveler: “He reads
a chapter in the guide-books, mixes the facts all up, and then goes off to inflict the whole
mess on somebody” (p. 57). Yet, despite this insulation and aloof behavior, some
personal growth did occur. “Day by day we lose some of our restlessness and absorb
some of the spirit of quietude of the people. We grow wise apace. We begin to
comprehend what life is for” (p. 57). Summarizing, Twain stated that “travel is fatal to
prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. . . . Broad, wholesome, charitable views of
men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth” (p.
407).
In An American Sculptor on the Grand Tour Couper (1986) described the
adventures of Anglo-American artists going abroad to study or work in the 19th century.
This travel was necessitated by a scarcity of marble and other artist materials in the
United States, and because experienced European craftsmen (who were not available at
home) were needed to carve copies of works into marble. Personal letters of the artists
revealed that some emotional learning took place beyond the apprentice setting, despite
financial sheltering by parents and patrons that sponsored such trips. Sculptor William
Couper wrote in a letter his family in Norfolk, Virginia, on arrival in Germany in 1874:
“I tell you it is a dazed position to be placed in not being able to speak, not knowing how
to count your money, and the whole amount in knowing nothing” (p. 11).
Although first encounters initiated experiential, transformative learning, the artist
colonies tended to live in self-isolated groups, and thus they avoided becoming fully
adapted to the new country. By doing this they were also able to romanticize the culture
in their works, as seen in the poem “De Gustibus” by Robert Browning (1855):
23
Open my heart and you will see Graved inside of it, “Italy”
In 1902, when Willa Cather was only 28, her writing career had not yet begun.
She was a schoolteacher in Pittsburgh and decided to take a trip to Europe. The
impressions and discoveries she encountered were major confrontations, and they
influenced her for life, growing in intensity and depth throughout her future writing. In
the context of travel she experienced the pleasure of dwelling in surroundings enriched
by the past, which had an immediate and powerful appeal. She kept a journal during this
revelatory travel. This trip opened up new ideas and multiple choices of the direction and
types of people she would later write about. In one paragraph she stated that “constant
comparisons are the stamp of the foreigner; one continually translates manners and
customs of a new country into the terms of his own, before he can fully comprehend
them” (Cather, 1956/1988, p. 9).
Although technology, ease of travel and changes in those cultures that have
incorporated Western standards of dress and behavior may have diluted the variety of
experiences, the process of international travel still has immense value for personal
insight and growth. Studies in the 1960s concentrated on the effects of social patterns of
behavior, personality traits, interaction, background, and situational factors related to
intercultural adjustment and communication for the international traveler (Brein &
David, 1971). Much of this research design was derived from case studies on volunteers
in the Peace Corps.
Hearing too much about a destination can possibly deter one’s interest in traveling
there. Travel writer Paul Theroux (1996) mentioned that he had not bothered to visit
Europe precisely because such a trip had always been regarded as “The Grand Tour,” a
formulated search for wisdom and experience. He preferred to travel to less common
24
destinations. But, “because I had not been to any of these Mediterranean places I had
vigorous and unshakable prejudices, and those prejudices amused me and kept me from
wanting to visit the places. . . . But then—it is so funny about travel—I would go to a
place that everyone had been [sic] written about and it was as though I was seeing
something entirely new” (p. 9). Soon we will discover that it was his internal perspective
and views that were changing, regardless of the external influences from the
environment! That is why every new place that is visited appears personally unique to
the traveler.
Study Abroad Research
According to Wallace (1999), the primary objective of an educational program
abroad should be the psychological growth of the participant, where the student gains
self-respect and a broader world-view (p. 22). Although Goodwin and Nacht (1988)
stated that there is no evidence that persons with international experience will be more
enlightened on foreign policies, it “seems likely that they will” (p. 20). They noted that
college students reported the overseas experience changed them in unimaginable ways!
Apart from improving global knowledge foreign travel also provided a perceptual
distance with which to appreciate one’s native culture. Goodwin and Nacht described a
gestalt change whereby students become “more mature, sophisticated, hungry for
knowledge, culturally aware, and sensitive. They learn by questioning their prejudices
and all national stereotypes” (p. 12). Gary Weaver (1994) suggested possible reasons: Giving up inappropriate behaviors, adjusting one’s hierarchy of values, developing new ways of solving problems, and adopting new roles involve going through a period of self-doubt, disorientation, and personal examination of one’s values and beliefs. From this perspective, the so-called ‘symptoms’ of culture shock are simply the ‘growing pains’ that lead to the development of new skills and ways of perceiving the world, greater flexibility in dealing with life’s problems, an enhanced self-awareness, and increased self-confidence. (p. 236)
25
Pascarella and Terenzini (1991) suggested that the mission of colleges has
surpassed the cognitive and intellectual development of students, and now includes
education toward self-understanding, expansion of interests, reduction of narrow-
mindedness, moral development, preparation for employment and membership in society,
and enhancement of quality of life. Much study abroad research examines (a) identity
status, (b) ego development, (c) academic skills, (d) social self-concept, and (e) self-
esteem (p. 162).
Although this dissertation does not address the content or administration of study
abroad programs, concentrating instead on the psychological change and personal
transformation that such programs may generate, it is interesting to note the perceived
academic and social goals. Goodwin and Nacht (1988, p. 9) outlined the objectives as
follows:
1. A finishing school and Grand Tour
2. Broadening of the intellectual elite
3. Internationalizing the educated population
4. Fulfillment of an institutional mission
5. Exploration of roots
6. Mastery of a foreign language
7. The world as laboratory
8. Self-knowledge
9. Learning from others
10. Improvement of international relations
26
Numerous texts cite reasons for travel and study abroad. Initially, language
proficiency was one of the main reasons for students to spend time in a foreign country,
but with increased international influence in business, education, and politics the
emphasis is changing. Swinger (1985, pp. 9-11) listed ten benefits of travel:
1. Personal flexibility: Individuals will grow in their ability to accept
differences, tolerance for varying lifestyles, different approaches to problems, and
cultural differences in time and family relationships.
2. Political awareness: News filtered through the media of the host country
shows a new outlook on the politics of the home country.
3. Ambassadorial role: All travelers are representatives of their own country.
4. Recognizing worldwide homogenization: Recognizing the transfer of popular
consumer products between countries.
5. Decentering: Ordinary daily chores and interacting with people are seen in a
new light.
6. Contributing to intercultural understanding: Sharing knowledge about the
home country with the host country and vice versa.
7. Understanding cultural roots: Travelers seek out their ethnic heritage and thus
better understand how their own practices and attitudes developed.
8. Discovering art and architecture: Dwellings, museums, art, shops, and public
buildings reflect the knowledge and views of host countries.
9. Enhancing career opportunities. Firsthand experience and the ability to
communicate with people from other countries are marketable assets in the increasing
global economy.
10. Language practice: Opportunity to practice and become more fluent in a
foreign language and increase cultural understanding.
27
Peter Adler (1975) stated that a successful cross-cultural experience should result
in changes in personality and identity through new awareness of values, attitudes, and
understanding. He proposed a transitional experience model of experiential learning that
is both prescriptive of change, as well as descriptive. The experience involved
movement from a lower state of cultural awareness to a higher state.
Researchers agree that measurement and analysis of the effects of study abroad
are difficult (Kauffmann, 1983; Sell, 1983; Brein, 1971; Bennett, 1986; Kelley & Myers,
1995). Deborah Sell (1983) outlined the possible reasons for lack of consistency in the
results: (a) loosely structured experimental design, (b) infrequent follow-up, (c) lack of
an established theoretical base, and (d) lack of consensus concurring what to measure
(p. 141). She outlined a number of studies that are included in Table 2.1, along with the
results from other extant research.
Initial study abroad research concentrated on culture shock (Oberg, 1960) but
later emphasis was placed on communication and cognitive skills. Detweiler introduced
the concept of categorizing, concluding that people who think in broad terms are more
likely to be successful in cross-cultural adaptation. It was also discovered that those
travelers who experienced higher stress during transition and interaction with the host
country (but remained in the program) had the greatest gain in personal growth (Kelley &
Meyers, 1995).
One point of confusion has been the use of ambiguous, nonspecific terminology,
such as the interchangeable use of the terms adjustment, adaptation, and effectiveness.
Table 2.1 lists those traits that have been found to change through a study abroad
experience. The results were placed in a best-fit category based on loosely defined
terminology.
Asako Uehara (1986) reported that university students who had returned from a
study abroad program had changed their relationships with old friends; changed views on
28
gender roles, dress, and individualism; changed goals and achievement behavior; formed
different views on global issues; and gained an increased awareness of both home and
foreign cultures. Uehara used a retrospective study to compare student surveys from 58
overseas sojourners to 74 domestic travelers, matched by age and status. Increased self-
awareness and cultural awareness were directly proportional. Students noted that they
had learned more about themselves through the foreign sojourn, and that both the travel
and the reentry process provided opportunities for growth.
29
Table 2.1 Synopsis of Study Abroad and Travel Research
This table outlines the positive benefits of study abroad that have been determined through various research projects. The traits summarized below were placed in a “best fit” category. The definitions were diverse, and may not be an exact match.
TRAIT RESEARCH
Gain in Self-Perception, Maturity, and Self-Concept
Abrams*** (1979) Bates (1998) Carsello and Greiser* (1976) Davies* (1974) Garraty & Adams*** (1959) Hoeh and Spuck* (1975) Kennedy (1994) Leonard* (1959) Nash (1975) Richardson (1996) Stauffer* (1973) Uehara (1986)
Developed New Interests Carsello and Greiser* (1976) Garraty & Adams*** (1959) James* (1976) Pelowski* (1979) Wallace (1999)
Developed New Attitudes and Values Billigmeier & Forman* (1975) Burnham, Tudler, & Adams* (1966) Kauffmann (1983) Leonard* (1959) Pace* (1959) Pfnister* (1979) Pyle* (1981) Richardson (1996) Smith* (1970) Thomlison (1991) Uehara (1986)
Gain in Cross-Cultural Understanding, Diverse Policies, Expanded World View
Abrams*** (1979) Bates (1998) Burnham, Tudler, & Adams* (1966) Coelho** (1962)
30
Deutsch** (1970) Garraty & Adams*** (1959) Gurman et al. (1990) Gwynne (1981) Hensley and Price* (1977) Hutchins (1996) Kauffmann (1983) Marion* (1974) Pace* (1959) Richardson (1996) Sanford** (1962) Stauffer* (1973) Thomlison (1991) Uehara (1986) Wallace (1999)
Greater Tolerance, Empathy Baker**** (1983) Gurman et al. (1990) Hensley and Price* (1977) Kauffmann (1983) Leonard* (1959) Marion*** (1980) Pace* (1959) Pfnister* (1972) Pfnister* (1979) Sell** (1983) Stauffer* (1973) Thomlison (1991)
Increased Self-Esteem Bates (1998) Hensley and Price* (1977) Hensley and Sell* (1979) Hutchins (1996) James* (1976) Kauffmann (1983) Nash (1975) Pfnister* (1979)
Greater Autonomy, Independence, Confidence
Baker**** (1983) Billigmeier and Forman* (1975) Hutchins (1996) James* (1976) Kauffmann (1983) Nash (1975)
31
Pelowski* (1979) Pfnister* (1979) Pyle* (1981)
Changes/Success in Academic Pursuits, Intellectual Growth or Career Goals
Abrams** (1960) Baker**** (1983) Burnham, Tudler, & Adams* (1966) Hutchins (1996) James* (1976) Nafziger (1996) Wallace (1999)
Increased Social and Interpersonal Skills Abrams*** (1979) Baker **** (1983) Gurman et al. (1990) James* (1976) Kauffmann (1983) McGuigan** (1984) Pelowski* (1979) Pfnister* (1979) Thomlison (1991)
Decreased Interest in Material Possessions Pfnister* (1979) * Cited in Kauffmann, N. L. (1983). ** Cited in Carlson, et al. (1990). *** Cited in Sell, D. K. (1983). **** Cited in Thomlison, T. D. (1991)
Hansel (1985) studied high school students who attended homestay programs
abroad and found change occurred on 10 of the 17 factors examined. The five areas of
greatest change were: (1) awareness and appreciation of host country, (2) foreign
language acquisition, (3) understanding other cultures, (4) international awareness, and
(5) adaptability.
Baker (1983; cited in Thomlison, 1991) found that college students from Brigham
Young University who participated in semester abroad programs had significant new
knowledge in the areas of international affairs, appreciation of other cultures, awareness
of home culture, communication skills, self-confidence, and interest in new subjects.
32
Hannigan (1990) listed the skills that lead to cross-cultural effectiveness as
cultural empathy, ability to form and maintain relationships, ability to deal with
psychological stress, communication skills, and a nonjudgmental attitude. Constructs
listed as negative traits were dependent anxiety, rigidity, ethnocentrism, task-related
behavior, perfectionism, narrow-mindedness, and self-centered behavior (p. 93).
Colleen Kelley and Judith Meyers (1995), developers of the Cross-Cultural
Adaptability Inventory (CCAI), analyzed research related to predicting study abroad
success and the constructs of cross-cultural adaptation. Intercultural effectiveness was
most commonly defined as (a) open-mindedness to new ideas and experiences, (b)
intercultural empathy, (c) accurate perception of similarities and differences between
cultures, (d) nonjudgmental opinions, (e) astute, noncritical observation of one’s own
behavior, (f) the ability to establish meaningful relationships with host-culture persons,
and (g) minimal ethnocentrism (Dinges, as cited in Kelley & Meyers, 1995, p. 7). The
CCAI assesses pre-travelers on four components: emotional resilience, flexibility and
openness, perceptual acuity, and personal autonomy. These factors were derived from a
normative sample, literature review, and expert opinion.
Heather Brown (1998) performed a longitudinal study on 181 undergraduate
students who attended a study abroad program. Of important note is the result that pre-
departure measures of learned helplessness did not predict higher psychological stress
abroad. This underscores the need to use evaluations only for pretraining in weak areas,
but not as selection tools for potential success overseas.
Norm Kauffmann (1983) documented study abroad research that revealed how
this experience impacts personality change. He outlined six studies that used validated
instruments to measure change, and 12 studies that used specially designed instruments.
Only studies that documented change were included; those that did not report significant
change were omitted. It is interesting that the majority of research projects used
33
internally designed instruments. Table 2.1 outlines the traits that were identified by
numerous study abroad research projects. The degree of corroboration is affected by the
intent of the research, as not all studies measured all traits. Also, different research tools
were used, the study abroad programs were varied, trait definitions were nonstandard,
and the tested groups were not demographically homogeneous, so a true meta-analysis is
not possible. But, the change in traits noted indicates an implied relationship to a general
study abroad experience, especially where similar traits have been measured in multiple
studies.
The longitudinal study on The Impact of Study Abroad on Personality Change by
Kauffmann (1983) was one of the most extensive projects undertaken, with 126 study
abroad participants and 90 control participants. All were from three medium-sized
religious-affiliated liberal arts colleges in the Midwest. They were given a pretest and
two posttests. The semester abroad group showed the most change in three dimensions:
(1) changed world-view; (2) increased interest in the welfare of others; and (3) greater
intrapersonal development (self-esteem, confidence, independence). In his conclusions,
Kauffmann stated: Even though this study documented changes in personality functioning that persisted after one year, the real value of the SST experience may be more appropriately assessed after the participants have had a chance to reflect on the college experience . . . and after initial experiences in the world of work. (p. 151)
Jessie Glenora Kennedy (1994) expressed the same ideas when she stated that
“further research is needed to better understand the relationship been [sic] developmental
processes and levels and the cross-cultural learning experience” (p. 5). Kennedy
undertook a research project on the transformational experience of sojourning. She
collected insights from 25 cross-cultural sojourners through interviews and surveys to
34
formulate descriptive models of the transformational learning process, believing the keys
to be level of cognitive development, reflection, and dialogue. Her own experience
living in Latvia for three months produced a personal change in self-image, world-view,
and values that were emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Kennedy outlined six factors
she believed are important to the cross-cultural learning environment and adaptation
process:
1. Purpose of the sojourn: Vacation, business, or education
2. Communication: Language , written, non-verbal, mass communication skills
3. Temporal aspects: Length of stay, time of year, time in history
4. Environmental setting: Physical, economic, political, social, technological
5. Human interactions: Intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual; in a setting from deep to superficial
6. Spatial aspects: Interpersonal, private, public
Key findings on whether a sojourner had a transformative learning experience
were: (a) one’s personality type and learning style were not determinates, (b) one’s level
of ego development and learning were determinates, and (c) transformational learning
occurs regardless of the reason for travel or length of stay. Kennedy (1994) summarized
the importance of international travel as a transformational learning experience as
follows: Increased travel and growing global economies provide an opportunity and a challenge for personal growth and development. Multicultural, multi-methodological, and multidisciplinary research will help to more fully understand this learning opportunity. If taken, the opportunity can help transform individuals, organizations and societies. (p. iii)
35
Marsha Hutchins (1996) surveyed six alumni from an international study tour
regarding how this experience impacted perceptions, professional growth, and personal
development. Data collection included interviews, focus groups, and tour diaries. Key
factors of experiential change were the maturity of the student, participation in multiple
tours, minority situation in host country, destination, level of immersion, and focus of the
tour. In contrast, Kauffmann et al. (1992) noted that the less mature students on a study
abroad program were the ones to gain the most in personal growth. Perhaps these
differences were related to pretraining, administrative features, and program content.
Thomlison (1991) was one of the few researchers to study the differences in the
cross-cultural experience across gender. He administered a retrospective survey to 174
students from 34 different American colleges across the country who had participated in
a study abroad program in England. Particular emphasis was placed on differences
factored by the characteristics of gender and amount of additional travel. Using chi-
square cross-tabulations for 45 variables, he found nine items on that were significant
between how males and females responded. Females differed in the areas of: (1) concern
about nuclear warheads in Europe, (2) strengthened values, (3) lessened stereotypes, (4)
appreciation of the American system of education, (5) concern for international terrorism,
(6) greater awareness of policies and life in the U.S., (7) interest in world issues, (8)
changed eating habits, and (9) interest in social concerns (hunger, etc.) (p. 25). He goes
on to state that “more research on gender is needed to isolate differences in how a study-
abroad experience affects attitudes, beliefs, interests, awareness levels, [and] values” (p.
42).
Cushner, McClelland, and Safford (1992) analyzed research topics in the areas of
intercultural interaction. They summarized these into three main categories, with
subcategories as shown below:
36
1. Emotional experiences: Anxiety, disconfirmed expectations, belonging, ambiguity, and confrontation with one’s prejudices.
2. Knowledge areas: Work, time, space, language, roles, importance of the group versus the individual, rituals and superstitions, and social hierarchies—class values.
3. Basis of cultural differences: Categorization, differentiation, ingroup-outgroup distinctions, learning styles, and attribution. (p. 41)
Dennison Nash (1975) compared 41 students who traveled to France for a year
abroad with 32 French language students who stayed in a domestic program. Both
groups were surveyed during the year, and were retested again one year after the program
ended. Findings showed differences for the study abroad group in three areas: (1)
increased autonomy, (2) greater differentiation of self, and (3) greater interest in
international affairs.
Gurman (1990) implemented a retrospective survey of 200 men and women after
their return from a summer abroad program. Results revealed that students perceived a
gain in appreciation of cultural diversity, the importance of cooperation, and
understanding the interdependence of nations. The primary goal of the study was to
determine student perceptions about the program and identify factors that may have
influenced these perceptions. As would be expected in Oberg’s U-curve, students arrived
in London with high expectations, then certain factors altered these attitudes as they
began to deal with day-to-day realities. One interesting negative experience, and one not
often mentioned, was that many students reported homesickness (mean = 3.4 on a five-
point Likert scale). This correlated directly with lack of mail from home and
experiencing financial difficulties (Gurman et al., 1990, p. 582).
An interesting comment about adaptation was made by psychologist Robert Kohls
(1986), in the introduction to Cross-Cultural Reentry: A Book of Readings: “When I first
37
went through culture shock, we were still calling it ‘homesickness,’ although even at the
time I knew I was going through something far more serious than longing for my loved
ones” (p. xix). Despite this formal scientific label, culture shock is still “a phenomenon
that had likely been around since prehistoric humans first moved across this planet.”
In conclusion, Table 2.1 summarizes the findings of many diverse study abroad
research projects. These studies are used to show trends in personal growth.
Measurement Techniques
There are many ways to measure differences and change, and each method has its
advantages and shortcomings. A laboratory-controlled experimental design has high
internal validity where the dependent variable outcome is a direct function of the
independent variables in the approach being tested, but this design has low external
validity, where the results may not be applicable in the real world (McMillan &
Schumacher, 1997). People may also react differently under artificial conditions.
In the field of psychology it is critical that results have validity in normal
situations to be of use in predicting or treating behavior. Basic or applied research,
though, must also be controlled to some degree in order to determine cause and effect and
provide answers to specific questions (Levin & Hinrichs, 1995; Tuckman, 1978). Thus,
psychologists often use quasi-experimental quantitative, correlational, or qualitative
design methodology.
Measuring behavior and personality differences/change due to a condition that
occurs over time (developmental study) requires either a longitudinal study using the
same participants, who are tested and later retested, or a quasi-longitudinal correlational
study using closely matched or randomly assigned participants in a control group who are
demographically similar (McMillan & Schumacher, 1997). Even when the same
participants are used the results can be misleading. Problems are associated with this
38
design because it requires: (a) patience and persistence in tracking participants; (b) the
possibility of considerable sample attrition; (c) diverse measurement and interpretation of
change scores; (d) control of regression effects; (e) control of reliability from ceiling and
floor effects of test instrument; and (f) control of other influencing variables (Kauffmann,
1983; McMillan & Schumacher, 1997).
The quasi-experimental design attempts to use true experimental procedures, but
in a naturalistic setting, by systematically eliminating alternative explanations (Levin &
Hinrichs, 1995, p. 255). Inferences may be made about causal relationships based on
interrupted time-series testing on the same participants, or based on retrospective data
from comparable control groups in a posttest-only design. McMillan and Schumacher
(1997) stated that the posttest-only control group design is useful in situations where
pretesting is unfeasible, or where this might have an effect on the treatment. They
outlined the potential disadvantages of such a design: (a) lack of a pretest makes it
difficult to control or check for group differences; (b) special subgroups cannot be
formed to test specific parameters based on the results of the pretest; (c) it is not possible
to determine whether differential attrition has occurred; (d) statistical analysis is less
precise and less likely to show a difference between the experimental and control groups;
and (e) effects of maturation may be a factor on the results. The advantages of a posttest-
only design are noted as it: (1) allows experimental research when pretesting is not
possible, (2) avoids the reactive effect of pretesting, and (3) helps to ensure anonymity
(pp. 334-336).
In retrospective research, or ex post facto design, the researcher examines the
effects of a naturally occurring treatment after it has occurred rather than creating an
artificial treatment (Tuckman, 1978). Thus, the independent variable (treatment) is
determined by selection of participants rather than by manipulation. Through careful
selection of homogeneous experimental and comparative control groups, preexisting
39
differences, potential extraneous variables, and rival hypotheses can be limited to help
ensure external validity and strengthen the confidence of the results (McMillan &
Schumacher, 1997).
Theories of Cognitive, Moral, and Ego Development
Psychological development has been explained by a number of theories.
Psychologists who believe that change is directed by the genes (nature - nativists) put
more emphasis on genetic makeup and biological progression toward maturity. Those
who believe that the environment is the primary influence (nurture - empiricists) stress
the role of learning. Interactionists emphasize both heredity and environment and the
dependency between these two factors (Santrock, 1997). Constructivists go a step further
and state that individuals play an active role in their own development, voluntarily and
internally directing change (Moshman, 1999).
For purposes of this research some better-known theories of cognitive, moral, and
ego development will be outlined and contrasted along a gradual process of the life span.
An eclectic theoretical orientation that utilizes ideas from many sources is important in
exploring the complexity of adult development. Comparisons of early developmental
traits to later regressive behavior observed in the adult years will assist in the
understanding of growth through environmental change and positive regression.
It was previously believed that development ended in the late teens, but there is
growing evidence to suggest that young adults (ages 18-25) undergo a distinct period of
change. According to Arnett (2000), “emerging adulthood exists only in cultures that
allow young people a prolonged period of independent role exploration during the late
teens and twenties” (p. 469). The focus is on three main areas of identity exploration:
love, work, and world-view. In both love and work there is a similar contrast between
the transient and tentative explorations of adolescence toward the more serious, focused,
40
and intimate explorations of early adulthood. World-views are modified during the
college years, based on a questioning of childhood beliefs and exposure to new global
ideas. But the goals of identity exploration are not limited to direct preparation for adult
roles. They are, in part, explorations for their own sake, focused on obtaining a broad
range of life experiences before taking on more restrictive adult responsibilities:
“Emerging adults may also travel to a different part of the country or the world on their
own for a limited period. . . . This too can be part of their identity explorations, part of
expanding their range of personal experiences prior to making the more enduring choices
of adulthood” (p. 474).
In an attempt to explain adult postformal reasoning, Michael Basseches (1986a)
discussed a theory of dialectics that proposes the following: when people are faced with
competing points of view (nature vs. nurture) they formulate new perspectives (synthesis)
that go beyond just combining the two (interactionism). This new synthesis, when
challenged with the constructivist concept that knowledge is constructed, leads to an even
more complex synthesis. Dialectical reasoning provides a rational definition of adult
complex cognition that extends beyond the logical structure of Piaget’s formal
operations.
Development, as outlined by Santrock (1997), consists of biological, cognitive,
and socioemotional processes. These are interrelated, and influenced by maturation and
experience (nature and nurture), continuity versus discontinuity, and stability versus
change. Maturation is the orderly sequence of changes that are triggered by our genetic
blueprint, while nurture refers to the influences of the environment. Some theorists view
development as a gradual, continuous process (continuity), while others stress distinct
stages in the life span (discontinuity). The stability-change concept describes the degree
to which one becomes an older version of an earlier self or evolves into someone
distinctly different. King (1989) noted that research across theoretical domains shows
41
positive correlation between moral, ego, and intellectual development. Moreover,
Loevinger (1976) stated that moral development is one aspect of ego development.
Sigmund Freud (1917) developed a psychoanalytic theory of personality based on
three structures: (a) the id, which consists of instinctive reactions, (b) the ego, whereby
one makes rational decisions based on the demands of reality, and (c) the superego, that
takes into account the morality of right or wrong (conscience). When conflicts arise
between these three areas, the individual deals with the resulting anxiety through the
defense mechanism of repression, distorting and pushing perceptions back into the
unconscious mind. Freud stated that adult personalities are determined by the way that
psychosexual conflicts (oral, anal, and genital) are resolved. When conflicts are
repressed, one becomes fixated at a particular stage of development.
By contrast, Erik Erikson (1964, 1968) believed people developed along
psychosocial stages. He defined eight task-oriented stages from infancy through old age
that included the importance of culture and history. According to Stevens-Long (1984)
Erikson’s dialectic theory is important for two reasons: (a) He emphasized the mutual
importance of biological, personal, cultural, and historical influences on the individual,
and (b) he proposed that all growth proceeds from conflict, defining each stage of
development in terms of a unique crisis. Erikson’s stages include:
1. Basic trust vs. mistrust – Stage at infancy resolving security (hope)
2. Autonomy versus shame and doubt – Stage at early childhood resolving self-control (will)
3. Initiative versus guilt – Stage at play, resolving superego responsibility (sharing)
4. Industry versus inferiority – Stage at school resolving working relationships (competency and self-esteem)
5. Identity versus role confusion – Stage at adolescence resolving continuity of self (fidelity)
42
6. Intimacy versus isolation – Stage at young adulthood resolving ego loss and identity fusion (love)
7. Generativity versus stagnation – Stage at maturity resolving leaving a legacy for next generation (care)
8. Integrity versus despair – Stage at old age resolving one’s personal contribution to the world (wisdom).
Jean Piaget (1969) investigated the cognitive development of the child. He
stressed that individuals understand their world through organization and adaptation.
Piaget defined four stages: (a) Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years); (b) Preoperational (2 to 7
years); (c) Concrete Operational (7 to 12 years); and (d) Formal Operational (12 to 20
years). Some adults never attain the fourth stage, which includes the ability to think in a
hypothetical-deductive or abstract manner.
Kohlberg (1984) defined six progressive stages of moral development that are
neither innate nor learned, but constructed in a succession of cognitive structures to
resolve conflicts from previous ways of thinking. These stages include: (1)
Heteronomous Morality–Following externally imposed rules; (2) Individualism and
Exchange–Respect for the rights of others to pursue their own interests; (3) Mutual
Expectations–The consideration of multiple perspectives in social relationships; (4)
Social System–Moral determinations are made from the perspective of society as a
whole; (5) Social Contract–Postconventional reasoning that transcends any particular
culture and utilizes cross-cultural analysis; and (6) Universal Ethical Principles–A type of
meta-ethical evaluation and justification of moral issues, usually found in law or
theology, but beyond common human reasoning. According to Tappan (1997), morality
is not a universal concept but is dependent on words, language, and sociocultural
discourse found in the environment.
43
There are critical periods in psychological development during which
environmental and cultural influences have major impact and leave permanent traces. If
missed, certain traits may never be fully developed (Cavalli-Sforza, 1995). One such
example is language acquisition in early life. After puberty, a newly studied foreign
language is almost never fully mastered.
In her book Ego Development: Conceptions and Theories, Jane Loevinger (1976)
compared a number of theories using impressionistic descriptions of the progression of
sequences. She is clear that these are not genetic stages (each sequence applies to a wide
range of ages and may have overlapping traits) and stresses that each transition not be
numbered, since that precludes future modifications (p. 14). In order to simplify
comparison and discussion, her ten sequences are identified in Table 2.3 using capital
letters.
Augusto Blasi (noted in Loevinger, 1976) stated it is difficult to define and
describe developmental stages, because (a) there is not a one-to-one relationship between
behaviors and traits or dispositions, (b) no task is reflective of a specific ego level, and
(c) all kinds of development occur simultaneously (p. 183). Strict stage theorists have
simplified the steps of the developmental process as a means of clarifying discussion, but
Perry (1977) warned that “all who have read their diaries ten years back know that
development is not linear” (p. 51). He proposed a metaphor of growth that resembles a
helix, where the same ground is traversed at higher levels and from broader perspectives.
Csikszentmihalyi (1993) mirrored this concept by describing life-cycle development as
an ascending spiral alternating between turning attention inward then outward (p. 235).
Identity and Self-Esteem
According to Moshman (1998), identity formation involves the consideration of
multiple potential selves and the consequent commitment to a particular conception of
44
oneself. Cognitive development involves the ability to systematically generate new
frameworks that are not direct extensions of reality and to use hypothetical-deductive
reasoning to infer the consequences of such possibilities. Thus, cognitive development is
important in the construction of identity. Alan Waterman (1992) defined identity
formation as a process of discovery rather than one of construction: A person’s search for identity is an effort to identify those potentials that correspond to the ‘true’ self.’ . . . According to the discovery metaphor, for each person there are potentials, already present though unrecognized, that need to become manifest and acted upon if the person is to live a fulfilled life. (p. 59)
Popular literature suggests the same concept, as reflected in T.S. Eliot’s poem,
(1943, 1971), “Four Quartets”: We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. . . . Not known, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea. (p. 145)
And from Herman Hesse’s (1925) story Demian: Every man is more than just himself: he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world’s phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man’s story is important, eternal, sacred; that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfills the will of nature, is wondrous. . . . But each of us—experiments of the depths—strives toward his own destiny. (p. 2)
James Marcia (1980) saw identity formation as involving both discovery and
creation. He noted that there are situations that feel right and others where people feel
out of sync. Things can be constructed or just thrust upon one’s experience.
45
Travel writer Pico Iyer (1989) defined identity metaphorically as home—not a
physical place but the role and self we choose to occupy. He reported, “I left one kind of
home to find another: to discover what resided in me and where I resided most fully, and
so to better appreciate—in both senses of the word—the home I had left” (p. 9).
Several developmental theorists, including neo-Freudians H. S. Sullivan, Karen
Horney, and Erik Fromm, mentioned self-esteem as a significant factor in personal
growth, but only Alfred Adler used it as the central theme. He was more concerned,
though, with its implications in therapy. Erik Erikson mentioned self-esteem indirectly in
his theories.
Sociologist G. H. Mead (1934) defined the process of developing self-esteem as
follows: individuals internalize the ideas and attitudes of key figures in their immediate
environment, observe their actions and attitudes, adopt these actions (sometimes
unknowingly), and express them as their own. This learning is true for internal attitudes
toward the self, as well as attitudes outward toward objects and others.
Isabel Myers (as cited in Bernstein, 1996) coined the term type patriotism to
represent pride in one’s individuality. Elke Bernstein (1996) noted that it is important to
follow personal preferences and develop inherent skills to become successful and build
self-confidence. If people are not allowed to “be themselves” their energy is diminished,
and they may lose esteem. This can sometimes occur when parents try to influence the
behavior or interests of their children toward the interests of the parents. By
experiencing a new environment, where old rules or restrictions do not apply, the true
self can emerge more easily. This gain in insight is one of the features of travel to
another culture—it opens new doors of opportunity and awareness of skills and interests
that may have become suppressed.
Self-attitudes may be either conscious or unconscious. The very process of
measuring or identifying an attitude may cause an individual to become aware of a
46
predisposition for the first time. Stanley Coopersmith (1967) measured self-esteem in
terms of a child’s reaction to failure, confidence in a new situation, sociability with peers,
and the need for encouragement and reassurance. Positive esteem is related to (a)
aspirations and expectations, (b) selectivity of perception and memory, (c) constancy and
independence of judgment, and (d) ability to tolerate and deal with adversity (p. 15). The
concept of “self” is formed through an individual’s personal observations and the
reactions of others to one’s attitudes, appearance, and performance. There is no a priori
opinion that exists separate from that formed through personal experience: As with any abstraction, selectivity results in certain attributes being excluded and others being overemphasized. The self—that is, the object a person regards himself to be—is thus selectively weighted according to the individual’s abstraction of the common features of his personal experiences. Although the idea of the self is open to change and alteration, it appears to be relatively resistant to such changes. Once established it apparently provides a sense of personal continuity over space and time, and is defended against alteration, diminution, and insult. . . . The concept of self is thus multidimensional, with the different dimensions reflecting both the diversity of experience, attributes, and capacity and different emphases in the process of abstraction. (Coopersmith, 1967, p. 21)
Over one-half of the words in any language have evaluative connotations. Thus,
self-reported attitudes are a common feature of subjective experience and useful as a
basis of nomothetic generalization. These attitudes are associated with positive and
negative affective states that can influence motivation. To increase self-esteem
individuals might model after persons who effectively handle anxiety, resolve
ambiguities, and make decisions. Multicultural experiences contain such models:
“Providing advantageous behavioral alternatives in their specific expression is a more
parsimonious procedure than waiting for their self-discovery” (Coopersmith, 1967, p.
263).
47
Self-esteem can be achieved in many ways: for Sigmund Freud it was through
physical pleasure; for Harry Sullivan through security of social status; for Alfred Adler
through the quest for power, perfection, and social interests; and for Abraham Maslow
through self-actualization, the degree in which humans are able to find their true selves.
Bernstein (1996) pointed out that once we are aware of our interests and see our less
preferred functions, instead of focusing on the problems that may result from dealing
within these boundaries, we could make a conscious effort to compensate for them.
Postformal Adult Development: Relativism and Dialectics
Jean Piaget’s theories of the cognitive structure of formal operations reached an
end point in adolescence. Many researchers question this early terminus of development
and have postulated new theories of postformal operations into the adult years. This
section reviews some of the more popular models.
Benack and Basseches (1989) reported that the development of postformal
cognition is characterized by a shift from dualistic to relativistic epistemology. At the
formal level people believe that knowledge is absolute and independent of the subject. In
the postformal view, truth is seen as relative (metasystemic) to the perspective from
which one evaluates it. Irwin and Sheese (1989) pointed out that two important forms of
logic are dialectic and relativistic. The first (dialectic) was proposed by Klaus Riegel
(1973) and expanded by Michael Basseches (1984), while the second (relativistic) was
proposed by William Perry (1970).
Perry (1970) developed a scheme of nine stages in which the move from dualistic
thought to relativistic thought occurs between stages four and five. The dualistic and
multiplistic positions of the Perry Scheme define the various stances toward intellect,
morality, and personal identity. His theory of cognitive development contains
hierarchical structures of thought, grouped into the three distinct positions: (1) Dualism
48
– Basic duality, multiplicity prelegitimate, and multiplicity subordinate; (2) Relativism –
Multiplicity correlate or relativism subordinated, relativism correlate – competing or
diffuse, and commitment foreseen; and (3) Commitment – Initial commitment,
orientation in implications of commitment, and developing commitments. Overlaying
these nine developmental positions are three positions of deflection: Temporizing,
Escape, and Retreat (p. 57). Perry viewed development as change that is systematic,
successive, and adaptive—a gradual progression toward greater maturity and complex
thinking.
David Moshman (1999) defined an adolescent and adult stage of thinking called
epistemic metacognition—the deliberate control of one’s inferences and the conceptual
knowledge about their justifiability that transforms thinking into reasoning. One may fail
to use good reasoning due to strong identification with one’s beliefs. Jerry Cederblom
(1989) stated, “The chief drawback to identifying myself with my beliefs is that . . . this
inclines me to reject a belief that conflicts with my own, even when I have good reason to
accept it” (p. 149). Individuals who view themselves in a belief-forming process see
change not as a reflection of shortcomings, but as an affirmation of themselves as rational
agents.
Michael Basseches (1986) explained dialectical thinking as a form of cognitive
organization of “world-outlooks or views of the nature of existence (ontology) and
knowledge (epistemology). These world-outlooks share three features—emphasis on
change, wholeness, and on internal relations” (p. 33). Transformative approaches are
considered more permeable than formal approaches, and can be approached through
varied perspectives (praxiological) that may define a problem and solution in
fundamentally different ways.
When adults try to understand the world through fixed or formal assumptions they
may maintain cognitive equilibrium by sealing themselves off from unusual or alternate
49
points of view. Dialectical thinking is especially important in cognitive development
because: (a) it enables an individual to embrace global contradictions as opportunities,
especially the reasoning of other cultures who have had different experiences; and (b) it
allows one to apprehend contradictions in the social and internally personal world of
thoughts and feelings (Mines & Kitchener, 1986, p. 55).
Pedersen (1995) described the process of successfully adapting to a new culture
as a transitional experience, leading to Peter Adler’s Fifth Stage of Independence. One
builds a new identity “with an unfolding of the new self. This fifth state then is not the
end point or culmination of development but a state of dynamic tension between self and
culture that opens new perspectives. . . . The multicultural person’s identity is inclusive
rather than exclusive in appreciating both the similarities and the differences between,
among, and within cultures” (p. 246). This type of thinking, in which there is no right or
wrong but only new combinations of choice and behavior, is truly dialectic in nature.
50
Table 2.2 Comparative Theories of Development to Early Adulthood
Approx.Years
Theories/Stages/Levels
Traits
0-1 Piaget 1st: Sensorimotor and Object Permanence Freud 1st: Oral stage Erikson 1st: Trust vs. Mistrust
Perception Trust Perceptual Development Conceptual Development Information Processing Habituation and Imitation
2-3 Piaget 2nd: Preoperational - Symbolic Function Stage Erikson 2nd: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Freud 2nd: Anal stage
Egocentrism Independence Adaptability Autonomy Communication Language Scaffolding - Social rules Attachment-Temperament
4-6 Piaget 2nd: Preoperational - Intuitive Thought Erikson 3rd: Initiative vs. Guilt Freud 3rd: Phallic stage Kohlberg 1st Level: Preconventional
Intuition Heteronomous morality (set by others)
6-10 Freud 4th: Latency stage Erikson 4th: Industry vs. Inferiority Piaget 3rd: Concrete Operational - Logical Reasoning
Empathy Complexity Gender Constancy Conservation Skills Acculturation
11-14 Lazarus - Cognitive Appraisal, Coping with Events Freud 5th: Genital stage Piaget 4th: Formal Operational - Abstract Thinking Kohlberg 2nd Level: Conventional Morality
Coping Resilience Rules and standards are internalized
51
15-19 Erikson 5th: Identity vs. Identity Confusion
Kohlberg 3rd Level: Postconventional Self-Concept Identity Autonomous Morality, internalized
20-26 Erikson 6th: Intimacy vs. Isolation Marcia Riegel / Basseches Perry Kegan
Career Consolidation Dialectical Thinking Adaptive
Career Development
One of the primary identity issues of the young adult is career development—the
process of career choice and decision-making as it relates to self-concept. Selecting a
career, and developing a rewarding occupation, is a complex undertaking. In the 1990s
career stability and choice became critical life issues. Emerging adults begin to consider
how work and life experiences lay the groundwork for future jobs. They explore work
issues related to: What am I good at? What will I find satisfying for the long term? What
are the chances of getting a job that matches my skills and interests? (Arnett, 2000).
James Marcia (1980) extended Erikson’s work on identity formation to define
four stages of identity and coping styles of adolescence related to career consolidation:
(1) Diffusion–No set ideological direction or interest in exploring ideas or making
commitments; (2) Foreclosure–A commitment has been made to ideas that came directly
from parents or another authority figure, without experiencing a decision-making crisis;
(3) Moratorium–A current struggle with issues, without resolution (identity crisis); and
(4) Achievement–Moving through a period of questioning, searching, or crisis, and
arriving at a relatively firm internal commitment.
Knefelkamp and Slepitza (1976) illustrated a career exploration model. They
proposed that career counselors focus on process elements, decision-making, and life
52
span development. The counselors should seek to understand the individual’s needs,
abilities, interests, personality types, and identity factors if appropriate assistance is to
take place. They argued that a new factor, level of individual cognitive complexity used
in approaching the career task, be added to the process of career exploration. The authors
proposed nine areas of qualitative change necessary in the career model, which were
developed from the theories of Perry (1970), Kohlberg (1984), and Loevinger (1976),
among others. These include locus of control, analysis, synthesis, semantic structure,
self-processing, openness to alternative perspectives, ability to assume responsibility,
ability to take on new roles, and the ability to take risks with self (p. 54).
Young adults have a change in locus of control as they progress from an external
framework (parental advice, job market pressures, and assessment results) to internal
points of reference. Through self-processing, individuals obtain the ability to examine
themselves and become cognizant of personal factors. This skill closely parallels that of
self-analysis (Knefelkamp & Slepitza, 1976, p. 54). The factors of openness to
alternative perspectives, ability to take on new roles and ability to take self-risks are all
skills that can evolve through a cross-cultural experience. According to the authors, as
individuals enter the stages of relativism (Perry Scheme) they undergo cognitive flips.
They realize that choosing a career is a personal commitment of self. First, there is the
excitement of entering a new world of work, but then they begin to see their role as an
integration of who they are and what they believe in terms of values, purposes, and
identity. Career image and self-identity become intertwined.
Empowerment in the area of personal development has long been one of the goals
of educational and vocational counseling. Lubinski and Benbow (2000) presented the
Theory of Work Adjustment that facilitates positive exploration of career goals by
aligning learning opportunities with each individual’s salient talents. There are common
threads running through such learning, which include effect motivation, flow, and peak
53
experiences. These are similar to the goals of travel and cross-cultural studies
(Massimini & Delle Fave, 2000).
Stevens-Long (1984) described a number of theoretical frameworks that have
been developed to explain the process of occupational choice by adolescents and young
adults. The most elaborate is that of the differentialists who suggest that, in order to
make a successful career choice, individuals must first determine their interests, abilities,
and personality characteristics. Interest and temperament inventories are used to explore
these characteristics. In a second framework, the developmental approach, personality
variables and accumulated self-concept are important. Childhood experiences are
thought to influence one toward particular vocational decisions.
Donald Super (1976) defined five sequential vocational stages as: (a)
crystallization of one’s ideas about work (ages 14 to 18), (b) specification of work
preference (18 to 21), (c) implementation of first jobs (21 to 24), (d) stabilization of
choice (25 to 35), and (e) consolidation and advancement (35 plus). But, Stevens-Long
(1984) pointed out that, although commitment is associated with early job stabilization,
satisfaction and success are more a product of flexibility. Thus, early career changes may
be beneficial, and high levels of initial commitment may actually impede development.
In an earlier work, Super (1957) discussed floundering, a term used to describe
young workers who frequently change and try new jobs, all of which have little
relationship to each other. He pointed out that this could be part of the exploratory
process to find oneself and match skills and interests to a vocation. When job seekers
have a lack of self-concept and personality integration, they have an ill-formed idea of
what they can offer to employers; this lack of self-understanding thus becomes a
handicap: “To know one’s self, what one has to sell, is important” (Super, 1957, p. 114).
A survey of campus officials in the Chronicle of Higher Education (Desruisseaux,
1999) reported that what motivates U.S. students to study abroad is the belief that
54
international knowledge and experience will give them an advantage in their careers.
The 1998-99 school year saw a 15% increase in study abroad participation from the
previous year and a greater interest in less traditional travel destinations. According to
the Association of International Educators (NAFSA, 1997), study abroad does more than
promote academic and personal growth, it also enhances employment prospects beyond
global knowledge and new language skills. It strengthens communication across
cultures, flexibility, resilience, and ability to adapt and offers new approaches to deal
with challenging situations.
Carlson et al. (1990) determined that the number of American students who study
abroad is increasing because they believe this experience will make an important
difference in obtaining a job later and in pursuing internationally related careers. Others
seek personal enrichment. Studies indicate that study abroad participants are less set on
specific career goals and more open to vocational exploration.
Schomer (2000) warned “even though globalization is the buzz word of the
century, the level of international awareness is surprisingly low among employees” (p.
76). High technology makes global business a reality, but within the IT (information
technology) sector the potential for creative synergy from the international diversity of
backgrounds and perspectives is not being fully tapped. She suggested a number of steps
that a company can take to increase a global mindset, including: (1) encouraging
international travel and taking courses on international topics, and (2) investing time in
cross-cultural learning and team-building experiences. Such strategies will help achieve
a competitive advantage, cosmopolitan outlook, and knowledge about world industry and
operations.
Certain personality types gravitate toward certain occupations or environments
and specialties within vocations. People work best when they can use their preferred
skills. But, as they are exposed to new environments, they add new skills to their
55
repertoire, developing the ability to become “multifunctional” to adjust to varied
demands. Adler (1975) stated that a journey into another culture always becomes a
journey of greater self-awareness. Personal development may include greater self-
understanding, enhanced interpersonal relationships, values, and life direction or
vocation.
Bodden and Klein (1972) reported that vocational cognitive complexity and
appropriate career choice are related but that cognitive complexity operates
independently of personality style. When a person’s vocational stereotypes are
multidimensional (complex), the person is more likely to make a career choice
compatible with personality traits than when the stereotypes are simplistic (p. 58).
According to Myers (as cited in Keirsey, 1998), there are four very unique forms
of temperament: Artisans who are sensual (SP), Guardians who are interested in social
status (SJ), Rationals who have a quest for power (NT), and Idealists, who seek self-
actualization (NF). The theory of four temperaments challenges the hypotheses in the
development of temperament, personality, and behavior, which are: (a) that we have
similar goals of hierarchical motivation toward achieving self-esteem, and (b) that we not
only have the same goals, but that we move through the same stages of growth and
development (pp. 20-22).
Keirsey (1998) defined personality as a combination of temperament and
character. Temperament is a set of inclinations (pre-disposition) while character is a set
of habits (disposition). Temperament is an inborn form of human nature and attitude that
each person inherits genetically, while character is an emergent form of action that
develops through interactions between the environment and temperament.
In an interesting study exploring the personality types of interpreters for the deaf
Joan Blake (2000) utilized the Keirsey Temperament Sorter as a means of measuring the
16 Myers-Briggs vocational types (see Appendix E). She also interviewed participants
56
(35 interpreters and 37 students) both in person and via e-mail. The predominant type for
interpreters was INFJ (Counselor) while that for students was ISFJ (Protector). Her
results for interpreters were consistent with published materials, showing a majority of
NF types (Idealists); but for students the SJ (Guardians) temperament was dominant. She
surmised that many SJ students are eventually drawn toward other professions as the
realities of interpreting jobs become more apparent, or that the style of professional
training is not geared toward this temperament.
Costa and McCrae (as cited in Lanyon, 1997) defined the “Big Five” personality
traits as abstractions that represent ways that Americans experience the world, act, and
describe themselves in self-ratings; and as traits that measure potential success in certain
types of work. The five factors are as follows:
1. Emotional stability or Neuroticism (calm, secure, nonanxious)
2. Extraversion (sociable, talkative, assertive, ambitious, active)
3. Openness to experience, culture (imaginative, sensitive, intellectual)
4. Agreeableness (good-natured, cooperative, trusting)
5. Conscientiousness (responsible, dependable, organized, persistent) (p. 256)
Further research shows conscientiousness to be the best predictor of job success,
regardless of the type of job. Extroversion was a valid predictor for managers and sales
but not for other occupations (Lanyon, 1997).
In her research on the vocational implications of a study abroad program,
Hutchins (1996) noted that college participants did not recognize immediate results. It
took between six months to a few years for them to actually realize this growth, which
consisted of greater academic knowledge, professional promotion, increased self-esteem,
57
and confidence to initiate intercultural connections. This delay in self-awareness is
consistent with the concept that vocational choice stabilizes around age 25.
A retrospective study by Darice Wallace (1999) on 48 alumni of an international
study abroad program was done ten years after their graduation. This sought to identify
and clarify the long-term effects of such an experience on careers and world perspective.
The areas of change that consistently appeared in the responses were (1) career
advancement, (2) personal accomplishments, (3) greater appreciation for other cultures,
(4) increased foreign language fluency, and (5) greater interest in international issues
(Wallace, 1999, p. 124). Wallace, like Kennedy (1994), was inspired to do research in
this area after having had a personal transformative experience while living with a
Mexican family during a cultural exchange program.
In an opposite approach, Michael Basseches (1986b) described a reciprocal
relationship between personality development and employment conditions. He stated
that in many organizations the goal of a smooth-running operation might occur at the
expense of human development: “Given a concern solely with smooth organizational
functioning, effective performance of work roles may be seen as depending upon the
prior development of requisite cognitive structures by the role-occupant. On the other
hand, given a concern with human development, the challenges presented by new,
increasingly complex work roles may be seen as playing crucial roles in stimulating the
development of cognitive structures in adulthood” (Basseches, 1986b, p. 102). The study
abroad experience is similar. The more structured domestic classes are increasingly
complex as multicultural requirements enter into the academic content abroad. Thus, as
one learns basic course information overseas, one also develops new alternate skills and
self-knowledge.
Carole Widick (1977) discussed the process of assisting young adults with
personal growth. She reiterated that developmental change occurs as a result of
58
disequilibrium. When individuals are confronted with information that cannot be
assimilated into their existing mode of thinking, they alter their assumptions. Those who
foster development must be able to operationalize disequilibrium while identifying the
variables that function to stimulate growth. It is more than just changing the process of
reasoning; it involves helping individuals acquire a new set of interpersonal affective
skills for acting on their views of the world (p. 37). This process is facilitated in a study
abroad environment.
Personal Growth Through Travel
Travel provides an encompassing point of reference from which to observe the
self in altered situations from what one is accustomed to. Change occurs through
experiential means, heightened awareness, new perceptions, reactions to culture shock,
and through adaptation and accommodation to a new culture. Whereas regular education
is usually passive, requiring adaptation to external rules and ideas, experiential learning
actively motivates students to take initiative and try diverse paths. This section explores
how travel relates to personal growth. The experience of living abroad profoundly transforms all who undergo it, whether they adjust to the culture or not. Such is the impact of the experience, at so many levels—physical, intellectual, emotional—there is not the possibility of a moderate, much less a neutral, reaction. (Storti, 1965, p. 106)
Feldman (1994) stated that “by interacting with domains that are available in the
world of humanly created culture, individuals are able to transcend constraints and
extend systems” (p. 97). In such interactions, individuals concurrently create internal
changes in their own systems for understanding and interpretation.
59
When starting an international trip there is often a feeling of leaving everything
behind and beginning a new life. British writer Laurie Lee (1969) described this
beautifully in his autobiographical book As I Walked Out on a Midsummer Morning: It was a bright Sunday morning in early June, the right time to be leaving home. . . . My mother had got up early and cooked me a heavy breakfast, had stood silently while I ate it, her hand on my chair, and had then helped me pack up my few belongings. There had been no fuss, no appeals, no attempts at advice or persuasion, only a long and searching look. . . . I was nineteen years old, still soft at the edges, but with a confident belief in good fortune. . . . I was excited, vain-glorious, knowing I had far to go; but not, as yet, how far. (p. 14 )
A short time later, while beginning to comprehend the full scope of his adventure, he
wrote: That first day alone—and now I was really alone at last—steadily declined in excitement and vigor. . . . I found myself longing for some opposition or rescue, for the sound of hurrying footsteps coming after me and family voices calling me back. None came. I was free. I was affronted by freedom. (p. 15)
In a shift of focus from a disease model of pathology to a more positive growth
model, psychologists are beginning to promote traits like wisdom and morality. Martin
Seligman (2000) is at the forefront of this movement toward “positive psychology.” This
new field includes: (1) study of subjective well-being, optimism, and contentment; (2)
study of positive individual traits like integrity and vocational wisdom; and (3) study of
positive institutions (Volz, 2000, p. 68). Learning through travel and experience are two
examples of positive self-awareness growth.
Experiential and Transformative Learning
The field of adult learning and psychological development includes theories of
learning, cognitive development, and transformational change. The theory of
60
experiential (or contextual) learning states that learning is most effective if it occurs in an
environment that makes the learning relevant, such as in real-life environments as
opposed to classroom instruction (Kolb, 1984). Transformative learning takes this one
step further by stating that learning should transform people and challenge them to
change their belief systems and behavior patterns to meet new needs and opportunities.
Hansel (1985) added that “many educators feel that experiential learning provides
students with a sense of mastery and accomplishment that seems to enhance their self-
esteem” (p. 6). Levin and Hinrichs (1995) discussed the role of experience in problem
solving: “The difference . . . appears to lie, not in sheer mental capacity, but in the
development through experience of efficient heuristic schemes” (p. 264).
Massimini and Delle Fave (2000) reported that optimal experience or flow is the
most positive and complex daily experience noted by cross-cultural learners. They
identified the characteristics of such learning as being “high involvement, deep
concentration, intrinsic motivation, and the perception of high challenges matched by
adequate personal skills” (p. 24).
The process of understanding transformative change involves the discovery and
definition of “learning triggers,” the reliability of which is difficult because retrospective
research relies on the individual’s reconstruction of what was going on. This is similar to
the psychology visual-figure-ground experiments where an image is seen one way, but
once another perspective is introduced the perception shifts and it’s very hard to return to
the original view. The developmental processes described by Perry (1970) or Kegan
(1982) are transformative learning about knowledge and one’s sense of self, particularly
as a learner (Moore, W., The Perry Network, personal e-mail on April 4, 1999).
Perry (1970) proposed an intellectual and ethical model for understanding the
structure and process of learning that focuses on two dynamics: (1) confronting and
coping with diversity and uncertainty, and (2) the consequent evolution of meaning-
61
making about learning and self (Kegan, 1982; Perry, 1970). One of the premises is that it
is often more difficult to figure out what a problem is than to find a solution to it.
Learners are seen to cycle through three increasingly complex encounters with diversity
in terms of “multiples”: (1) multiple opinions about a given subject or issue; (2) multiple
contexts/perspectives from which to understand or analyze issues or arguments; and (3)
multiple commitments through which to defend personal values or identity.
Psychologist David Kolb (1984) defined two dimensions of experiential learning:
(1) the process of continued adaptation as opposed to content outcome, and (2) the
concept of socioemotional development, both subjective and objective. He based his
learning theory on the concepts of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget; and his
developmental theory on the concepts of Lev Vygotsky. His six characteristics of
experiential learning follow.
1. Learning is a continuous process.
2. Learning is grounded in experience.
3. Learning requires resolution of conflicts between dialectically opposed modes of adaptation to the world.
4. Learning is a holistic process of adaptation.
5. Learning involves transactions between the person and the environment
6. Leaning is the process of creating knowledge. (Kolb, 1984, pp. 25-38).
Kolb’s integrative perspective on learning combined experience, perception,
cognition, and behavior. He stressed the importance of a prehension dimension
(apprehension and comprehension) and a transformation dimension (intention and
extension). His transformation concepts are based on Carl Jung’s psychological types
(introversion and extraversion) as alternative ways of relating. Kolb defined these
62
dimensions along two continuums: concrete experience versus abstract conceptualization,
and active experimentation versus reflective observation.
An important factor in transformational experiences is the simultaneity of events.
Jung referred to this as synchronicity. “Outer happenings coincide at times and in a
meaningful way with an inner psychological condition” (McCully, 1976, p. 16). This is
described as causeless order, but it may be that we are just not aware of the causes.
Zikman (1999) defined synchronicity related to travel: No matter our intended design or schedule, Chance is our ever-present travel partner in discovery. Fate and Destiny orchestrate our journey, map out our path. Fortune and Luck plot our course, serve as our compass. We applaud the happenstance of our ways, our happy accidents, our little miracles. We recognize and celebrate the Kismet in our travels, the synchronistic signposts of our soul. (p. 66)
Hopcke (1997) described the four features that are found in all types of
synchronistic events:
1. Acausally connected; rather than connected through a chain of cause and effect
2. Accompanied by deep emotional feelings
3. Symbolic in nature
4. Occur at points of important transitions in our life
Such events are often a turning point in the story of one’s life. Travel sets the
stage for observing everyday situations in new ways. Contact with individuals from non-
European cultures, especially, shows a very different perspective to viewing the world.
Native Americans and Asians perceive their own actions not as an individual cause
producing an effect, but as one part of a web of subjective interconnections. This belief,
63
which stresses interconnection with the world rather than individual mastery over the
environment, supports the theory of meaningful chance.
Jack Mezirow (1991) defined a theory of transformational learning that includes
the processes of centrality of experience, critical self-reflection, and rational discourse,
and results in (a) an empowered sense of self, (b) more understanding of how one’s
culture has shaped beliefs, and (c) more strategies and resources for taking action (p.
161). Mezirow sought to formulate a universal definition of human development based
on an individual’s frame of reference. This formulation is similar to Hall’s emphasis on
understanding one’s own culture as a means of developing intercultural awareness. Both
stress that greater self-awareness is a means of gaining greater cultural awareness. In this
author’s experience the reverse was also true: Gaining greater world-awareness resulted
in greater self-awareness.
The act of perspective transformation, according to Mezirow (1991), usually
results from a disorienting dilemma, which is triggered by a major life transition. This is
followed by self-examination, critical assessment of assumptions, exploration of new
roles, development of a plan of action, trial and development of competence, and
eventual reintegration into life on the basis of new perspectives. Both rational and
affective states play a role in transformative learning. In conclusion, transformative
learning draws on the realm of interior experience, much as experiential learning draws
on the realm of external experience.
Permission to be Different
When traveling abroad there is a potential for acceptance beyond that experienced
in the native country. Traits that appear oddly unique at home, such as height, weight,
dress, personality, etc., may be perceived in the new country as typically American.
Thus, there is an opportunity for personal appreciation that may not be found in the home
64
society. Although this acceptance is superficial it is refreshingly different. Pico Iyer
(1998) concurred that “many of us will get taken, willy-nilly, as symbols of the American
Dream, regardless of our background” (p. 35). This paradoxical process provides a new
opportunity and basis for identity exploration and increasing self-esteem.
A different culture provides a unique living laboratory in which a visitor can try
various new personas, analyze reactions, and decide if this is someone that they wish to
become. One of the unique aspects of this process is that whoever travelers were at home
is not particularly important. Zikman (1999) described this phenomenon: We are a stranger to the visited. We float in a myriad of different cultures. We’re often misunderstood. We don’t have to know everything. We don’t have to be familiar with everything. We may try, but we’re not obligated to figure everything out. We are naïve. We are charming. We are intriguing. We’re forgiven for our mistakes, our misinterpretations, our exotic ways. . . . We welcome the chance to be a stranger. (p. 77)
Heightened Awareness and Perception
Most everyday behavior is a kind of lazy acceptance what is known or a
preoccupation with being busy. When one travels, there is heightened anticipation that
things will be different and an increased seeking or alertness.
Edward Hall (1981) described the new personal awareness that comes about
through exposure to another culture: “The reasons man does not experience his true
cultural self is that until he experiences another self as valid, he has little basis for
validating his own self. A by-product of such acceptance is a glimpse of the strengths
and weaknesses of one’s own system” (p. 214). What the organism actually perceives is
influenced by five factors: status, activity, setting, experience, and culture (Hall, 1981,
p. 101).
Marshall Singer (1987) defined perception as the way an individual selects,
evaluates, and organizes stimuli from the external environment. But virtually all of these
65
can occur below the level of consciousness. “It is not the stimulus itself that produces
specific human reactions and/or actions but rather how the stimulus is perceived by the
individual that matters most for human behavior” (Singer, 1987, p. 9). From Carl Rogers
(1975), “We cannot see all that our senses report, but only the things which fit the picture
we have” (p. 319).
Maurice Farber (1954) described the differences that may occur in perception
among travelers: One is frequently struck by the astounding differences in what several travelers, each having viewed approximately the same things, report to have perceived. . . . It has been shown that the objective situation is but one element in the percept, and that what is actually seen depends much upon the needs, hopes, fears and expectations of the perceiver” (p. 270).
There is a form of learning through travel that is further increased when one
journeys alone: If you’ve been waiting to find the right person to go along on your trip, look in the mirror and then get out your passport. By traveling alone, you can follow your heart and move in your own rhythms without compromising your plan, your goals, your schedule, your budget, or style of travel. Traveling alone multiplies the possibilities of meeting people: . . . you discard the protective shell of common language, culture, and experience that surrounds you. . . . You’ll experience an accelerated transition into different cultures and absorb new languages more rapidly while traveling solo. . . . By forfeiting the support of a single companion, you open yourself up to the support of the whole world. No matter how many times I’ve traveled alone, I am tweaked with uncertainty before a new trip. But each time I push myself forward, I find my faith well rewarded. (Zepatos, 1996, pp. 17-18)
English poet and travel writer Laurie Lee (1976) related his first experience
abroad, taken from notes in his journal:
66
What strikes me most strongly about a lot of them now is their confident enthusiasm and unabashed celebration of the obvious. There may be a simple explanation for this. When I first left my country village, at the age of nineteen, I found an outside world that was sparkling and new. The astonishment and pleasure at what I began to discover around me has continued almost undiminished to the present day (p. 11).
Later, while traveling through Mexico, Lee illustrated a scene of heightened
awareness: The sun was going down as we passed Dolores Hidalgo . . . and saw the last light fading on curling wood smoke, painted beehives, and almond blossoms. My final glimpse of that day was typically surrealist, the sort of thing one learns to expect—two old men, far out in the country, walking into the sunset, one carrying a cello, the other a huge bass fiddle (p. 125).
French naval captain Pierre Loti (1924) noted: “During those times in my life
when my heart is full of some vivid emotion, the smallest details of objects about me
impress themselves on me, and time, which effaces everything else, seems to leave these
impressions” (p. 55).
D. E. Harding (1988) described an enlightening moment in which he stopped
thinking while trekking in the Himalayas, which he labeled a re-birthday: “It felt like a
sudden waking from the sleep of ordinary life, an end to dreaming. It was the self-
luminous reality for once swept clean of all obscuring memory. It was the revelation, at
long last, of the perfectly obvious. It was a lucid moment in a confused life-history”
(p. 24). Castaneda’s Don Juan calls this experience the cubic centimeter of chance
(Castaneda, 1972, p. 234).
Keirsey (1998) agreed that maturation is not just a function of time alone, but that
it needs a stimulus. Thus, character growth must be aroused and awakened in the social
environment. But this stimulation must be timely and relevant to the attitudes and
67
actions that are ready to emerge, in what has been called the “teachable moment” or
“window of opportunity” (p. 254).
It is highly recommended that the sojourner keep a daily dairy of the first few
weeks of their trip (Kottler, 1997; White, 1937). This will highlight the feelings,
perceptions, and awareness that are at a heightened state, and which will later change
during travel. Thus, the journal can serve as a learning tool. Upon returning from travel
abroad this will offer personal insights into the stages of growth and reasons for such,
which might otherwise be lost from memory with time and multiple new experiences.
Ethnographer Lewis Morgan spent a year traveling around Europe in 1870 and
made the following notation in his journal: If you write down at the time what you have seen worth recording, you will preserve such a picture of it that you can recall the original in perfect freshness. . . . [Otherwise] the great mass of one’s observations and impressions are imprinted in successive layers upon the mind, and all fade out together. The returned traveller [sic] has a few heads and points, but the best part of his mental work is practically lost. (White, 1937, p. 223)
By keeping a daily log the traveler can later see patterns of change in their
cognition, perception, and behavior. The description of an event or behavior is never
completely objective, being conditioned by the subjective point of view of the observer
and culture. When we perceive behavior in another culture we may not understand the
event but we are made aware of alternate ways of doing things. This insight causes us to
question whether the way we behave or perceive events is the right way.
Adler (1975) stated that every person experiences the world through culturally
influenced values, assumptions, and beliefs (p. 14). Thus, culture is both a perceptual
frame of reference and an environment of experience. Since most individuals are
relatively unaware of their own values and beliefs, transitional experiences from one
68
environment to another bring predisposition into awareness and conflict. This leads to
personal growth.
Csikszentmihalyi (1993) outlined current scientific thought regarding the
perception of truth and reality. This view is affected by where one is born, what sort of
early experiences one is exposed to, and what kind of occupation one pursues. He
mentioned that truth is hidden by the Hindu “veils of Maya,” a metaphor of illusion that
describes how perception is altered by an individual’s past, which shapes the present and
future.
According to Hatch (1973), using concepts from Emile Durkheim, there are three
ways to understand and react to an event. The first is (1) Physical – Individual behavior
based on personal sensations and images that are experiences in the mind. The second
two are collective, from the society in which we live: (2) Intellectual – collective
representations, which provide a framework for perception and expression of thought;
and (3) Moral – A set of rules within which behavior is regulated. Lawrence Durrell
described this while noting how the English (including himself) perceive Greeks. He
stated, “My angle of vision was a selfish one” (Durrell, 1957, p. 125).
Carlos Castaneda (1974) used the metaphor of a bubble to illustrate how our
personal perceptions evolve: Sorcerers say that we are inside a bubble. It is a bubble into which we are placed at the moment of our birth. At first the bubble is open, but then it begins to close until it has sealed us in. That bubble is our perception. We live inside that bubble all of our lives and what we witness on its round walls is our own reflection. . . . The teacher’s task is to rearrange the view. (p. 252)
Yaqui Indian Don Juan explained how we perceive our world during a lesson for
his apprentice, Carlos Castaneda. The bubble is divided into two parts, the right half of
reason (the tonal) and the other of will (the nagual), much like the left-brain and right-
69
brain of creativity and abstract thinking defined in Western psychology, or the Yin and
Yang of Asian thought. Don Juan continued, “In order to see one must learn to look at
the world in some other fashion” (Castaneda, 1972, p. 256). Once confronted with new
situations and the incapacity to reason everything out, the student discovers that there are
other ways of perceiving reality, and his/her view of the world is forever changed.
Ying-Yi Hong (2000) described a dynamic constructivist approach to perception
that allows individuals to retain multiple internalized cognitive triggers. In this model,
people who have been exposed to two cultures are triggered to react differently
depending on the type of stimulus (e.g., foreign words) and the accessibility of the
concept (e.g., how recently it has been reinforced). In other words, absorbing the
concepts of a new culture does not always replace the ideas of the original culture, even
when the two cultures contain conflicting theories. Thus, culture is not internalized in
the form of an overall mentality or world-view, but rather in the form of a loose network
of domain-specific knowledge structures. By retaining both cultures individuals can use
a dynamic constructivist approach to “frame switch” or select differing forms of behavior
depending on the context. Accessibility can be temporary (caused by recent priming) or
chronic (maintained by frequent use). Thus, bicultural individuals may switch between
cultural lenses, where the internalized culture is defined as a network of discrete, specific
constructs that guide cognition only when they emerge in an individual’s mind.
Most people do not perceive what is occurring around them when they stay in
familiar surroundings because they already know what to expect: “When one says ‘I
know them’ one is inattentive” (Krishnamurti, 1983, p. 112). But when traveling, people
actively look for differences in their surroundings and thus see much more. If people
learn to consciously pay attention to the effect of events around them, they will begin to
see and feel significance even in random or familiar occurrences (Hopcke, 1997).
70
People only “see” what has familiar meaning, that which they have seen before.
Thus, perception is influenced by expectations and past experience and dwells in the
perceiver not in the external world. C. S. Lewis (1965) described this phenomena in his
book Out of the Silent Planet: “He gazed about him and the very intensity of his desire to
take in the new world at a glance defeated itself. . . . he knew nothing yet well enough to
see it; you cannot see things until you know roughly what they are” (p. 41).
Theologian Sam Keen (1970) defined the process of awareness in To a Dancing
God: “Mature awareness is possible only when I have digested and compensated for the
biases and prejudices that are the residue of my personal history. Awareness of what
presents itself to me involves a double movement of attention: silencing the familiar and
welcoming the strange” (p. 28).
Parin et al. (1980) stated that we look at alien cultures through our own “adapted
astigmatic curvature of the cornea” and that we need to view them through corrective
lenses (p. 375). While describing new perceptions that surface upon return to the home
country, Kohls (1986) mentioned, “You view America through a sharper lens, and are
able to pick up the strengths and weaknesses of the country much more clearly” (p. 97).
Jung, as noted in McCully (1976), described four types of perception: thinking,
feeling, sensation, and intuition. Each person has a propensity for a particular dominant
style, which can be altered by environment and early developmental stages. Each
perception has an opposite: thinking vs. intuition and feeling vs. sensation. To the extent
that people are exposed to recessive perceptual functions, they will have more creative
energy and broader judgmental conclusions. The rare “universal man” is able to utilize
all four functions to reach great heights of creativity and success.
Thalia Zepatos (1996) explained the process of letting go of expectations and
judgments during travel and setting aside assumptions:
71
Things that you stand on as being ultimate truths may not be ultimate truths in a place you visit, according to the lives of people there. And, for me, that’s one of the most valuable things about traveling. When my assumptions are undermined, it helps me know myself and learn what I unconsciously think about life. (p. 149)
Kopp (1983) stated, “Homogenized groups of communally innocent people share
mutually supported perspectives about which they tolerate no challenge” (p. 54). People
can have their perceptions changed through brainwashing, such as in cults or captivity.
They lose their sense of “global coherence” but there is a natural homeostasis and
tendency for thoughts to return to a conventional or universal way of thinking (Harding,
1988).
Castaneda (1974) described a child’s way of seeing the world and filtering
independent views as learning what others describe until it becomes “an endless flow of
perceptual interpretations which we, the individuals who share a specific membership,
have learned to make in common” (p. ix).
Damasio (1995) illustrated a process where the mind is compared to a videotape.
He suggested one take an artificial snapshot of time (video freeze frame) in which to
observe an image (object, action, schema, word). This must remain in focus and be held
active in the mind, which will then assist in decision-making through comparing both the
external view of the world and the internal world perception. In a similar metaphor,
stopping the world is defined as a state in which the “reality of everyday life is altered
because the flow of interpretation, which ordinarily runs uninterruptedly, has been
stopped by a set of circumstances alien to that flow” (Castaneda, 1974, p. xiii). After
stopping the world, the next step is seeing, which is “responding to the perceptual
solicitations of a world outside the description we have learned to call reality” (p. xiv).
In the 19th century many writers (e.g., Gustav, Fechner, and von Helmholz) were
interested in the study of alternate space, such as two- or four-dimensional realities
72
(Abbott, 1991). The exploration of two dimensions resulted in slices of perception in
which a solid object, such as a sphere, would change shape over time as it moved through
a plane. Describing moments of time as part of a whole allowed scientists to “stop the
world” and eventually led to the development of the CAT scan in medicine. These
alternate views, like alternate cultural environments, can provide varying reflections of
change and a new way of looking at situations or events.
Culture Shock
Culture shock has been defined as an occupational disease of travelers by Kalvero
Oberg (1960), as a pattern of adjustment and personal transition by Janet Bennett (1977),
and as a transformational process by Peter Adler (1975). Julian Silverman (1994)
reported that the individual in a life-crisis situation may use heightened awareness to see
alternative perspectives for making sense out of the dilemma. The concept of stages of
culture shock is attributed to Oberg, but Lysgaard (1955) introduced the U-curve theory
of regression then reintegration.
According to Weinmann (1983), culture shock is a psychological condition that
leads to increased awareness and personal growth for most people, because it challenges
beliefs and requires the sojourner to develop new communication skills. Many believe
that some degree of culture shock is inevitable and even necessary for better adjustment
and expanded self-awareness.
Craig Storti (1989) introduced some of the reasons for culture shock in his book
The Art of Crossing Cultures: What is different about being overseas, the reason we cannot continue to rely on the natural adjustment process, is not that this process suddenly stops or that we encounter any fundamentally different kind of new situation, but that we encounter new situations on a scale we have never known before. The nearly continuous barrage of new experiences served
73
up by the unfamiliar country and culture . . . triggers a correspondingly intense wave of reaction and anxiety. (p. 76)
It is not that one cannot deal with change, but the large amount of change that
must be coped with simultaneously within a new culture can be overwhelming. Storti
went on to explain that misunderstanding behavior, or not being able to converse in the
language, can lead to loss of self-esteem and feelings of helplessness: “But worst of all is
the feeling that comes over us that we are somehow losing touch with who we are. It is
likely that at least part of that loneliness and sense of isolation we feel overseas may not
be the result of missing relatives and friends, but of feeling estranged from our own inner
selves” (p. 93).
The symptoms of culture shock can include physical and emotional discomfort,
homesickness, and adjustment difficulties. According to Gary Weaver (1994), there are
three basic causal explanations: (1) the loss of familiar cues, (2) the breakdown of
interpersonal communications, and (3) an identity crisis (pp. 169-171). The last one,
identity crisis, implies that there is genuine psychological growth that can occur when
one successfully overcomes culture shock. “This period may be similar to the
transitionary [sic] stages we experience during other life crises such as adolescence” (p.
175).
Psychiatrist Paul Cantalupo (1987) said that constant support was a way to assist
with the identity crisis and loss of self-esteem seen in the teenage years. Adolescents go
through stages of mourning and resignation caused by the unfolding awareness of
personal inadequacies: “Parents have to persevere and not abandon them, because this
mourning is successful only in the presence of the parents” (p. 23). In a similar mode,
programs to assist travelers during culture shock crises can benefit from the new
approach to treating schizophrenia developed by Dr. William Anthony (McGuire, 2000),
which utilizes psychological support in place of drug treatment.
74
Oberg (1960) outlined six signs, sometimes unconscious, that impair peace of
mind while traveling: (1) strain caused by the effort to make psychological adaptation;
(2) sense of loss and feeling of deprivation in regard to friends and status; (3) anxiety
about losing familiar signs and symbols; (4) feelings of impotence from not coping with
cues in daily orientation—e.g., how to give orders, make purchases, when and how to
respond; (5) confusion in role and identity from unfamiliarity with new types of clues—
words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, language, beliefs; and (6) fear of being
rejected by the new culture (p. 176). Oberg’s formal stages of culture shock are as
follows:
• The Honeymoon Stage. Occurs in the first few weeks, if the sojourner has traveled voluntarily. Everything is fascinating, new, interesting, and stimulating. The individual is optimistic.
• The Coping Stage. The individual starts to seriously cope with everyday life. Symptoms are characterized by frustration, hostility, aggressive attitude toward host society, and increased association with fellow sojourners.
• The Survival Stage. Individuals begin to acquire some language and survival skills, feeling more comfortable, and venturing out on their own.
• The Adjusted Stage. New customs are accepted, enjoyed, and the individual can function without anxiety.
• The Interdependence Stage. A sense of belonging to several cultures at the same time.
Not all sojourners pass through all of Oberg’s stages. Travelers who do not
progress past stage two frequently return prematurely to their home country or stay stuck
in a sort of disillusionment (Church, 1982).
Although the concept of culture shock is usually associated with negative
reactions, Peter Adler (1975) stressed a more positive view in which culture shock can be
viewed as an important trigger for cultural learning, self-development, and personal
growth (p. 14). The problems and frustrations of culture shock stimulate change, and the
75
concurrent transitional experiences are the path to higher levels of personality
development. In fact, transitional experiences may be essential to establishing a self-
concept: “The tensions and crises of change demand that the individual answer the
confusions of life experiences with a reaffirmation of his or her uniqueness as an
individual in relationship to others” (p. 20).
Adler further stated that when a situation demands personal change there is a
higher level of emotional involvement, and it is thus experienced more intensely,
especially where there are behavior and attitudinal conflicts. He expanded on the five
stages of culture shock. Most theorists dwell on the extreme aspects of cultural
adjustment and overlook the ensuing changes to identity that occur during this process.
Although each of the five stages may not always follow the preceding ones in every case,
they do delineate a progressive wisdom in experiential learning:
1. Contact: Views the new culture from an insular perception in terms of one’s
own culture. The individual may feel excited, stimulated, euphoric, and curious.
2. Disintegration: Period of confusion and disorientation. Different behavior,
values, and attitudes begin to alter the perceptions of the sojourner. The individual may
feel lower self-esteem, isolated, inadequate, and lonely.
3. Reintegration: Strong rejection of the new culture through stereotyping,
generalization, and judgment. In this stage the individual may relate only to persons of
their own culture, seeking security in the familiar [attachment behavior]. But, the
increase in negative feelings also indicates a growth in perception of cultural differences.
Behavior may include self-preoccupation, self-assertion, and growing self-esteem. The
individual must now choose whether to regress to egocentric feelings in the contact stage,
or move toward a resolution of the new difficulties. Returning home is also an option.
Adler notes that the reintegration decision is based on three situations: (a) intensity of the
76
experiences, (b) general resiliency of the sojourner, and (c) interpretation and guidance
provided by significant persons.
4. Autonomy: This stage is marked by increased sensitivity to cultural
differences and the acquisition of skills in the new culture. Individuals are relaxed and
understand verbal and nonverbal communication skills, and, despite a limited
understanding, they often begin to feel like experts on the second culture. There is a
rapid growth of personal flexibility and coping skills. Differences are legitimized, and
the individual is more assured, relaxed, friendly, and empathetic.
5. Independence: Individuals have attitudes, emotions, and behaviors that are
interdependent and influenced by the old and new cultures. Differences are valued as
significant, accepted, and enjoyed.
Self-actualization exists to the extent that choice and responsibility are utilized in
new situations, with a resultant sense of greater independence, even while reexperiencing
emotional states from earlier stages of transition: “Most important, the individual is
capable of undergoing further dynamic transitions in life along new dimensions and of
finding new ways to explore the diversity of human beings” (Adler, 1975, p. 18). New
attitudes are holistically incorporated into identity, and greater understanding leads to a
heightened sense of self. The cross-cultural experience involves growth of personality
along a number of dimensions:
1. Perceptual Level: Personality moves through a symbiotic state of single reality to a differential state of awareness and acceptance of many realities.
2. Emotional Level: Change from dependence to independence.
3. Self-Concept: Change from a monocultural to an intercultural frame of reference.
77
Not everyone achieves growth in personality and awareness through travel. There
is some degree of attrition in study abroad programs when students are unable to cope
with new experiential demands. Adler’s Theory of Transitional Experience contains a
framework for training and counseling strategies during adaptation that is developmental
(emphasis on the psychological aspects of adaptation) rather than adjustive (learning the
language, history, culture, and social skills). Throughout the transitional experience,
complex differences may become distorted. But when new emotions are seen and
understood experientially, self-awareness and personal growth occur: “The transitional
experience is, finally, a journey into the self” (Adler, 1975, p. 22).
Most theories of culture shock have been derived from other situations. Furnham
and Bochner (1986) outlined eight hypotheses:
1. Grief and Bereavement: Predicts universal negative experiences of loss without accounting for motivation, expectation, and the reactions of the host culture.
2. Locus of Control: Emphasizes the role of expectations and motivations in relation to internal and external (fatalism) perceived ability to control the environment.
3. Selection Migration: Emphasizes the neo-Darwinian connection between geographic movement and a change in psychological well-being.
4. Expectations: Explains that a person’s behavior is directly related to changing expectations and the subjective value of the consequences of actions.
5. Negative Life Events: Allows for the link between psychosocial negative processes (death, divorce, unemployment) and physical/psychological well-being.
6. Social Support: Loss of social support networks and interpersonal relationships affects a person’s general adaptive functioning.
7. Value Differences: The degree of differences in values between the cultures account for proportionate misunderstanding and distress.
8. Social Skills: Predicts and explains different reactions by different groups (pp. 224-226)
78
Furnham and Bochner (1986) preferred the last hypothesis, the social skills
approach, because it both attempts to explain differing reactions and also provides for a
reliable and adaptable method of cross-cultural training.
Paul Pedersen (1995) corroborated the idea that the symptoms of culture shock
can occur under many circumstances, which include retirement, divorce, career change,
bereavement, medical emergencies, and economic loss. These reactions happen when an
individual encounters unfamiliar or unexpected circumstances. In the more positive
educational model of culture shock, “transformation occurs through a series of
degeneration and regeneration events or crises in a non-regular and erratic movement of
change” (p. 4). Pedersen suggested that it is very rare to achieve as successful a level of
functioning in the new culture as at home, suggesting a backward J-curve might be a
more accurate representation of cultural adjustment.
Even when travel is voluntary, the surprising aspects and challenges of a new
environment after the initial “honeymoon stage” can be similar to the stages that occur in
bereavement or dealing with a terminal illness (Kohls, 1986). The five stages of grief
related to death and dying were defined by Kubler-Ross (1997) as denial, anger,
bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. She pointed out that these stages are not
necessarily sequential and that some might be skipped or repeated. In many ways the
patterns of adjustment to culture shock address these same responses. Not surprisingly,
some travelers who return early from a sojourn due to excessive culture shock do so
because they felt their life was in danger if they stayed.
Janet Bennett (1977), co-founder of the Intercultural Communication Institute
(ICI), described culture shock as a subset of the more encompassing transition shock,
which is a state of loss and disorientation experienced during any readjustment from a
familiar environment. She saw the symptoms as social and physiological stress reactions,
withdrawal, and defensiveness. Successful resolution involves a process of increased
79
self-awareness and cultural empathy, the ability to withhold judgment, to deal
comfortably with ambiguities, and use of the imagination to intellectually and
emotionally participate in new experiences.
Bock (1970) stressed the value of experiencing culture shock as a means of
transformational growth and personal development. Those who withdraw and spend time
within their own culture may avoid the negative side of culture shock, but they will also
miss the positive effects: “Direct confrontation with another society is the best way to
learn about alien modes of life or to gain perspectives on one’s own culture. . . . Culture
shock is not valued for its own sake. Its value lies in the liberation and understanding
that can come from such an experience: . . . that other perceptions of reality are just as
valid to those who live according to them as our own belief and value systems are to us”
(Bock, 1970, p. xi).
Ward and Searle (1991) differentiated between psychological adjustment and
cross-cultural transition. They reported that psychological adjustment is best understood
within a stress and coping framework (disintegration and reintegration) and that the
resulting impact may be mediated by personal and social support (p. 211).
When people travel to other cultures there is a tendency to compare themselves to
their new hosts. Krishnamurti (1983) warned that this tendency may lead to anxiety or
fear and suggests a method to alleviate this: “Comparison, with all its complexity, desire
and time, are the factors of fear. . . . When there is observation, and therefore no
movement of thought—merely observing the whole movement of fear—there is the total
ending of fear; and the observer is not different from the observed” (p. 77).
Internal locus of control refers to the perception that reaction to all events are
under one’s control and related to one’s behavior. External locus of control refers to the
perception that events are not related to personal behavior but are reliant upon
uncontrolled factors such as fate, luck, or chance (Ward & Kennedy, 1992). An external
80
locus of control can lead to mood disturbance, social difficulties, and anxiety. The host
culture may have very different understandings and explanations for actions and behavior
than those of the new foreign visitor. Sheldon Kopp (1983) used the story Alice in
Wonderland to describe the loss of control adults come to realize: “Grown-ups almost
inevitably find that, like life, Wonderland reduces them to laughing at the comic
absurdity of their nonsensical situation. As life keeps coming at us, there are times when
either we must laugh at ourselves or we will surely die of despair” (p. 165).
Children react with separation anxiety from the loss of family attachments in a
manner similar to the symptoms of culture shock. Furnham and Bochner (1986) noted
that psychoanalyst Bowlby’s theories on separation anxiety, grief, and mourning were
related to an instinctual reaction of man to the loss of an important person. The first loss
of the child, when the relationship from its mother is broken, evokes the following
phases:
1. Anger, weeping, and ingratitude reflect the need to recover the lost object. The child reacts with indiscriminate hostility toward others while also begging for help.
2. Despair, withdrawal, depression, and disorganization result from the failure to recover the lost object.
3. Reintegration and development of a new means of relating to the environment evolve.
The symptoms above are similar to those seen in adult loneliness and isolation
caused by loss of familiar personal attachments. When an Air Force family returned to
America after 20 years of relocation with the military, they had difficulties adjusting to
the outlook and beliefs of their old friends back home. After seeking professional help
for panic attacks and depression, the wife was told she was suffering from “separation
anxiety” (Kohls, 1986, p. 97). Such anxiety, due to separation from the home or adopted
culture, is reminiscent of the first experiences of leaving home as a child.
81
Mundorf (1996) described the separation anxiety that a child experiences when
first starting school. She noted that both the actual entry process and the caregiver’s
responsiveness to the child’s behavior lessened the frequency, intensity, and duration of
separation distress.
Culture shock can occur at both the initial departure and arrival in a foreign
culture and again at reentry to the home culture. Surprisingly, this author found very
little reference to the anxiety that is sometimes seen in the time just prior to leaving for a
trip and again in the first days after arrival in a foreign country. Most theorists prefer to
begin at the “Honeymoon Stage,” skipping comment on the initial days of travel. Pre-
travel anxiety and initial reactions on arrival may have ethological roots relating back to
animal territorial ownership and security. The first of these could be called “anticipatory
culture shock” and the second “new arrival shock.”
William B. Hart (1999), in his article “The Intercultural Sojourn as the Hero’s
Journey,” proposed a relationship between travel abroad and Joseph Campbell’s narrative
The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Hart outlined three stages with subcategories: (a)
Departure: Common world, call to adventure, refusal of call, supernatural aid, and
crossing first threshold, (b) Initiation: Road of trials, supreme ordeal, the ultimate boon;
and (c) Return: Refusal of the return, crossing the return threshold, and master of the two
worlds. Hart compared Campbell’s categories with Gullahorn and Gullahorn’s (1963)
stages of the intercultural sojourn. Interesting to note, the “Honeymoon Stage” is listed
as the fifth process of Departure, whereas the four earlier processes, including Refusal of
Call, are not often noted in the cross-cultural literature. To this author they are a part of
the culture-shock process. Hart seemed to corroborate when he stated, “The stage
models in the literature, for more [sic] the most part, ignore what happens before entering
the foreign culture” (p. 10).
82
Pretravel anxiety is triggered in the last days before departure and can set the
stage for acute anxiety upon arrival. Symptoms are usually centered on fear of the
unknown and are evidenced by a dread or wish to cancel travel plans. Verbal statements
such as “the trip is too far,” “too dangerous,” or “too expensive” are common signals.
Travelers need to be reminded that this anticipatory fear is normal and usually subsides
as soon as the trip is underway. Experienced French traveler and author Pierre Loti
(1895/1993) described such an encounter just prior to leaving for a trek across the Sinai
Desert: This winter wind whipped everything up, and it became so threatening that we felt a sadness of ancestral and distant origin, a melancholy that was suddenly combined with the attraction of vastness, regret for having come, and a temptation to retreat, something like the instinctive fear that makes the animals of green lands turn back when they see such regions, where death hovers in wait. (p. 4)
Renata DeVerthelyi (1995) provided evidence about “new arrival” anxiety. In a
study of the spouses of international students she found widespread stress. During the
first weeks abroad they described feelings of sadness, loneliness, self-doubt, confusion,
and frustration. Language difficulties made this initial stress even worse. It took
between three to six months for these spouses to feel more optimistic.
Pico Iyer (1989) summarized the potentials of travel and dealing with culture
shock in his book Video Night in Kathmandu: Every trip we take deposits us at the same forking of the paths: it can be a shortcut to alienation—removed from our home and distanced from our immediate surroundings, we can afford to be contemptuous of both; or it can be a voyage into renewal, as, leaving our selves and pasts at home and traveling light, we recover our innocence abroad. (p. 23)
Erin Jansen (1998) studied 86 women who lived abroad. She noted,
83
If culture shock is perceived as disorientation, change may produce blockages and defensive communication. Perceived as challenge, however, change can stimulate creativity, provisional communication, and self-development. Positive benefits can and do result from living in foreign countries and this needs to become the central focus in order to increase individual and work performance (p. 8).
To help deal with culture shock, Weaver (1994) stated that just knowing the
progression of symptoms relieves the panic some may feel when they seem “unglued.” It
also assures them that it is a normal reaction and will eventually recede. Understanding
the process gives one a better sense of predictability, self-control, and coping. In
summarizing the potential effects of culture shock, Weaver (1994) stated, “Whether the
experience will eventually become positive or negative, a source of personal growth or
destruction, depends upon one’s expectations, adaptability, tolerance for ambiguity and
stress, and an understanding that there inevitably will be pain which can be handled and
overcome” (p. 175).
Individuals who experience culture shock gradually move toward independence,
responsibility, and the ability to choose and create meaning in new situations. They will
never go back to their old perceptions. This was beautifully illustrated by Kahlil Gibran
in The Prophet: “Your pain is the breaking of the shell that enclosed your
understanding.”
Adaptation/Accommodation
Cross-cultural adaptation is concerned with establishing a mental-emotional state
of comfort, satisfaction, and positive attitude in different circumstances or environments
(Kennedy, 1994). Although most writers use the term cultural adaptation, Furnham and
Bochner (1986) preferred the term cultural accommodation because it does not rely on
the concept of adjustment. The implication is that a sojourner does not need to adjust to a
new culture but, instead, to learn about its salient characteristics. The traveler may
84
mentally preserve the differences between cultures (emic approach) or may seek a new
outlook by combining the different viewpoints from both (etic approach).
In his book Excursions Henry Thoreau (1962) described the art of sauntering into
new environments and the changes that it might bring: “We should go forth on the
shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return—prepared to
send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms” (p. 162). Later,
in the same work, he wrote, “My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to
bathe my head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant” (p. 204).
In the 19th century, Karl Baedeker (1899) began writing tourist handbooks for
English and German travelers. His advice to tourists that were voyaging to the United
States was as follows: “The first requisites . . . are an absence of prejudice and a
willingness to accommodate oneself to the customs of the country. If the traveller [sic]
exercises a little patience, he will often find that ways which strike him as unreasonable
or even disagreeable are more suitable to the environment than those of his own home
would be” (p. xxx).
French author Pierre Loti (1895/1993) described accommodation during a desert
trek in a somewhat humorous way: “And then there was the very childish fun of putting
on our Arab outfits. . . . But the clothes are more suitable for the burning sun of the days
as well as for the cold of the nights” (p. 4). Later, after cold weather arrived, Then we realize that we are not really men of the tent, in spite of how attractive a nomad’s life might seem on beautiful sunlit days. The man of stone houses, who was created inside of us by ancestral teaching, is vaguely uncomfortable having no roof, no walls, and knowing that there aren’t any anywhere in this dark wilderness of appalling size. (p. 24)
85
Adaptation to a new environment involves some internal adjustment to the outside
world. Reason (1974) defined the three processes as sensory, perceptual, and skill
adaptation as follows:
1. In sensory adaptation a lessening of the sensation occurs when one is exposed
to a constant stimulus for some time. Thus, in cultures where household noise or nearby
traffic are common, the occupants tune these out and, in fact, might not be able to sleep if
they find themselves in too quiet an environment. When a sensory stimulus changes, it
tends to appear exaggerated in the opposite direction. This can be observed when
jumping into a tepid swimming pool on a hot day—the water feels much colder than it is.
For a traveler, new noises, odors, temperature, etc., can seem overwhelmingly unbearable
at first. But these will gradually be focused out.
2. In perceptual adaptation there is a gradual disappearance of the disturbance
when someone remains in a new situation for some time, but there is no reduction in the
intensity of sensory inputs.
3. Skill adaptation relies on the reorganization of incoming data and mentally
organizing bits of information into newly meaningful “packages.” Learning a new
language is a good example. What appear to be meaningless sounds become understood
words and phrases.
In their Theory of Intercultural Adaptation Gao and Gudykunst (1990) stated that
a reduction in uncertainty and anxiety increases the chances for successful acculturation
but that some degree of uncertainty and anxiety may be necessary just for sojourners to
perceive the need to adapt. They suggested that pretravel training include techniques for
sojourners to understand how contact with host nationals can affect their experience.
One key aspect is to teach observation skills that can be used to increase personal
awareness after arrival in the host culture—how to describe their observations, search out
alternative interpretations for different behavior, and decide on a culturally appropriate
86
interpretation of such behavior. These techniques allow for initial anxiety to be present,
while providing a means to alleviate anxiety that arises in situations that are beyond the
sojourner’s training and understanding.
The field of intercultural communication provides insight into sojourner
experiences from a transformational and developmental perspective. Psychologist Milton
Bennett (1986; 1998) defined six stages of intercultural development. Each stage
represents an increasing sensitivity to cultural difference and is based on concepts from
cognitive psychology and constructivism. The first three stages are ethnocentric—the
individual’s culture is central to reality. The second three stages are ethnorelative—the
individual’s culture is seen in context with other cultures. These concepts are similar to
the Perry Scheme of intellectual and ethical development. Bennett’s stages are:
1. Denial: Denial of difference. Lack of contact with new culture, unchallenged world-view, isolation.
2. Defense: Defense against difference. Counteractivity against differences, denigration and negative stereotyping, ethnocentrism, assumption of cultural superiority; or a reversal of these concepts where the host culture is seen as superior, and there is a denigration of one’s own culture.
3. Minimization: Attempt to preserve one’s own world-view. Trivialize differences, emphasize similarities, belief that all behaviors are innately the same.
4. Acceptance: Differences are acknowledged and respected; seen as a process rather than a set of traits.
5. Adaptation: Changes in behavior and thinking. Empathy and cultural pluralism. The ability to shift between diverse cultures.
6. Integration: Application of ethnorelativism to one’s own reality. Ability to evaluate phenomena relative to cultural context. (Bennett, 1986, pp. 181-186).
Of particular interest is the shift that occurs in acceptance (stage 4). “Difference”
is subjectively reformulated as a process instead of a thing. That is, people do not have
87
values, they value. They do not have behavioral differences, they behave. The result is
that people are seen as co-creators of their own reality. Bennett proposed pretravel
training that includes knowledge about the targeted culture. The degree of such training
must take into account the concept that greater transformation occurs through some stress
and culture shock. People should work on managing stress caused by culture shock
rather than eliminating it (Brislin, 1994, p. 78).
Perry (1970) suggested two ways to deal with stress in the dualistic position of
development where there is increasing complication and incongruity, to make the
experience a positive one: (1) confrontation with diversity that allows a person to
moderate its impact using steplike assimilation and accommodation; and (2) acquiring
analytic and synthetic skills of contextual thought to provide an alternative to helpless
despair in a world devoid of certainty (p. 88).
Richard Brislin (1994) defined four important areas of training for study abroad:
knowledge, skills, awareness, and emotions. He strongly recommended needs
assessment for trainees, and commensurate culture-general and culture-specific training
in these areas of weakness. Skills that help in cultural adjustment are the ability to
tolerate ambiguity, manage stress, establish realistic expectations, and demonstrate
flexibility and empathy
(p. 89).
Cultural styles of interaction can be a source of frustration. Peng and Nisbett
(1999) stated that Eastern (Chinese) ways of dealing with contradiction are dialectic, in
that responses retain opposing perspectives by seeking a middle ground. In Western
cultures, contradictory perspectives are polarized to determine which fact or position is
correct. Characteristics of the latter framework include (a) pursuit of a single truth, (b)
construction of counter-arguments, and (c) preference for consistency (p. 750). The most
optimal way of dealing with contradiction depends on the situation, but Peng and Nisbett
88
stressed that “dialectical reasoning may be preferable for negotiating intelligently in
complex social interactions” (p. 751).
In a treatise on the psychology of travel, Maurice Farber (1954) defined a kind of
destination neurosis: Arrival in a foreign country often entails euphoria and exhilaration. In a very real sense, a psychoneurosis may have been left behind, at least insofar as the pathological inter-personal relations are now attenuated over a great distance. In the anonymity of travel, feelings of self-hatred may slough off. To be sure, this happy state does not last indefinitely, for soon new relationships are established on the old neurotic basis. The neurosis, in a manner of speaking, arrives on a later boat. (p. 269)
Roland Taft (1977) outlined a framework of cultural adaptation that defined
commonality in a wide variety of situations. He noted four major aspects of the process:
(a) cultural adjustment – the functioning of the personality; (b) identification – changes in
the person’s reference groups, personal models, and social identity; (c) cultural
competence – acquiring new knowledge and skill; and (d) role acculturation – adoption
of new culturally defined roles (Taft, 1977, p. 146). All of these aspects apply to the way
a person restructures the world, and involve cognitive, dynamic, and performance
processes.
In an American Psychologist article, Hubert Hermans and Harry Kempen (1998)
discussed the phenomenon of hybridization that occurs as a result of cultural connections.
They argued against the concept of homogenous loss of cultural differences, or the idea
of a uniform or diluted culture developing across nations, in favor of the concept of a
recombination of existing forms of thought and behavior (etic adaptation). Hannerz (as
cited in Hermans & Kempen, 1998) proposed the idea of a cultural flow, as opposed to
the view of culture having a single essence. He described three dimensions of a dynamic
culture:
89
1. Ideas and modes of thought: Concepts, values, and mental operations that people within a social unit carry together.
2. Forms of externalization: Ways in which ideas are made public and accessible.
3. Social distribution: Ways in which ideas are spread over a population and its social relationships. (p. 1115)
Peter Adler (1994) continued the theme of dialectic adaptation on an individual
level. He described the dawning of a multicultural person who has an abiding
commitment to essential similarities between people, while paradoxically maintaining a
strong commitment to their differences. Instead of eliminating cultural differences, this
person seeks to preserve what is significant and valuable in each culture. What is new is
a change in the structure of self-identity. Instead of a “sense of belonging” there is a
more fluid self-consciousness able to maneuver over new forms of reality. Such a person
lives on the edge of formative thinking, shifting between boundaries, neither a part of nor
totally apart from one culture, but continually recreating a self-image (p. 243).
In research on international students adjusting to life in the United States, Aydin
(1997) found certain personality traits and earlier developmental experiences that
improved the chances of a successful experience. Eight personality traits noted as
adaptive traits were: initiative, tolerance, trust in people, expectations, social adaptability,
personal control, interpersonal interest, and risk-taking. The strongest predictors of
successful adjustment were tolerance, father’s care, personal control, and trust in people.
These patterns show the importance of early relationships with parents in developing
effective attachment styles that can be used later in experiencing separation from one’s
country and adapting to new environments.
The Cavalli-Sforzas (1995) supported the idea of cultural hybridization in their
book The Great Human Diasporas: The History of Diversity and Evolution by stating
that for change to occur some alternative practice must be available—innovation can be
90
compared to a “cultural mutation.” Clifford (as cited in Hermans & Kempen, 1998) used
the word “travel” as a metaphor for capturing the dynamics of cultural
interconnectedness. This definition decentralizes the notion of cultural influence in that
the remaking of one’s self-identity occurs through multiple and increasingly broad and
complex experiences.
Parin (1980) further described the process whereby we see all unfamiliar cultures
as similar to each other, in the sense that they are primitive. This error occurs when we
view alien people from our own emotional needs and thought patterns. While Western civilization is inexorable undermining, transforming, or destroying most other cultures, our own feeling of discontent with our culture is becoming more and more acute. We are constantly wondering whether there may not be, somewhere in the world, better sociopsychological solutions than we have been able to find—a way of bringing up children to be freer, happier persons. . . . Indeed, a great deal would be achieved if we could learn to understand alien peoples better” (Parin, 1980, p. 372).
Language reflects our vision of the world. Insup Taylor (1976) described
linguistic differences that represent, preserve, and perpetuate different world-views.
These differences influence cognitive and perceptual performance and methods of
categorizing and labeling events. Milton Bennett (1986) stated: “Languages are more
than simply different codes with which to communicate ideas. They are conveyers of
culturally integrated world views” (p. 46). Cook-Greuter (1989) agreed that language not
only reflects human experience, but it also organizes and filters it.
One of the founders of intercultural relations, Edward T. Hall, drew upon the
theories of Freud and Jung to describe the unconscious nature of culture. Hall (1981)
stated that to move beyond our own culture and become aware of what is unconscious
requires a separation crisis. He referred to this process as psychoanalytic “identity-
separation-growth dynamism” (p. 227). According to Hopcke (1997), Jungian
91
psychology strives to retrieve the childlike innocence of the unknown and the
foundations of one’s existence. Travel can open similar doors. The process of adaptation
to a new culture offers many avenues of self-discovery.
Reentry
Cultural readjustment, reacculturation, or reentry shock have been used to define
the process of readapting to the home environment (Martin, 1986). Relationships with
parents, siblings, and friends can change both positively and negatively. Reentry
syndrome is not limited to external boundaries—the locus is internal. Thus, it can begin
in the foreign country (when the sojourner anticipates the return home) or some time after
the physical return (the sojourner continues to act as if still in the foreign culture). Not
only has the traveler changed, but friends at home may have changed.
The penalty for being able to adjust successfully to new conditions is that the
orientation centers of the brain learn these new patterns as “normal.” Thus, when
individuals return to the original home environment, old patterns have to be relearned
(Reason, 1974). Initially, the resulting disturbances from change can be as severe as they
were during the first exposure to a new culture and environment, but since the
characteristics are familiar, the readaptation process is more rapid.
Kohls (1986) reiterated that travelers returning home are no longer the innocent
people they were when they left. People are raised to believe their own cultural behavior
and values are absolute, but through travel they see there are hundreds of other effective
sets of values and assumptions. After experiencing this ‘mind-blowing’ fact, one must
then return home to friends and family who do not share the same truths (p. xxi).
In a study of 62 short-term (six weeks) study abroad students, compared with 21
students in a U.S. based-control group, Nafziger (1996) found that the U-Curve of culture
shock for reentry adjustment did not occur at either the individual or group levels.
92
Interestingly, on returning to college after a break, the study abroad group had a higher
level of depressive symptoms after the first week, especially if they had previous
experience living overseas, but the control group showed higher depressive symptoms
after the third week. This might indicate a stronger ability to readjust, with greater
sensitivity to environmental change.
Judith Martin (1986) stressed the importance of communication as a means to
successful readjustment, through renegotiating relationships between family and friends.
In a study of 173 returning students from study abroad homestay programs, parent
relationships were perceived as changing more positively than relationships with friends
and siblings (p. 11). This may be understood contextually, because sojourners usually
return home more self-reliant, independent, and mature—frames of behavior that appear
more “adult” to the parents.
Swinger (1985) warned of surprises on reentry, unrealistic expectations from
family and friends, and an inability to communicate multicultural experiences. Often
negative news from home (pet died, car damaged, etc.) has been withheld until the return.
Also, what seems natural while people are immersed in the daily routine of another
culture does not translate well upon return home. It is difficult to give up what was
enjoyed abroad, which can result in criticism of, and disappointment in, the home culture.
On a more positive note, travel has an impact that lasts a lifetime. Zikman (1999)
summarized the reflections upon returning home: So much seems to have changed. People, places, the discussion at the table. Not the way we remember it. We see things with different eyes, traveler’s eyes. We notice things we once overlooked. We talk with people we once ignored. We visit places we once neglected. We listen to viewpoints we once dismissed. We’re sensitized to our own environment. We are alive, alive at Home. (p. 151)
93
Willa Cather (1956/1988) noted in a diary on her first trip to Europe the strong
influences a new location can generate: Out of every wandering in which people and places come and go in long successions there is always one place remembered above the rest because the external or internal conditions were such that they most nearly produced happiness. I am sure that for me that one place will always be Lavandou. . . . One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance, in a lucky hour, at the world’s end somewhere, and holds fast to the days, as to fortune or fame. (p. 158)
Pierre Loti (1924), French naval captain and author, described the lasting
impressions of travel: One experiences certain indefinite impressions in every spot which seem to depend on circumstances and are especially dependent on climate, the turn of the countryside, the smell of the country. Leaving, one takes a few along; but some are always left and one only reclaims those later, on returning. (p. 25)
Author Italo Calvino (1979), whose book Invisible Cities stretches our
understanding of personal perception with this description of the unforgettable mythical
city Zora: “This city which cannot be expunged from the mind is like an armature, a
honeycomb in whose cells each of us can place the things he wants to remember” (p. 16).
Pico Iyer (1997) described the feelings one may experience when ready to depart for
home. The saddest good-byes are “those we say to ourselves, at foreign airports, as we
shed the daring and irresponsible selves we have come to acquire abroad, and recollect
our normal working lives” (p. 194).
Once you have left home and experienced a new culture you will never be the
same again. No one ever really goes home, because home isn’t just a place we inhabit;
it’s a lifestyle we construct—a pattern of routines, habits, and behaviors that are
associated with unique people, places, and things (Storti, 1965). Anthropologist Carlos
94
Castaneda (1972) described this hauntingly in Journey to Ixtlan, his name for that
mythical, sought-after “home”: You will find yourself alive in an unknown land. Then, as is natural to all of us, the first thing you will want to do is to start on your way back to Los Angeles. But there is no way to go back to Los Angeles. What you left there is lost forever. . . . at a time like that what’s important to all of us is the fact that everything we love or hate or wish for has been left behind. . . . your idea of the world [has changed] . . . and when that changes, the world itself changes. (p. 265)
Positive Regression
Many theorists describe a type of regression, fragmentation, or emotional
disintegration that occurs when individuals suddenly find themselves forced to adapt to a
new situation (Erikson, 1964; Dabrowski, 1964; Adler, 1975; Brein, 1971; Perry, 1970).
Whether this experience is pathological or not depends on the type, severity, and duration
of the regression. Psychiatrist Maurice Farber (1954) indicated that one of the reasons
people travel may be the freeing and emergence of repressed behavior. Leaving behind
persons associated with restricted ideas (parents or peers) has a liberating effect.
Perry (1970) described forms of early development that appear to repeat in later
development at levels of more abstract experience, an idea that originated with Piaget’s
concept of vertical décolage. This recapitulated development from an egocentric to a
more objective position recurs at each stage of the Perry scheme. The term regression is
used to mean a “retreat into previously prepared positions” and not an escape. Perry
continued: Growth, we felt, usually occurred in stages. Between the stages, a person might pause to explore the implications of his new position, or he might lie fallow, waiting for the resurgence of strength to meet the new challenge. On occasion he might even have to detach himself from the whole business, or retreat to old positions. (pp. 177-178)
95
The theory of positive disintegration was developed by Polish psychiatrist
Kazimierz Dabrowski (1964, 1977a, 1977b). This theory focused on the development of
personality and values. Disintegration refers to a broad range of processes from
emotional disharmony to complete fragmentation of the personality. These reactions are
usually considered negative, but Dabrowski had a different view. He believed that
advanced development requires some psychological disintegration to lower, earlier rote
levels of functioning. Although he proposed that a strong developmental potential was
genetically established, triggered by emotional overexcitement toward life’s crises, his
theories apply to persons at all levels of development to some degree. Of importance is
his stress that what may be considered by some people as pathological symptoms of
psychoneuroses, disintegration, or social maladjustment may actually be positive
reactions, used in establishing an autonomous personality and resolving conflict.
Dabrowski defined five levels of disintegration and reintegration:
1. Primary Integration. Behavior is guided by biological impulses and uncritical adherence to social convention.
2. Unilevel Disintegration. Reactions to brief and often intense crises on one dimension (e.g., puberty or an external stressful event). A temporary, transitional state.
3. Spontaneous Multilevel Disintegration. Vertical conflicts caused by an involuntary perception of choices in life. Disharmony and a drive to review and reconstruct one’s life follows.
4. Organized Multilevel Disintegration. A deliberate, conscious, and self-directed review of life from multiple perspectives. New values are reflected in new behavior.
5. Secondary Integration. Behavior is guided by conscious, carefully weighed decisions based upon an individualized hierarchy of personal values. Inner conflict is minimal.
96
To Dabrowski, crises present conditions for personal growth, which includes
personal examination of the world and one’s values. He regarded conflict as a feeling of
internal inferiority toward oneself as opposed to Adler’s concept of inferiority, which is
based on comparison with others (Aronson, 1964, p. xvi). The development of self (self-
awareness, self-control, and self-criticism) is seen as a third factor, combined with the
influences of heredity and environment. When stress appears, individuals are encouraged
to take a developmental view of their situations. Rather than eliminate symptoms, these
are reframed to yield insight and understanding into personal behavior and choice.
Experiencing crises in new situations can thus be considered a form of
autopsychotherapy. Psychoanalysis emphasizes a similar disequilibrium between id, ego,
and superego, which may lead to pathology, to new defenses, or to growth. Reality is
viewed as a metaphorical screen on which one projects inner conflicts (Aronson, 1964).
Dabrowski stated that a basic condition for self-education is a high level of self-
awareness and recognition of one’s internal environment: “Realization of the
complexities of both the internal and the external environment and of one’s own
hierarchy of values enables one to reach a higher level of integration through
autopsychotherapy, not merely to return to the previous state” (Dabrowski, 1964, p. 120).
In his description of conflict as necessary grounds for personal development
Dabrowski was in accord with Erikson. When the human being, because of accidental or developmental shifts, loses an essential wholeness, he restructures himself and the world by taking recourse to what we may call totalism. It would be wise to abstain from considering this a merely regressive or infantile mechanism. It is an alternate, if more primitive, way of dealing with experience, and thus has, at least in transitory states, a certain adjustment and survival value. It belongs to normal psychology. (Erikson, 1964, p. 93)
97
Continuing the theme of positive regression as a means for growth, Erikson
(1950) stated that personal ego integration involves a recapitulation of earlier battles: A lasting ego identity, we have said, cannot begin to exist without the trust of the first oral stage; it cannot be completed without a promise of fulfillment which from the dominant image of adulthood reaches down into the baby’s beginnings and which, by the tangible evidence of social health, creates at every step an accruing sense of ego strength. (p. 218)
Edward T. Hall (1981) agreed with the need for crisis and reintegration: “From
birth to death, life is punctuated by separations, many of them painful. Paradoxically,
each separation forms a foundation for new stages of integration, identity, and psychic
growth.”
John Bowlby (1982), in his studies on childhood development, discussed the
concept of regression during times of anxiety or stress. Although immature behavior
persists in some adults in a psychopathic sense, there are other times when completely
mature people may regress: “Juvenile patterns are often seen in adults when adult
patterns prove ineffective or when, in conditions of conflict, adult patterns become
disorganized” (p. 143). Bowlby suggested that attachment behavior in adults is
considered natural when it occurs after illness or sudden danger, but that it is misleading
to use the term “regressive” since this term carries a pathological connotation (p. 208).
Roland Taft (1977) wrote that “the process of adapting to a new society
corresponds in some respects to that involved in becoming a member of society in the
first place, although there is the important difference that resocialization and
reacculturation involve a transformation of an existing state of affairs” (p. 127). He
noted that, in adapting to situations of extreme cultural discontinuity, some kind of
desocialization might be necessary before resocialization can occur. Taft continued on
this theme by describing the symptoms of culture shock: “The loss of mastery is
98
equivalent to infantile regression; that is, the newcomer is reduced to a state of ignorance
and weakness in which seemingly everyday matters have to be explained to him so that
he becomes dependent” (p. 142).
In psychiatric terms, a fear of fragmentation of the personality, or disintegration
anxiety, often occurs when patients are exposed to a repeat of earlier experiences that
interfered with development of the self (APP, 1994, p. 87). This reaction is sometimes
felt as a fear of falling apart or loss of identity. At the same time, an aspect of regression
described as “positive disintegration” has been shown to enhance the learning process
(Dabrowski, 1964).
Psychoanalyst Paul Cantalupo (1978) defined one of the reasons that anxiety may
lead to regression. He suggested that some people succumb to psychiatric disturbances
due to preadolescent parental loss (through death, or absence of one month from divorce,
military duty, or illness, etc.), which causes an arrest of development. Such a person then
fixates on this loss and the parent involved, which “frequently triggers a regression—
periodically, throughout adult life—to the developmental levels prior to the loss” (p. 21).
This happens due to four factors:
1. A splitting in the unity of a person’s self image.
2. The remaining parent sometimes becomes unavailable due to mourning.
3. The child denies the loss.
4. The loss sends a child into a “fantasy” of rejection by the lost parent.
Thus, past patterns may be a factor in determining a student’s ability to adjust to a
new culture, where a repeat of developmental stages is part of the adjustment to new
social rules. If such patterns exist, the student can be encouraged to seek out assistance
when stress becomes excessive. Through such experiences, students can “reexperience”
99
and “relearn” behavior patterns related to earlier loss, and thus reintegrate parts of their
self-image.
In more general terms, Zikman (1999) described “relearning” earlier forms of
behavior in a “fast-forward mode” through travel: Travel is finding solutions to problems we encounter and continuing ahead. . . . Moments that seem like steps backwards are now recognized as steps forward. (p. 114) We scurry up a massive learning curve. Everything is inviting. We strive to make sense of all that’s out there. As much as we can, we struggle to participate in what’s before us. We act and react. We ask and listen. We learn about the people we meet and the places we visit. Ultimately, we learn about ourselves. (p. 69)
Peter Adler (1975), author of The Transitional Experience: An Alternative View
of Culture Shock, redefined culture shock, which can have negative connotations, with
the term transitional experience. This suggests a more positive experience of
transformative growth and learning. During his assignment in India with the Peace Corps
he began to realize the positive benefits of cross-cultural adaptation. He suggested that
“psychological movements into new dimensions of perception and new environments of
experience tend to produce forms of personality disintegration” (p. 15). He concurred
with Dabrowski that disintegration is the basis for upward development, creation of new
dynamics, and personality growth.
Regarding terminology, this author prefers the phrase positive regression instead
of positive disintegration, because the latter carries a “Humpty-Dumpty-esque”
connotation of not being able to return to a whole. Although regression is seen as
negative in the literature, it implies a temporary state from which one can return to a
complete self, albeit a different self.
100
The processes of perception and reaction are learned at an early age. Once
formed, they change slowly. Marshall Singer (1987) proposed that we change only when
we are “confronted by some event that is so dramatic and/or discordant with an attitude,
value, identity, or belief that we have held dear that we are forced to reevaluate” (p. 11).
Cross-cultural adaptation involves and requires both stressful and growth
experiences that lead toward greater internal capacity to cope and subsequent ability to
adapt. Young Yun Kim (1988) introduced the concept of regression in her theory of
acculturation when she described the cultural adaptation process as consisting of
transformation through successive interplay of degeneration and regeneration. She
defined the process as nonlinear, often resulting in a change of internal attributes and
self-identity. The catalyst to cultural learning is social communication and interaction
with the host country and language.
Harwood (1995), in the book Culture and Attachment, summarized the
attachment theories of Bowlby and Ainsworth as they pertain to adaptation to a new
environment: “Bowlby’s view of the development of an internal working model focused
on two key factors: the amount of stress on the attachment system, and the availability of
the attachment figure to help alleviate that stress” (p. 5). Either too much stress or a
relatively unavailable secure contact can lead to an internal perception of the
environment as dangerous and the self as ineffectual. This may leave the child afraid to
explore new situations, lacking in self-confidence, uncertain about safety, and distrustful
of the reliability of others.
Social psychologist Ainsworth elaborated on Bowlby’s theories by extending the
formula to include internal perception beyond actual fact: “The awareness of potential
safety renders a possibly dangerous situation less alarming” (Harwood et al., 1995, p. 7).
The goal of attachment behaviors thus includes the child’s subjective sense of safety,
which allows greater freedom of exploration and relating to others. Thus, a sense of
101
security in a new situation is related to contextual variants that may include setting,
familiarity, preceding events, mood, and development level. These are the same factors
that arouse culture shock when one adapts to a new environment.
Sullivan (as cited in Harper, 1959) considered anxiety a powerful force in the
formation of self. But if too strong in the early years of development, people could
become “inferior caricatures of what they might have been” (p. 67). He worked with
schizophrenics to help reduce the anxiety caused by parataxic distortions of self and
reality. Sullivan stressed the therapeutic value of comparing one’s thoughts and feelings
with others, which he termed “consensual validation.” Thus, life itself, and not only
psychotherapy, can provide corrective experiences.
More recently, Anthony (McGuire, 2000) developed methods of treating
schizophrenia that places emphasis on the potential for growth in the individual, instead
of the medical pathological disease model. This approach provides for a continuously
staffed nonthreatening place for the patient to go for symptom relief and crisis
intervention, much like the “treatment” for culture shock! Patients in the program
reported that the turning point in their recovery was finding a caring mentor they could
trust (p. 27).
Weaver (1994) argued that culture shock may be a temporary form of
schizophrenia. Symptoms such as heightened anxiety, illogical thinking, and withdrawal
from reality are similar in both. Persons from both situations feel overwhelmed by their
environments. Weaver noted the similarity to the work of psychiatrist Henry Stack
Sullivan, who acknowledged the positive aspects of a schizophrenic episode. The
conclusion was that experiencing culture shock can be creatively constructive—not a
breakdown but a breakthrough. The idea that schizophrenia can lead to personal growth
is found in the theories of Kazimierz Dabrowski, Edward Hall, Richard Hughes, Karl
Menninger, Harry Stack Sullivan, John Perry, R. D. Laing, and Anton Boisen (Hall,
102
1981; Silverman, 1994). Weaver (1994) agreed that “an experience close to psychosis
may be required to take one outside the collective pressures and assumptions of our
culture”
(p. 175).
Iyer (1998) defined travel in terms of regression to an earlier state in his article
“Why We Travel” noting that when we are abroad we “live without a past or future, for a
moment at least, and are ourselves up for grabs and open to interpretation. . . . The great
promise of it is that, traveling, we are born again and able to return at moments to a
younger and a more open kind of self. To a small extent traveling is a way to reverse
time . . . and of surrounding ourselves, as in childhood, with what we cannot understand”
(Iyer, 1998, p. 34).
Paul Cantalupo (1987) researched the regression that adolescents go through
when trying to become independent. Cantalupo noted that teenagers literally experience
a second phase of separation, similar to the first one at around age two. Low self-esteem
occurs with the awareness that they cannot make it on their own, and anxiety increases
due to conflicts of wanting to be independent. They go through mourning reactions of
denial, anger, guilt, grief, and eventual resignation. Pedersen (1995) concurred that the
process of cultural assimilation is similar to other autonomous or independence-seeking
stages of life. These stages/feelings are potentially “re-experienced” as another phase of
separation when students visit another culture, and come to the realization that they do
not have the skills to be independent. If earlier experiences of separation at age two and
in the teenage years were traumatic, adults may experience greater culture shock at a
sudden loss of independence and competency skills, and regress to previous traumatic
milestone behaviors.
Paul Pedersen (1995) described a set of “critical incidents” that occurred during a
student study tour at sea. In many cases regression to more infantile perceptions and
103
behavior occurred during times of stress or cultural challenges: “The individual may
experience an acute sense of profound loss and disorientation regarding what can be
expected of others and what others can expect of the individual. This sense of being
different, isolated, and inadequate seems permanent, together with bewilderment,
alienation, depression, and withdrawal” (p. 79). Two of Pedersen’s students got onto the
wrong bus while visiting Brazil and later described their reactions in a journal: “As we
got further into the countryside, we got very panicky . . . I thought for the rest of my life
we would be caught in backward, tiny villages and no one would be able to find me” (p.
89). Another student experienced fear when the lights went out at a train station in India:
“It was all I could do to keep my wits about me. I couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes and
needed to sort out my thoughts” (p. 111). On another day, I was alone in a country where I did not speak the language. . . . Feelings of fear, anxiety, complete unawareness of who I was, uncertainty of getting back to the ship. . . . I learned much about myself. Especially that being surrounded by foreigners with nobody to talk to is very difficult. I think that I have found my greatest fear, it’s not death but loneliness. (p. 114)
These feelings of abandonment and separation anxiety are not unlike those related
to birth, separation from the mother, or attending school for the first time.
Popular literature often contains the concept of regression when experiencing a
new or strange place. Susan Spano (1998), in her interesting article “Some Lessons in
the Art of Getting Lost in Strange Places,” illustrated the initial contact with a new
culture, which is especially intense when accompanied by jet lag: “Landing in a foreign
city where you don’t speak the language and can’t even read street signs is likely to turn
any traveler into a panicked preschooler separated from Mom” (p. L7).
Iyer (1989) continued the theme of regression:
104
If every journey makes us wiser about the world, it also returns us to a sort of childhood. In alien parts, we speak more simply, in our own or some other language, move more freely, unencumbered by the histories that we carry around at home, and look more excitedly, with eyes of wonder. . . . The romance with the foreign must certainly be leavened with a spirit of keen and unillusioned realism; but it must also be observed with a measure of faith. (p. 23)
As children grow they are influenced by others’ descriptions of their world until
they begin to agree with these views. From that moment on, the child is a member of
society. Henceforth, his/her perceptions validate this description. Don Juan suggested to
Carlos Castaneda that he “erase personal history” to free himself of the encumbering
thoughts predetermined by other people. He proposed: “Begin with simple things, such
as not revealing what you really do. Then you must leave everyone who knows you well.
This way you’ll build up a fog around yourself, an exciting and mysterious state of
unknown anticipation” (Castaneda, 1972, p. 14).
Howard Gruber (1984) outlined the theories of developmental psychology as
either Apollonian (steady growth to a tranquil state of adulthood) or Dionysian (perpetual
conflict throughout life). Both of these concepts involve species-specific cycles. In
psychoanalytic theory the suffering is doubled because one must symbolically reenact the
early trauma of first suffering in order to understand and grow. These repeated cycles are
types of regression that allow for struggle and eventual resolution. Table 2.3 compares
various theories of development with the regression experiences of travel.
In dialectic thought form and struggle are not just repetitive behaviors but involve
continuous new adaptations to changing circumstances. To those who dislike change, it
becomes a burden; to those who embrace change, it becomes a challenge and a pleasure.
People with a positive developing self-consciousness see a world in constant transition
and understand their ever-changing relationships within it.
105
Table 2.3 Comparison of Developmental Stages to Travel Regression
LOEVINGER Stages & Levels
KOHLBERG PIAGET ERIKSON TRAVEL REGRESSION
A. Presocial Stage Construction of reality Self differentiation Object constancy
1. Sensorimotor Dazed on arrival Culture shock
B. Symbiotic Stage Dependent on mother Language development
1. Trust vs. mistrust 2. Autonomy vs. shame & doubt
Separation anxiety Limited language Mistrust
C. Impulsive Stage Stereotyping “Present” orientation External locus of control Absolutes (right vs. wrong) Rules not understood
1. Heteronomous morality Punishment and obedience Egocentric
2. Preoperational 3. Initiative vs. guilt
Stereotyping Confusion “Place” is source of problems New culture wrong
D. Self-Protective Stage Controlling Opportunistic Vulnerable, Blame Rules are to be broken Rituals Ridicule others External blame Manipulative Values money and things
2. Individualism and purpose Rewards & self interest Naive instrumental hedonism
3. Concrete operational
4. Industry vs. inferiority
Fear Hostility Vulnerable Self-protective Ridicule others Blame others
E. Conformist Stage Conceptual Simplicity Group standards & rules Trust Social conformity Rule-oriented behavior Actions are judged “Right” is the same for all Guilt feelings
3. Interpersonal norms Good relations and approval
4. Early formal operational
(4b. Affiliation vs. abandonment)**
Superficial relationships Shame of ignorance Guilt for breaking social rules Appearances important
F. Self-Aware Level* Conceptual Multiplicity Transition state Multiple alternatives Not stereotypic Pseudo-traits Gender roles “Norm” for adults
4. Social system morality Law and order
Role confusion Adjustment problems Homesick Self-conscious Lonely Embarrassed
(Continued on next page)
106
LOEVINGER Stages & Levels
KOHLBERG PIAGET ERIKSON TRAVEL REGRESSION
G. Conscientious Stage Complexity Evaluations and goals Self-criticism Responsibility Internalized rules, not absolute Internal locus of control Broader perspectives, but polar opposites
5. Community rights vs. individual rights Democratic Societal orientation
4. Full formal operational
5. Identity vs. role diffusion
Self-evaluative Responsibility for self Acknowledging differences
H. Individualistic Level* Individuality Emotional dependence Awareness of inner conflict replace morals Tolerate contradictions
6. Universal ethical principles Individual conscience
6. Intimacy vs. isolation
Respect for individuality Social challenges Tolerates contradictions
I. Autonomous Stage Accept and cope with inner conflict: needs and duties Reality complex and multifaceted Tolerate ambiguity Self-fulfillment goal
(5. Post-formal dialectic)**
7. Generativity vs. stagnation 8. Ego integrity vs. despair
Fully reintegrated in new culture Accepts change and tolerates ambiguity
J. Integrated Stage Consolidated identity
Fully bicultural
* Considered a level between stages. Loevinger (1976, pp. 15-28, 77, 83). ** Kegan (1982, p. 86).
Summary
The theory of personal growth through travel and study abroad includes the
concept of positive regression. Travelers find themselves suddenly in an environment
where they may reexperience the stages and challenges of earlier childhood development.
A kind of “regressive self-awareness therapy” results from culture shock, retreat to
earlier forms of behavior, and reintegration. Bipolar in form, euphoric or traumatic, the
severity of regression, self-evaluation, adaptation, and reintegration depends on
individual personality characteristics, the availability of support during crises, and levels
of ego development.
107
CHAPTER 3.
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to explore how and why travel and study abroad
affect personal growth and career consolidation, and whether adapting to a new culture
emulates earlier stages of psychological development through positive regression. The
participants were college alumni five or more years after graduation who have had an
opportunity to explore career options. Specifically the study sought to provide
descriptive answers to the following questions:
1. What are the personality and cognitive traits that differ between study abroad and non-study abroad alumni?
2. Does the study abroad experience result in a different level of self-awareness and focus toward career goals and success?
3. Does adapting to a new culture repeat patterns of earlier stages of development?
The research hypothesis stated: If college age adults study abroad for more than
two months in a new environment where culture and language are a challenge, then they
will reexperience earlier psychological stages of childhood development where
communication and independent functioning were limited. By working rapidly back
through these experiences to obtain a state of equilibrium, using adult skills and modeling
samples taken from the new culture, they will learn more about themselves—how they
perceive problems and determine solutions. These new insights will lead to greater self-
identity and self-esteem, increased ability to adapt to new situations, potential
“correction” of psychological lessons learned ineffectively earlier in life, and expanded
self-knowledge and insights for career consolidation and personal satisfaction.
108
The methodology used a quasi-experimental, retrospective quantitative design—
nomothetic between-subject applied research conducted on sample groups to identify
general principles of behavior. The three randomly selected sample population groups
were: (1) college graduates who have studied abroad; (2) college graduates who have not
traveled or studied abroad; and (3) matched pairs consisting of those who have not
studied abroad and those with similar demographics in the study abroad sample.
Literature review that influenced the design of this study included many
psychological theories of development (Piaget, Erikson, Kohlberg, Dabrowski,
Loevinger, Chickering, Perry, Marcia, Moshman, Basseches, etc.), general anecdotal and
autobiographical statements (Cather, Twain, Thoreau, Emerson, Durrell, etc.), and travel
nonfiction (Chatwin, Loti, Theroux, Iyer, etc.). This broad spectrum of review across
many disciplines was necessary to show the popular beliefs associated with personal
change through travel.
The hypothesis was based on: (a) an investigative metatheoretical qualitative
analysis of the stages of developmental psychology; (b) research on travel, adapting to
new environments, study abroad and culture shock; (c) theories of cognitive development
in young adults, including dialectic thinking; (d) the psychological concepts of regression
and positive disintegration, (e) self-reported study abroad questionnaire responses from
previous studies; and (f) the personal experience of the researcher.
Constructs
The independent variable in this study was the experience of study abroad, and
the dependent variables were personal growth and career consolidation. Those aspects of
study abroad that reflect earlier psychological developmental learning stages and
experiences were explored as they related to adaptation to a new culture. Thus, study
abroad was used as a design conduit for emulating and recalling past cognitive learning
109
and activities, much as regression therapy and psychoanalysis do in their own unique
ways. [It is important to note that academic content, educational practices, and
administration of a study abroad program were not the concentrations of this project.]
Instead, the personal experience of cultural adaptation during travel was explored as it
related to self-awareness and growth.
All of the constructs for independent and dependent variables are complex. For
purposes of this study, to select and design the survey instruments and control for
interaction or threats to internal validity, construct variables were broken down in the
following manner:
Study Abroad is defined as an experience that includes the independent
subvariables noted below. Participants who did not fit the parameters were not included
in the study abroad sample in order to control confounds to validity. The demographic
portion of the Personality Career Inventory (PCI) asked questions about the following
parameters:
1. Communication Challenges: The new culture utilized a different language
other than the participant’s native tongue, or any additional languages of
fluency.
2. Individual Autonomy: Independent activity was required within the new
environment, such as use of public transportation, banks, post office, etc.
3. Perception: Cultural differences in general beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions.
4. Emotional Constructs: Situations existed where culture shock or stress were
factors, e.g., not a “fully guided” experience.
5. Maturation/History: Persons who have traveled extensively before or after the
college study abroad experience were not used as participants in this study.
110
Personal Growth included the following dependent subvariables, which were
components of the test items in the PCI.
1. Emotional Resilience
2. Personal Autonomy
3. Flexibility/Openness
4. Self-Awareness
Career Choice involved the following dependent subvariables that were included
in the inventory items of the PCI:
1. Increased focus on career goals
2. Changed directions of career choice
3. Perceived increase in job acquisition and communication skills
Developmental Traits involved the following dependent subvariables that were
included in the inventory items of the PCI:
1. Altered Perceptions
2. Adaptability
3. Communication Challenges
4. Regression
5. Self-Concept
Instruments and Validity
This study used a mailed survey of dual-choice questions and open-ended
inquiries. The instruments used included the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS)
(Keirsey, 1998), an internally developed Personality Career Inventory (PCI) that
contained operational content based on the validated but now obsolete Omnibus
111
Personality Inventory (OPI) (Heist & Yonge, 1968) and survey items that reflected
positive regression and experiential learning. The KTS results were analyzed, printed,
and returned to the participants in the form of a Career Assessment Report.
In the area of validity, it is important to remember the process of research data
collection and findings. Farber (1954) throws some light on the methodology of the
analysis of travel by the application of existing concepts and knowledge of mechanisms: As with most human activities socially rather than psychologically defined, we are faced with multi-motivational constellations interacting within themselves, susceptible of some generalization but differing among individuals. The observations are presented as hypotheses, but as hypotheses possessing a degree of validity because of their consonance with a body of psychological material which has proved its value. (p. 271)
Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS)
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS) is a 70-item, dual-choice personality
test (Keirsey, 1998). It uses the attributes of four temperament pairs to assess preferences
and potential career choice. It is similar to other devices derived from Carl Jung’s theory
of “psychological types,” such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) developed by
Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs, the Singer-Loomis, and the Grey-Wheelright. The
KTS was chosen because it is much shorter than the MBTI and his increased the
likelihood of participants taking the survey, but it has not been formally validated. Thus,
it should be considered an “introduction” to personality types. According to Berens
(1996) both the KTS and MBTI have an error rate of 25%. The MBTI has correlations of
± .70, an acceptable range. She continued to state that while there is no published data on
the Keirsey Sorter the initial correlations of reliability and validity were at acceptable
levels (Berens, 1996).
The KTS questionnaire identifies four temperament sets. The descriptive words
in square brackets below are what Jung intended in his personality types (Keirsey, 1998,
112
p. 12). The four temperament sets are: (1) Expressive/Attentive (Reserved), (2)
Introspective/Observant, (3) Tender-Minded (Friendly)/Tough, and (4)
Probing/Scheduled. These are graphed in eight categories, and a Temperament Indicator
based on the 16 MBTI temperaments (see Appendix) is identified in pairs (e.g., Rational:
NT), along with the Variant Temperament indicating a potential professional industry
using four traits (e.g., Architect: INTP). Data were collected by the researcher and
scored, then returned to participants as part of the Career Assessment Report.
Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI)
The Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI) Form F is a personality instrument
composed of 385 items (Heist & Yonge, 1968). It was constructed primarily to assess
selected attitudes, values, and interests relevant to intellectualism and social-emotional
adjustment. There are 14 scales as follows: Thinking Introversion (TI), which measures
reflective thought; Theoretical Orientation (TO), which measures problem solving and
use of the scientific method in thinking; Estheticism (ES), which assesses interest in
esthetic stimuli; Complexity (CO), which assesses tolerance for ambiguity and
uncertainty; Autonomy (AU), which measures nonauthoritarian thinking and
independence; Religious Orientation (RO), which assesses degree of religious liberalism;
Social Extroversion (SE), which assesses preferred style of interpersonal relating;
Impulse Expression (IE), which assesses readiness to speak or act quickly; Personal
Integration (PI), which assesses degree of personal adjustment; Anxiety Level (AL),
which assesses social anxiety and adjustment; Altruism (AM), which indicates concern
for others; Practical Outlook (PO), which measures interest in practical activities and
materialism; Masculinity-Femininity (MF), which assesses differences in attitudes
between men and women; and Response Bias (RB), which assesses response reliability of
the test-taker.
113
The OPI instrument was chosen as a baseline for some items because it has been
widely used for longitudinal studies, and because it was designed to provide a means of
assessing personality differences. Two subsets of the operational constructs of
Complexity (CO) and Autonomy (AU) were selected for inclusion in the internally
developed PCI survey for the current research. Thirteen items that reflected face validity
for positive career traits were selected for each of the two constructs, for a total of 26
true/false questions.
Special Comment on the OPI: This instrument contains many questions that are
framed in double negatives. Although potentially confusing to participants, the
instrument was not modified so that the validated statements remained intact.
Personality Career Inventory (PCI)
The PCI is an internally developed instrument designed to test situations and
perceptions that emulate earlier stages of developmental psychology, personality traits,
and career goals. The operations in the survey were chosen to represent those constructs
noted in the earlier section of this chapter (see Constructs). It was designed using subsets
of the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI) (Heist & Yonge, 1968), the Self-Awareness
Inventory (Osborn & Osborn, 1998), and questions related to stages of developmental
theory designed specifically for this study (see Table 2.2 and Table 2.3). The two subsets
of items selected from the OPI were (1) Complexity, which assesses tolerance for
ambiguity and uncertainty; and (2) Autonomy, which measures nonauthoritarian thinking
and independence. Selection of the operations was determined by comparing the
questions most likely to reflect activities that would be found in the experience of
adapting to another culture, or which reflected experiences from earlier cognitive
developmental stages of learning.
114
Internet Survey Forms
The following Internet Web pages were developed/utilized:
1. Demographic Questionnaire, an on-line form
2. Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS), a publicly available on-line survey
3. Personality Career Inventory (PCI), a newly developed on-line survey
Computer Software
The following computer software programs were developed/utilized:
1. Alumni database random selection program for study abroad participants
2. Alumni database random selection program for non-study abroad group
3. Alumni database matched-pairs analysis and selection program
4. Demographic analysis and report of respondent sample populations
5. SPSS Statistical Software Package, ver. 10
Population Sample
Three sample groups were selected from the alumni database of a medium-sized
liberal arts college in the Southwestern United States. The survey and research
information was mailed to 1,500 alumni (half who attended a study abroad program)
from the graduating classes of 1992 through 1995, randomly chosen by computer
selection. Both undergraduate and graduate students were included. Special software
programs were written for this random selection. Participants were selected based on
year of graduation, study abroad experience (or none), and gender. Half were study
abroad participants, and each group was evenly divided by gender.
Based on the responses received from participants, a third “matched-pairs” group
was determined through computer analysis comparing the respondents in both the above
groups with specific demographic criteria, which included gender, graduation year,
115
degree, and major, in that order. This third group was tagged for special processing, and
as responses were received the database was continually searched to obtain as many
matched pairs as possible. In a few cases, similar majors were used as a match for major.
Return rates for unsolicited surveys are dependent on the interests of the
recipients, length, purpose, and method of presentation (Dillman, 1978) and can be as
low as 3%. With the added feature of an individualized Career Assessment Report
offered to each participant the anticipated return rate was 10%. Thus, the research set
would consist of approximately 150 participants. This participant count is higher than
most study abroad research projects that usually have between 5 to 50 participants (see
Table 2.1). Because this study was retrospective, seeking fine developmental trait
differences between participants who have studied abroad versus those who have not, the
increased number of participants was important to provide the best basis for comparison.
Survey responses were received from 143 alumni. Seven were eliminated
because they were only partially completed, and requests for additional information were
not fulfilled. Six were eliminated because the respondents did not participate in a study
abroad program but had extensive international travel related to their business after
graduation. Four were eliminated due to the respondents being foreign nationals (This
study was on Americans studying abroad). The final sample consisted of 126 alumni
participants, divided as follows: 25 NAFs, 23 NAMs, 59 SAFs, and 19 SAMs. It is
interesting to note the larger proportion of females (59 SAFs) who responded in the study
abroad group. The statistical procedures used later included gender as a factor to take
this disparate male/female response ratio into account. The return rate of 9.53% (143
surveys) is excellent for an unsolicited survey of the length (108 items) required for this
project and matched the anticipated count.
116
Procedures
PCI Instrument Development
In order to enhance the quality and potential for reliability of information
gathered using the internally developed nonvalidated Personality Career Inventory (PCI),
survey items were based on an applicable subset of the constructs and operations of
previous validated psychological instruments and familiar developmental theories of
psychology. No assumption of validity is made for the PCI portion of the data collection,
but the items used reflect the questions being investigated to the best possible judgment
of this researcher.
Population Sample Confound Control
The population sample consisted of 126 college graduates who were grouped by
whether or not they had participated in a study abroad program. From the responses
received, a third matched-pairs group was identified, matched on the demographic
characteristics of both the non-study abroad and the study abroad groups. Because there
might be differences between the experimental group (SA) and the non-equivalent
control group (NA), this third matched group (MP) was used to help control the sample
selection bias often found in quasi-experimental design. The alumni demographics
selected were sufficient to match a proportionate sample of at least 50 participants in
each of the three test groups.
Other sample controls to confounding and validity follow:
1. History Effects: Persons who traveled extensively before or after the college study abroad experience were not used as participants in this study.
2. Selection Bias: A third population sample was identified from demographically matched pairs of the experimental group. This allowed for some controls on the potential confound of study abroad participation bias.
117
3. Language. Participants who spoke the language of the host country fluently were not included.
Data Collection and Processing
There are many quantitative methods that match analysis and design to the
research question. According to Wilkinson (1999), “Although complex designs and
state-of-the-art methods are sometimes necessary to address research questions
effectively, simpler classical approaches often can provide elegant and sufficient answers
to important questions” (p. 598). Multiple outcomes require special handling, which may
include Bonferroni correction of p-values, multivariate test statistics, and empirical Bayes
methods. The dilemma of choice arises in that “multiplicities are the curse of the social
sciences” (p. 599).
Psychological research often addresses many variables and many relationships. It
is critical to select and apply the right methodology. Data for this study was collected
with encoded names to insure confidentiality. The codes are as follows:
• SAF#nn for females who studied abroad
• SAM#nn for males who studied abroad
• NAF#nn for females who did not study abroad
• NAM#nn for males who did not study abroad
• MPF#nn for females in the matched-pairs group, with NAF matched to SAF
• MPM#nn for males in the matched-pairs group, with NAM matched to SAM
Participants were coded by gender in order to reduce and/or determine the
potential bias toward different gender-based cultural experiences, methods of reacting to
environmental challenges, and patterns of social interaction. The results were then
analyzed with two-way analysis of variance (2x2 ANOVA) and chi-square (χ2) using
gender (F/M) and study-abroad (SA/NA) as main effects. It was very important to
118
compare the groups both by in totals and also within gender, because of the larger
proportion of females in the study abroad sample.
The surveys were made available either via manual postal mail or through HTML
Web forms developed for this study and placed on the Internet. Personal demographic
items were requested (birthday, degree, and date of graduation) as a means of participant
verification. A computer program was written to assist in evaluating the responses and
produce a print out of the individual results. A Career Assessment Report was returned
to each respondent as a thank-you for participating in the study. This report included an
outline of the Myers-Briggs traits and complexity/autonomy scores, produced using
computer-generated CGI scripts.
The survey consisted of four parts:
1. Collection of demographic information that included year of graduation,
gender, major, degree, occupation, travel experience, and languages. This
data was used to determine matched pairs and vocational categories.
2. A set of 26 dual-choice statements designed to test Complexity and
Autonomy, which resulted in two quantitative numeric scores.
3. A series of 70 dual choice questions regarding personality traits and
vocational direction, from the Keirsey (KTS-II) online assessment package,
which resulted in eight quantitative numeric and qualitative alpha-trait scores,
one temperament score, and one vocational-type score.
4. Six open-ended questions related to regression, culture shock, self-awareness,
and career consolidation resulted in six nonparametric qualitative alpha
scores.
The 10 quantitative dependent variables analyzed included eight from the 70
dual-choice KTS survey items on personality traits and two from the 26 dual-choice OPI
119
subset survey items. The eight personality traits from the KTS were: (1) Expressive [E],
(2) Attentive/Introverted [I], (3) Introspective [N], (4) Observant/Sensing [S], (5) Feeling
[F], (6) Thinking [T], (7) Probing/Perceptive [P], and (8) Scheduling/Judging [J]. In
addition, a temperament score was obtained from the highest sets of traits, resulting in
one of the following pairs: NF (Idealist), NT (Rational), SJ (Guardian), SP (Artisan).
The two traits scored from the OPI subset were (1) Complexity and (2) Autonomy.
Qualitative responses to open-ended questions and demographic data were sorted
and categorized using the procedures outlined by Anastasi and Urbina (1997): (1) review
the data; (2) organize the data into meaningful units; (3) separate the units that are
relevant to the investigation from those that are not; (4) analyze the structured and non-
structured responses; and (5) synthesize the units into appropriate areas. An initial list of
expected response categories was determined from the review of literature. As responses
were reviewed, extra categories were added when a statement or choice did not appear to
fit a previously defined category.
Occupations were sorted into five types: (1) Service jobs – S, (2) Individual-
oriented – I, (3) External-oriented – E, (4) Business administrative – B, and (5) Creative
arts – A. There is no implication that a certain kind of career would evolve from the
study abroad experience, but this coding allowed an analysis of potential patterns that
might exist between participant groups.
Scores from the open-ended questions were mapped to four categories: (1) Self-
awareness, (2) Career Direction, (3) Positive Regression/Culture Shock, (4) and World-
Mindedness. The survey codes were sorted and analyzed to determine any differences in
responses between the study abroad and non-study abroad groups, based on the types of
responses received, as follows:
• Is there a specific activity that reflects your personality? (career/awareness)
120
A = arts/music, D = domestic (cook, sew, parent, garden), G = games/computers, L= literature (read/write), N =nature (camp, hike), P = public speaking, T = travel
• Have you ever felt culture shock? (regression)
M = moving homes, S = social situations, T = traveling, W = workplace
• Do you have a special goal in life? (career/awareness)
F = family, H = helping others, L = live life to the fullest, M = make money, S = self-improvement/education.
• Have you ever felt child-like in an adult stressful situation? (regression)
A = anger/frustration, E = emotional, F = funny/humorous reaction, H = helpless, N = need others, S = simplify situation.
• After traveling did your home/community appear differently? (world-minded)
A = more appreciative, B = busy/noisy, M = materialistic, S = smaller view, U = unaware/naive
• What college experience had the greatest impact on your life? (career/awareness)
A = activities/sports, E = education, P = people, R = responsibility/confidence, S = study abroad
Additional statements provided by the participants were documented in the
descriptions of the findings to illustrate fundamental examples of the research
hypotheses.
Statistical Analysis
Standard statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS Statistical Software
Package to determine frequency distributions, means, and variance. Questions that were
skipped were not included in the evaluation of the open-ended responses. In addition,
when one participant of a matched pair skipped a question, the co-partner’s response was
also not used during the analysis of the matched-pairs group.
121
Nonparametric alpha scores were analyzed using Pearson chi-square and
likelihood ratio chi-square (χ2), with two-way crosstabulations of the independent factor
study abroad (SA/NA) and each dependent trait and a layer effect of gender (F/M). Both
the full set of participants and the matched-pairs groups were compared. This provided
for the two independent factors and interaction between them to be analyzed for each
trait.
Numeric scores were processed using 2x2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) for
each component, with study abroad (SA/NA) and gender (F/M) as fixed factors. This
allowed for between groups and interaction comparisons of the independent variables.
The six open-ended questions also provided useful anecdotal comments. Pertinent
quotations related to the hypotheses are noted in the analysis sections.
Limitations
The sample used in this study was drawn from alumni who attended a medium-
sized liberal arts college (7,000 students) in the southwestern United States. A computer
software program was developed and run against the alumni database to randomly
determine the population samples that received the surveys, but the respondents were all
voluntary; thus, some selection bias may be a factor.
Participants who are otherwise interested in a study-abroad program may not
attend such a program for many reasons: financial, family obligations, academic
requirements, lack of interest, discomfort with travel, etc. The use of matched-pairs
groups helped to eliminate demographic characteristics that may confound results.
The instruments used in this study met the following criteria: (1) The Keirsey
Temperament Sorter (KTS-II) is a well-used online personality instrument providing data
on temperament and potential vocation; (2) the internally developed Personality Career
Inventory (PCI) operational constructs were developed using subsets of the validated
122
Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI); and (3) an open-ended self-report segment
provided for individual participant perceptions on the impact or perceived value of a
study abroad experience. Even though some of the instruments have been widely used
for various research projects and career exploration, they have not been used for the
specific purposes of this study. Questions arise as to whether the constructs adequately
measure the differences in personality for study abroad and non-study abroad alumni, and
whether they effectively reflect the traits associated with earlier stages of developmental
psychology.
The last two surveys, the PCI items and open-ended questions, were specifically
designed for this research project. Like all instruments developed for specific studies, the
reliability and validity are unknown. Lack of predetermined analysis on the internally
developed instrument must be taken into consideration when interpreting the results. The
PCI survey does have face validity because the items were designed to reflect traits of
personal growth, cultural adaptation, and earlier stages of development.
Use of a quasi-experimental design is not ideal. For research in applied settings
where the researcher carefully considers threats to validity, this design can provide useful
results. There are problems associated with measuring change in personality in a natural
environment (not laboratory controlled) but such measurements can reveal tendencies
that can later be measured in more controlled environments. Such natural settings
eliminate some of the confounding that can occur from research results produced in
artificial settings.
This study is retrospective in nature. In other words, self-reported data were
collected to test etiologic hypotheses about events that have already happened in which
inferences to putative causal factors or trends are derived. Thus, it is not a directly
controlled experimental “cause-and-effect” relationship study. A third matched-pairs
sample group was identified to help enhance the value of the results, matched as closely
123
as possible to the demographics of the study abroad sample. Although longitudinal
studies with data collected over time are generally used to establish cause-and-effect
relationships, it is also possible to conceptualize the reconstruction of events through
introspection and self-reporting. This represents a type of “quasi-longitudinal” account
of the participant’s perceptions. Reports from the past can be very insightful when seen
in the context of what currently holds meaning. But, it is important to remember that
retrospective research relies heavily on self-perception and subjective judgment about
what has already happened. There is a potential tendency to alter behavior when being
assessed; thus, some responses may vary from the actual events that occurred.
Conclusions
It is hoped that the identification of differences for alumni in personality traits,
self-awareness, and cross-cultural adaptation experiences uncovered and outlined in this
study will assist with the decision process of people who are contemplating a study
abroad program. Knowledge of potential personal benefits beyond those achieved in the
academic, political, and cultural arenas are important to this decision.
124
CHAPTER 4.
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
The purpose of this study was to explore how and why travel and study abroad
affect personal growth and career consolidation, and whether adapting to a new culture
emulates earlier stages of psychological development through positive regression. The
research attempted to evaluate 10 personality traits; 4 temperaments; 16 vocational types;
and 4 general components related to career, culture shock, self-awareness, and positive
regression. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software. The approach
varied dependent on the type of data collected and the subgroups under investigation.
Quantitative scores were analyzed using two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA, with
fixed factors of study abroad and gender) and qualitative scores were analyzed using two-
way crosstabulations (study abroad with a layer effect of gender), and Pearson and
likelihood ratio chi-square (χ2). An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests.
Descriptive analysis on the percent of response types was used to determine the direction
of differences between the subgroups being tested.
Participant Demographics
The research sample consisted of 126 alumni from a medium-sized liberal arts
college (7,000) in the southwestern United States. The study abroad group included 59
female and 19 male alumni (SAs) and the non-study abroad group included 25 female
and 23 male alumni (NAs). In addition, 58 alumni were identified for the matched-pairs
sample (MPs: F = 38 and M = 20) based on similar demographics of gender, graduation
year, degree, and major.
125
Personality Traits
The ten personality traits isolated in this study included eight from the MBTI
instrument and two additional traits of complexity and autonomy. These are: (1)
Expressive/Extraverted [E], (2) Introverted/Attentive [I], (3) Introspective [N], (4)
Sensing/Observing [S], (5) Feeling [F], (6) Thinking [T], (7) Probing/Perceptive [P], (8)
Judging/Scheduling [J], (9) Complexity and (10) Autonomy. A second level of
processing determined temperament, obtained from the two highest sets of the eight
paired personality traits, resulting in one of the following pairs: NF (Idealist), NT
(Rational), SJ (Guardian), SP (Artisan). And a third complex component, that of
vocational type (MBTI score), was determined using the highest traits in each of four
pairs, for a total of 16 possible types (when there were no evenly distributed trait pairs).
These categories are discussed in the sections below.
Personality traits were scored and tested in two different ways. A 2x2 analysis of
variance (ANOVA) was used on the quantitative numeric scores to ascertain differences
in the main effects of study abroad/non-study abroad (SA/NA), gender (M/F), and the
interaction of the two variables. Categorical alpha scores from eight MBTI traits were
then analyzed using two-way crosstabulations, with a layer effect of gender, and Pearson
and likelihood ratio chi-square (χ2). Both scoring methods were used because the four
MBTI pairs can be determined from a subset of survey questions, even when some items
are not answered; thus, the dominant alpha score may be of greater interest than the total
numeric score.
The 2x2 ANOVA on the ten personality traits showed no significant difference
between the study abroad and non-study abroad groups. Although significant differences
126
were found between gender in the categories of complexity, thinking, feeling, judging,
and perceiving, the interaction effects of gender with study abroad experience were not
significant (see Table 4.1). For the matched pairs subset there were no significant
differences in the raw numeric scores between subjects, either by study abroad or gender.
Table 4.1 Five Personality Traits
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: COMPLEX
37.146a 3 12.382 1.546 .2065586.803 1 5586.803 697.644 .000
36.375 1 36.375 4.542 .0353.491 1 3.491 .436 .510
5.089E-02 1 5.089E-02 .006 .937976.989 122 8.008
7457.000 1261014.135 125
SourceCorrected ModelInterceptGEND2N_OR_S2GEND2 * N_OR_S2ErrorTotalCorrected Total
Type III Sumof Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
R Squared = .037 (Adjusted R Squared = .013)a.
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: T_THINK
128.866a 3 42.955 2.314 .0798896.562 1 8896.562 479.335 .000
79.687 1 79.687 4.293 .0405.383E-02 1 5.383E-02 .003 .957
27.242 1 27.242 1.468 .2282264.348 122 18.560
12119.000 1262393.214 125
SourceCorrected ModelInterceptGEND2N_OR_S2GEND2 * N_OR_S2ErrorTotalCorrected Total
Type III Sumof Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
R Squared = .054 (Adjusted R Squared = .031)a.
127
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: F_FEEL
107.193a 3 35.731 1.940 .12711760.356 1 11760.356 638.579 .000
73.776 1 73.776 4.006 .048.184 1 .184 .010 .920
17.469 1 17.469 .949 .3322246.807 122 18.416
17600.000 1262354.000 125
SourceCorrected ModelInterceptGEND2N_OR_S2GEND2 * N_OR_S2ErrorTotalCorrected Total
Type III Sumof Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
R Squared = .046 (Adjusted R Squared = .022)a.
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: J_JUDGE
108.295a 3 36.098 2.428 .06915261.683 1 15261.683 1026.385 .000
102.735 1 102.735 6.909 .0109.555 1 9.555 .643 .4247.254 1 7.254 .488 .486
1814.062 122 14.86920867.000 126
1922.357 125
SourceCorrected ModelInterceptGEND2N_OR_S2GEND2 * N_OR_S2ErrorTotalCorrected Total
Type III Sumof Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
R Squared = .056 (Adjusted R Squared = .033)a.
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: P_PERCV
112.262a 3 37.421 2.535 .0606453.762 1 6453.762 437.260 .000
109.785 1 109.785 7.438 .0076.151 1 6.151 .417 .5205.529 1 5.529 .375 .542
1800.667 122 14.7609273.000 1261912.929 125
SourceCorrected ModelInterceptGEND2N_OR_S2GEND2 * N_OR_S2ErrorTotalCorrected Total
Type III Sumof Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
R Squared = .059 (Adjusted R Squared = .036)a.
128
Statistically analyzing the eight MBTI personality traits as nonparametric scores
with dichotomous alpha values provided a slightly different picture. The chi-square
showed one trait pair, judging/perceiving, as significantly different: LR χ2(2, N = 126) =
6.053, p < .05. For all participants 66.7% of the study abroad group compared to 75% of
the non-study abroad group selected judging; and 7.7% of the study abroad group but
none of the non-study abroad group were evenly balanced on this trait pair. But this time
there were no differences between gender. (See Table 4.2) This finding was corroborated
with the matched-pairs groups which were significantly different, with 58.6% of study
abroad compared to 79.3% of non-study abroad selecting judging; and 13.8% of study
abroad compared to none of the non-study abroad evenly balanced on this trait pair: LR
χ2(2, N = 58) = 6.735, p < .05. Again, there were no differences by gender. The study
abroad sample was more flexible than the non-study abroad comparison group and also
had a higher percentage of balanced responses on these traits.
Myers defined judging as prone to making schedules and keeping to them, and
perceiving as looking for alternatives, opportunities, and options—i.e., exploring
(Keirsey, 1998, p. 13). Certainly increased flexibility regarding schedules and choosing
different response types depending on the situation are skills one would expect to see
utilized in a study abroad experience.
129
Table 4.2 Judging/Perceiving Trait Scores
Where: J = judging, P = perceiving, and X = an equally balanced choice
All Participants:
N_OR_S * J_P Crosstabulation
36 12 4875.0% 25.0% 100.0%
52 20 6 7866.7% 25.6% 7.7% 100.0%
88 32 6 12669.8% 25.4% 4.8% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
N
S
N_OR_S
Total
J P XJ_P
Total
Chi-Square Tests
3.993a 2 .1366.053 2 .048
126
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
2 cells (33.3%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 2.29.
a.
Matched Pairs Groups:
N_OR_S * J_P Crosstabulation
23 6 2979.3% 20.7% 100.0%
17 8 4 2958.6% 27.6% 13.8% 100.0%
40 14 4 5869.0% 24.1% 6.9% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
N
S
N_OR_S
Total
J P XJ_P
Total
Chi-Square Tests
5.186a 2 .0756.735 2 .034
58
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
2 cells (33.3%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 2.00.
a.
130
Temperament
There are four temperament types defined by Myers: NF = Idealists, NT =
Rationals, SJ = Guardians, and SP = Artisans. Temperament indicates a type of
personality or character with distinct forms of attitude and behavior (Keirsey, 1998,
p. 18). This does not necessarily suggest a vocation but simply how one might interact
with colleagues, regardless of the career they select. It is not until people recognize and
develop their own innate traits that they can become fully mature individuals. The
complex component of temperament was analyzed in this research to show patterns of
personality type who participate in such programs and whether study abroad will assist in
unveiling or expanding inherent traits. It was expected, and confirmed, that there were
no significant differences in temperament between all the grouped participants.
Career Choice and Vocational Type
When participant demographics were compared for occupation, there were
significant differences between the study abroad and non-study abroad groups, χ2(4, N =
126) = 10.314, P < .05 (See Table 4.3). There was no significant difference between the
male participants but a strong difference between the female participants, χ2(4, N = 84) =
11.043, p < .05. Women who studied abroad showed a much higher interest in service-
oriented jobs (34% versus 8%) and the arts (10% versus none) and less interest in
individual-oriented jobs (22% versus 40%), compared to those who have not traveled
extensively. For the matched-pairs group, no differences in occupation type were found.
This may be due to the item of college major being used as a matching demographic
variable in determining the matched pairs groups.
131
Table 4.3 Frequencies of Occupation Type
Legend: N = Non-study abroad, S = Study abroad A = Creative arts, B = Business, E = External-oriented, I = Individual-oriented, S = Service
N_OR_S * OCCTYPE Crosstabulation
2 9 14 19 4 484.2% 18.8% 29.2% 39.6% 8.3% 100.0%
8 10 19 19 22 7810.3% 12.8% 24.4% 24.4% 28.2% 100.0%
10 19 33 38 26 1267.9% 15.1% 26.2% 30.2% 20.6% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
N
S
N_OR_S
Total
A B E I SOCCTYPE
Total
Chi-Square Tests
10.314a 4 .03511.175 4 .025
126
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
1 cells (10.0%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 3.81.
a.
N_OR_S * OCCTYPE * GENDER Crosstabulation
6 7 10 2 2524.0% 28.0% 40.0% 8.0% 100.0%
6 7 13 13 20 5910.2% 11.9% 22.0% 22.0% 33.9% 100.0%
6 13 20 23 22 847.1% 15.5% 23.8% 27.4% 26.2% 100.0%
2 3 7 9 2 238.7% 13.0% 30.4% 39.1% 8.7% 100.0%
2 3 6 6 2 1910.5% 15.8% 31.6% 31.6% 10.5% 100.0%
4 6 13 15 4 429.5% 14.3% 31.0% 35.7% 9.5% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
N
S
N_OR_S
Total
N
S
N_OR_S
Total
GENDERF
M
A B E I SOCCTYPE
Total
Chi-Square Tests
11.043a 4 .02613.545 4 .009
84.299b 4 .990.300 4 .990
42
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
3 cells (30.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.79.
a.
6 cells (60.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.81.
b.
132
There are 16 possible vocational-type combinations in the MBTI set, based on the
eight personality traits (four pairs). Myers represented all of these distinct types as being
effectively functioning people but who are effective in different ways, having a set of
“gifts differing.” These combinations were based on Carl Jung’s portrait types, or
archetypes (see Appendix F).
When the participants responded equally to a set of paired traits, they were not
scored in either grouping but were given an “X” to indicate equal traits. Thus, the
number of vocational types for the Keirsey Temperament Sorter increased in this study
from 16 to 37 combinations. The Myers-Briggs scoring system adjusts for this
possibility but the Keirsey does not. Because those participants with equality in their
trait pairs did not fall into a clear vocational category, they are not included in the
detailed discussion of vocational types.
Using chi-square analysis on the participant scores, with dichotomous trait pairs,
no statistical significance was determined within or between the groups. These results
were based on only part of the research group (N = 88) because 38 of the 126 participants
had equal scores on at least one trait pair. Table 4.4 illustrates the vocational types of
participants based on the study abroad factor. Almost all the vocational types are equally
distributed and many were based on small samples. The most popular vocational type
represented, that of ISTJ (Inspector), was twice as high a percent in the non-study abroad
group (29% vs. 14%). This vocational type is defined as someone who prefers to quietly
work behind the scenes, concentrating on details, with little confrontation. They are
highly dependable, no-nonsense types who prefer familiar surroundings. It is not
surprising that they are more highly represented in the non-study abroad group.
133
Table 4.4 Vocational Types
Legend: S = Study abroad, N = Non-study abroad
Extroverted Vocations
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
Variances
Per
cent
s
N 0 3.20% 3.20% 0 9.70% 6.50% 16.10% 3.20%
S 5.30% 8.80% 1.80% 3.50% 12.30% 3.50% 15.80% 5.30%
Total 3.40% 6.80% 2.30% 2.30% 11.40% 4.50% 15.90% 4.50%
ENFJ ENFP ENTJ ENTP ESFJ ESFP ESTJ ESTP
Introverted Vocations
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
Variances
Per
cent
s
N 6.50% 6.50% 6.50% 9.70% 0 29.00% 0
S 7.00% 3.50% 1.80% 14.00% 1.80% 14.00% 1.80%
Total 6.80% 4.50% 3.40% 12.50% 1.10% 19.30% 1.10%
INFJ INFP INTJ ISFJ ISFP ISTJ ISTP
134
Evaluation of General Questions
Previous sections attempted to describe personality and cognitive traits that might
differ based on study abroad experience. The second and third research questions are
harder to measure. There are no standardized tests to determine whether adapting to a
new culture emulates earlier stages of psychological development through positive
regression, or whether study abroad affects career consolidation. In many ways these
issues are perhaps best addressed through anecdotal comments and observation.
Therefore, the research method chosen was to ask six open-ended questions, then place
the responses into qualitative categories based on subjective evaluation of the responses.
If a response did not match a predefined category (determined from the review of
literature), a new category was added. Once the responses were tagged with alpha
values, the results were analyzed using chi-square. Each question and the resulting
classification of responses are discussed separately below.
1. Is there some activity that reflects your personality? Explain.
This question was designed to measure both self-awareness and career direction
and consolidation. Being represented by an activity meant knowing one’s talents and
understanding how to apply them. The categories defined for this question included: A =
arts/music, D = domestic (cook, sew, parent, garden), G = games/computers,
L = literature (read/write), N = nature (camp, hike), P = public speaking, S = sports, and
T = travel. Having a representative activity was not significantly different within the full
set of SA/NA participants nor for the matched-pairs groups (See Table 4.5). It was also
not significant between gender.
135
Table 4.5 Representative Activity Analysis
LEGEND. x = no activity. (7 participants skipped the question). Activity: A = arts/music, D = domestic (cook, sew, parent, garden), G = games/computers, L = literature (read/write), N = nature (camp, hike), P = public speaking, S = sports, T = travel
ACTIVITY * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
4 11 159.1% 14.7% 12.6%
3 6 96.8% 8.0% 7.6%
3 4 76.8% 5.3% 5.9%
5 5 1011.4% 6.7% 8.4%
3 7 106.8% 9.3% 8.4%
4 1 59.1% 1.3% 4.2%
15 18 3334.1% 24.0% 27.7%
9 912.0% 7.6%
7 14 2115.9% 18.7% 17.6%
44 75 119100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
D
G
L
N
P
S
T
x
ACTIVITY
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
12.166a 8 .14415.092 8 .057
119
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
8 cells (44.4%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 1.85.
a.
The following anecdotal comments related to representative activities were
received from participants:
136
Travel. I like the unknown, just going and seeing what happens. I find this makes for a much better learning experience than being led around by someone else. Photography. It requires a lot of creative focus and concentration, and personality.
Dance. It’s a flurry of “disorganized” movement to a consistent beat that comes together beautifully. Building. Digging into the “guts” of an object or system in order to understand how it works/functions. Hiking. Reflects my steady pace, persistence, and desire to reach a goal. Fixing and creating things around the house. Tennis: strategic, fun, active thinking. Sailing—for the tranquility involved with it. Travel—for the unknown adventure it takes one to. Music. Listening to music and letting it engulf me and lift my spirits. Golf. Each game is a little different. Golf demands concentration, patience, creativity, self-reliance, knowing your limitations, and when to exceed them.
2. Have you experienced culture shock? Explain.
Culture shock was used as a measure of potential regression to earlier stages of
psychological development but was not predefined in the survey, so it was open to
individual interpretation. The categories that evolved were M = moving, S = domestic
social situations, T = travel, and W = work environment. Home society involved such
responses as: (a) visiting a nearby neighborhood, (b) generation gap interests in music or
film, (c) changes in general social customs in the home community.
The differences between the NA and SA groups were significant, χ2(4, N = 125)
= 26.026, p < .0005. These remained significant within gender. Females scored χ2(4, N
137
= 83) = 14.293, p < .01, and males scored χ2(4, N = 42) = 17.325, p < .005 (See Table
4.6). For matched pairs the difference between the NA/SA groups for culture shock was
significant, χ2(4, N = 58) = 12.938, p < .05, but within gender it was only significant for
males χ2(4, N = 20) = 13.232, p < .05.
Looking at the larger question of whether participants had ever experienced
culture shock, 60.4% of the NAs and 76.6% of the SAs had. In the non-study abroad
group, the experience that caused most culture shock was moving (29.2%), followed by
the work environment (12.5%), domestic travel (10.4%), and society (8.3%). For the
study abroad participants, 54.5% stated they experienced culture shock while traveling,
11.7% from a move, 6.5% in society, and 3.9% at work. For NA females, moving was
32% and for SA females it was 15.5%. For males, 26.1% of the NAs listed moving, but
none of the SAs did. These differences continued to be significant in the matched-pairs
group, χ2(4, N = 58) = 12.938, p < .05; but when analyzed by gender only the male
participant scores were significant, χ2(4, N = 20) = 13.232, p < .05.
Table 4.6 Culture Shock Analysis
LEGEND. x = No (1 participant skipped the question). Culture Shock: M = moving, S = society, T = travel, W = workplace
All Participants:
C_SHOCK * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
14 9 2329.2% 11.7% 18.4%
4 5 98.3% 6.5% 7.2%
5 42 4710.4% 54.5% 37.6%
6 3 912.5% 3.9% 7.2%
19 18 3739.6% 23.4% 29.6%
48 77 125100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
M
S
T
W
x
C_SHOCK
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
138
Chi-Square Tests
26.026a 4 .00028.764 4 .000
125
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
2 cells (20.0%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 3.46.
a.
C_SHOCK * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
8 9 1732.0% 15.5% 20.5%
2 4 68.0% 6.9% 7.2%
4 31 3516.0% 53.4% 42.2%
4 1 516.0% 1.7% 6.0%
7 13 2028.0% 22.4% 24.1%
25 58 83100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
6 626.1% 14.3%
2 1 38.7% 5.3% 7.1%
1 11 124.3% 57.9% 28.6%
2 2 48.7% 10.5% 9.5%
12 5 1752.2% 26.3% 40.5%
23 19 42100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
M
S
T
W
x
C_SHOCK
Total
M
S
T
W
x
C_SHOCK
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
139
Chi-Square Tests
14.293a 4 .00614.647 4 .005
8317.325b 4 .00220.997 4 .000
42
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
4 cells (40.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.51.
a.
6 cells (60.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.36.
b.
Matched Pairs Group:
C_SHOCK * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
9 3 1231.0% 10.3% 20.7%
4 2 613.8% 6.9% 10.3%
5 18 2317.2% 62.1% 39.7%
2 2 46.9% 6.9% 6.9%
9 4 1331.0% 13.8% 22.4%
29 29 58100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
M
S
T
W
x
C_SHOCK
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
12.938a 4 .01213.592 4 .009
58
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
4 cells (40.0%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 2.00.
a.
140
C_SHOCK * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
5 3 827.8% 15.0% 21.1%
2 2 411.1% 10.0% 10.5%
4 11 1522.2% 55.0% 39.5%
2 1 311.1% 5.0% 7.9%
5 3 827.8% 15.0% 21.1%
18 20 38100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
4 436.4% 20.0%
2 218.2% 10.0%
1 7 89.1% 77.8% 40.0%
1 111.1% 5.0%
4 1 536.4% 11.1% 25.0%
11 9 20100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
M
S
T
W
x
C_SHOCK
Total
M
S
T
W
x
C_SHOCK
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
4.507a 4 .3424.642 4 .326
3813.232b 4 .01016.493 4 .002
20
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
8 cells (80.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.42.
a.
10 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .45.
b.
It seems logical that moving and exposure to new social customs within the home
culture would trigger feelings of culture shock, but it was a surprise to this researcher that
141
the work environment was also listed. The noticeable trend here is that those who have
had experiences with other cultures do not find the work experience to be as great a
shock to their routine compared to those who have not traveled abroad. Also, travel
abroad makes moving a much less threatening task for males, while it somewhat lessens
the stress for females. The following anecdotal comments related to culture shock were
received from participants:
Living in a new foreign country—you are out of your comfort zone, challenged—But you are taught so many things. I have experienced reverse culture shock [reentry]. I have lived overseas for 5 years. Culture shock you can prepare for. Reverse culture shock you don’t expect. I felt a sense of not belonging because I did not understand a lot of the history of the culture. I hesitated to act/react because I was a little unsure of the correct way to act/react. It created a new learning environment, but was challenging and rewarding. I feel culture shock in places like Westwood, Santa Monica, and Chinatown. Places where everyone seems homogenous and there isn’t much diversity. I did experience severe reverse culture shock upon my return to the U.S. after living in London. I had a hard time readjusting to Southern California. Everything seemed so loud and brash. The superficiality of life around me made me crazy. I had a hard time relating to family and friends. A lot of it was harsh value judgments I was making in my comparisons. I longed for the simplicity of English life. Corporate culture can be somewhat of a culture shock. The environment in the workplace has many unwritten rules and procedures that prove to silently influence your decisions, behaviors and work. Living in Germany the language barrier was difficult at first. Every time I ever went abroad. It is unavoidable and actually the “jolt” that starts the learning process.
142
I traveled alone to a third-world country where I didn’t speak the language. It made me look into myself and into the reasons I needed to go there. I got down to the basics of communication with others, and I developed a stronger sense of confidence about myself.
3. Do you have a special goal or purpose in life? Explain.
Goals were used to evaluate career direction and reactions to returning home.
The categories that evolved were F = family, H = helping others, L = live life to the
fullest, M = make money, and S = self-improvement. There were significant differences
in the type of special goal or life purpose between the SAs and NAs, χ2(5, N = 124) =
14.238, p < .05; but across gender the differences were not significant (See Table 4.7).
There were no significant differences between the matched-pairs groups.
Table 4.7 Life Goal Analysis
LEGEND. x = No specific goal. (2 participants skipped the question) Goal: F = family, H = helping others, L = live life to the fullest, M = make money S = self-improvement(or education).
All Participants:
GOAL * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
11 16 2723.4% 20.8% 21.8%
9 27 3619.1% 35.1% 29.0%
4 45.2% 3.2%
4 1 58.5% 1.3% 4.0%
13 24 3727.7% 31.2% 29.8%
10 5 1521.3% 6.5% 12.1%
47 77 124100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
F
H
L
M
S
x
GOAL
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
143
Chi-Square Tests
14.238a 5 .01415.511 5 .008
124
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
4 cells (33.3%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 1.52.
a.
GOAL * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
4 11 1516.7% 19.0% 18.3%
5 21 2620.8% 36.2% 31.7%
2 23.4% 2.4%
1 14.2% 1.2%
9 19 2837.5% 32.8% 34.1%
5 5 1020.8% 8.6% 12.2%
24 58 82100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
7 5 1230.4% 26.3% 28.6%
4 6 1017.4% 31.6% 23.8%
2 210.5% 4.8%
3 1 413.0% 5.3% 9.5%
4 5 917.4% 26.3% 21.4%
5 521.7% 11.9%
23 19 42100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
F
H
L
M
S
x
GOAL
Total
F
H
L
M
S
x
GOAL
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
144
Chi-Square Tests
6.747a 5 .2407.262 5 .202
828.541b 5 .129
11.218 5 .04742
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
6 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .29.
a.
9 cells (75.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .90.
b.
Family was chosen by 23.4% of the NAs and by 20.8% of the SAs. Helping
others was 19.1% for NAs and 35.1% for SAs. Earning money was 8.5% for NAs and
only 1.3% for SAs. Self-improvement was about equally represented, with 27.7% of the
NAs and 31.2% of the SAs. Living life to the fullest was the goal for four SAs (5.2%)
but not for any NA participants. Responses by males and females were similar, except
that for NA males interest in the family was greater, and for NA females interest in self-
improvement was greater. For both the male and female SA participants the highest
scores were in helping others.
The three goals that differed the most were: (1) interest in helping others greatly
was greater for the SA group, (2) interest in earning money was less for the SA group,
and (3) living life to the fullest was greater for the SA group. The following anecdotal
comments related to life and career goals were received from participants: After traveling I realized that I took a lot of things for granted, like an abundance of food, a car, a nice house, etc., when people in other countries may not even be able to get clean drinking water or a warm place to sleep. It really put things into perspective for me, as far as what I have accomplished and what I want to do with my life to help others. Some people prefer to be victims and stay in bad situations. My purpose or goal in life is to create only positive energy. I am considering volunteering my time at a women and children’s shelter.
145
Later in life I began to travel on a regular basis to 3rd world countries and this has had a profound effect on my view of what is required for life happiness. Material possessions do not equate to satisfaction with life for me. New experiences, meeting new people, and learning about other cultures is very rewarding on a personal basis.
4. Have you ever felt “childlike” in an adult stressful situation? Explain.
This item was used to uncover feelings of regression to earlier psychological
stages. Reaction categories that evolved were A = anger, E = emotional, F = funny or
humorous, H = helpless, N = feeling needy, and S = simplify facts. One problem with the
survey was that some participants read this question as “acted” in a childlike manner
instead of “feeling” childlike, so almost half (43.4%) of the participants responded no to
this question. Thus, the scores were not as revealing as they might have been. Future
research should find a way to reword this question so that it maintains its intended
purpose and meaning for all participants.
Differences in responses between the SA and NA groups were significant, χ2(6, N
= 122) = 17.033, p < .01. Within gender females were significantly different, χ2(6, N =
80) = 16.131, p < .05, but males were not.
For matched pairs the differences were significant LR χ2(6, N = 56) = 15.445, p <
.05, and the response patterns were similar. Within gender only the female sets were
significantly different, LR χ2(6, N = 36) = 13.385, p < .05. (See Table 4.8)
146
Table 4.8 Childlike Regression Analysis
LEGEND. x = No (4 participants skipped the question) Childlike Regression: A = anger/frustration, E = emotional, F = funny/humorous reaction, H = helpless, N = need others, S = simplify situation.
All Participants:
CHILDREG * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
3 7 106.5% 9.2% 8.2%
5 1 610.9% 1.3% 4.9%
7 6 1315.2% 7.9% 10.7%
2 19 214.3% 25.0% 17.2%
1 4 52.2% 5.3% 4.1%
8 6 1417.4% 7.9% 11.5%
20 33 5343.5% 43.4% 43.4%
46 76 122100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
F
H
N
S
x
CHILDREG
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
17.033a 6 .00918.520 6 .005
122
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
6 cells (42.9%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 1.89.
a.
147
CHILDREG * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
2 4 68.7% 7.0% 7.5%
5 1 621.7% 1.8% 7.5%
2 2 48.7% 3.5% 5.0%
2 16 188.7% 28.1% 22.5%
1 4 54.3% 7.0% 6.3%
5 5 1021.7% 8.8% 12.5%
6 25 3126.1% 43.9% 38.8%
23 57 80100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
1 3 44.3% 15.8% 9.5%
5 4 921.7% 21.1% 21.4%
3 315.8% 7.1%
3 1 413.0% 5.3% 9.5%
14 8 2260.9% 42.1% 52.4%
23 19 42100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
F
H
N
S
x
CHILDREG
Total
A
F
H
S
x
CHILDREG
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
16.131a 6 .01315.506 6 .017
806.425b 4 .1707.639 4 .106
42
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
9 cells (64.3%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.15.
a.
8 cells (80.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.36.
b.
148
Matched Pairs:
CHILDREG * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
3 3 610.7% 10.7% 10.7%
4 414.3% 7.1%
3 4 710.7% 14.3% 12.5%
2 6 87.1% 21.4% 14.3%
1 2 33.6% 7.1% 5.4%
5 517.9% 8.9%
10 13 2335.7% 46.4% 41.1%
28 28 56100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
F
H
N
S
x
CHILDREG
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
11.867a 6 .06515.445 6 .017
56
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
12 cells (85.7%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 1.50.
a.
149
CHILDREG * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
2 2 411.8% 10.5% 11.1%
4 423.5% 11.1%
1 1 25.9% 5.3% 5.6%
2 6 811.8% 31.6% 22.2%
1 2 35.9% 10.5% 8.3%
3 317.6% 8.3%
4 8 1223.5% 42.1% 33.3%
17 19 36100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
1 1 29.1% 11.1% 10.0%
2 3 518.2% 33.3% 25.0%
2 218.2% 10.0%
6 5 1154.5% 55.6% 55.0%
11 9 20100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
F
H
N
S
x
CHILDREG
Total
A
F
S
x
CHILDREG
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
10.588a 6 .10213.385 6 .037
362.112b 3 .5492.865 3 .413
20
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
12 cells (85.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .94.
a.
7 cells (87.5%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .90.
b.
150
A greater number of SAs (9.2%) reacted with anger to stress compared to 6.5% for NAs,
but they were less emotional. It has been shown that one of the initial reactions to
cultural differences is anger, so some of the SA participants may have recalled this
experience and possibly not worked through it. In contrast, 10.9% of the NAs reacted
emotionally to stress, whereas only 1.3% of the SAs did so. Humor is the primary means
of dealing with stress for 15.2% of the NAs and only 7.9% of the SAs. A larger percent
of the SAs felt needy (5.3%) compared to the NAs (2.2%). This could be a reaction to
problems with communication and unfamiliar environments. In contrast, 17.4% of the
NAs try to simplify a stressful situation, whereas only 7.9% of the SAs do so. This use of
simplification may be a way of masking the threat and lessening the perception of
potential danger. SAs seemed more able to accept complex situations.
In summary, SAs were more likely to react to stress with anger and feelings of
helplessness compared to NAs but were less emotional and more willing to accept the
reality and complexity of a challenging new environment. Within gender no males
indicated a primary emotional or needy reaction to stress, and the strongest reaction was
use of humor (males 21.4% compared to only 5% for females). SA women related a
stronger feeling of helplessness (28.1%) than their SA male counterparts (15.8%). Other
reactions were similar between gender. The following anecdotal comments related to
regression were received from participants: Fatigue and frustration can always reach a maximum and you become more emotional than rational. Sometimes when stressed or overwhelmed my emotions take over and I cry as a release. When I make mistakes I feel helpless. I get over it once I fix the situation, or I learn from it.
151
I have been in situations where my actions have had no effect, making me feel extremely frustrated and rather small. At times like these I pull back and reassess the situation before becoming possibly angry. Many times I will try to make light or joke about the situation, largely in an attempt to remain calm and avoid feeling overwhelmed. I was taking a French language class far too seriously and being very hard on myself. One day the professor called on me and I froze. I was so nervous and frustrated I almost started to cry. Then I regained composure. Afterwards I realized I had created the stress I was under, there was no need. But at the time I wanted to curl up like a baby! Walking through a strange place allows me to learn vicariously, explore, and feel the fear of being out of place.
5. After traveling did your home/community appear differently? Explain.
This item was used to evaluate how travel or study abroad might alter the
perceptions and self-image of individuals. Categories involved the reaction to the home
society and included: A = more appreciative, B = busy/noisy, M = materialistic,
S = smaller view, and U = unaware/naïve. The NA group responded to this question in
relation to traveling domestically. Reactions to returning home were statistically
different for SA/NA participants, LR χ2(5, N = 124) = 11.514, p < .05, but showed no
significant differences across gender. For the matched-pairs groups, only the males
showed a significant difference in responses LR χ2(5, N = 20) = 13.121, p < .05 (See
Table 4.9).
152
Table 4.9 Reentry Reactions Analysis
LEGEND. x = No. (2 participants skipped the question). Reentry: A = more appreciative, B = busy/noisy, M = materialistic, S = smaller view, U = unaware/naïve
All Participants:
REENTRY * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
20 39 5942.6% 50.6% 47.6%
1 3 42.1% 3.9% 3.2%
7 79.1% 5.6%
9 13 2219.1% 16.9% 17.7%
4 6 108.5% 7.8% 8.1%
13 9 2227.7% 11.7% 17.7%
47 77 124100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
B
M
S
U
x
REENTRY
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
9.257a 5 .09911.514 5 .042
124
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
5 cells (41.7%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 1.52.
a.
153
REENTRY * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
13 30 4354.2% 51.7% 52.4%
1 2 34.2% 3.4% 3.7%
4 46.9% 4.9%
4 11 1516.7% 19.0% 18.3%
2 5 78.3% 8.6% 8.5%
4 6 1016.7% 10.3% 12.2%
24 58 82100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
7 9 1630.4% 47.4% 38.1%
1 15.3% 2.4%
3 315.8% 7.1%
5 2 721.7% 10.5% 16.7%
2 1 38.7% 5.3% 7.1%
9 3 1239.1% 15.8% 28.6%
23 19 42100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
B
M
S
U
x
REENTRY
Total
A
B
M
S
U
x
REENTRY
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
2.305a 5 .8053.389 5 .640
828.566b 5 .128
10.222 5 .06942
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
8 cells (66.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .88.
a.
8 cells (66.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .45.
b.
154
Matched Pairs:
REENTRY * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
11 14 2539.3% 50.0% 44.6%
1 1 23.6% 3.6% 3.6%
4 414.3% 7.1%
5 6 1117.9% 21.4% 19.6%
3 1 410.7% 3.6% 7.1%
8 2 1028.6% 7.1% 17.9%
28 28 56100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
B
M
S
U
x
REENTRY
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
9.051a 5 .10710.898 5 .053
56
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
6 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 1.00.
a.
155
REENTRY * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
8 9 1747.1% 47.4% 47.2%
1 15.9% 2.8%
2 210.5% 5.6%
3 5 817.6% 26.3% 22.2%
2 1 311.8% 5.3% 8.3%
3 2 517.6% 10.5% 13.9%
17 19 36100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
3 5 827.3% 55.6% 40.0%
1 111.1% 5.0%
2 222.2% 10.0%
2 1 318.2% 11.1% 15.0%
1 19.1% 5.0%
5 545.5% 25.0%
11 9 20100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
B
M
S
U
x
REENTRY
Total
A
B
M
S
U
x
REENTRY
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
3.993a 5 .5505.153 5 .397
369.731b 5 .083
13.121 5 .02220
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
10 cells (83.3%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .47.
a.
12 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .45.
b.
156
A larger portion of the total SA group (50.6%) said that travel gave them greater
appreciation for their home culture, compared to 42.6% of the NAs. Both groups equally
saw their home culture as more busy or confusing (2.1% for NAs and 3.9% for SAs). Of
interest is that no NA participant viewed their home culture as too materialistic, but 9.1%
of the SA group did so. Other reactions were even across the two groups. It was curious
to see the lack of difference within females on reentry. One wonders if women are more
closely bonded to their home culture and society and thus less likely to modify their
perceptions of it.
The following anecdotal comments related to travel, self-image, and reentry were
received from participants: I was always fearful of the “different” people at home. In Europe I walked around as if no one would hurt me. Being back at home I readily pick up on other people’s prejudices that I once had. I am a cautious person but was much more adventurous in Europe. I felt like a different person! My community seemed less unique after traveling abroad. After traveling to Israel I returned home with the feeling that nothing in my home had any purpose/meaning/feeling. All I wanted was to return to Israel with no possessions at all but [with] time to discover, read, learn, and to understand history, people. [Another time] I returned home with an extra appreciation of my home as regards its comfort and the special feeling when there because of the things that are there that are a reflection of me and of my life. Fish don’t know water until they’re out of water. Every time I’ve left the country I return to America seeing it differently. I always look at the people on returning home. How they speak, how they dress, what are their attitudes and how that compares to the environment I was previously in. It can be quite a shock, especially returning to the U.S. and dealing with people that are not quite as aware of the world as you.
157
I found that home compared unfavorably with the place I had visited, both in terms of surroundings and people. Upon returning to the U.S. from Germany I felt there was a tremendous amount of “noise” dealing with consumerism—billboards all over, stores open 24x7, ads, ads, ads. I spend time in the poorest communities in the world. When I come home … I am always overwhelmed with how much we have as Americans. For weeks after my return from a trip I don’t spend much money because I realize there is really nothing I need to buy, only things I want to buy. The world is both large and small, and it sometimes feels like time stands still back home. There is a comfort zone.
6. What college experience/event had the greatest impact on your life?
This survey item was an attempt to determine just how much influence study
abroad had on students as compared to all their other college activities, and also to
identify the nature of these influences. A very broad interpretation might indicate what
college experience had the strongest impact on their choice of vocations since five-year-
out graduates are in that stage where careers are one of the most important issues in their
lives. The categories that evolved were A = activities/athletics, E = education, P =
people, R = responsibility/confidence, and S = study abroad.
Significant differences existed between the SA/NA groups, χ2(4, N = 115) =
34.310, p < .0005, and also within gender. For females χ2(4, N = 77) = 24.591, p <
.0005, and for males LR χ2(4, N = 38) = 11.722, p < .05. For the matched-pairs groups,
the results were similar. There was significant difference between the SA/NA groups,
χ2(4, N = 46) = 23.597, p < .0005, and within gender. For females χ2(4, N = 28) =
14.503, p < .01, and for males χ2(4, N = 18) = 9.900, p < .05 (See Table 4.10).
158
Table 4.10 Greatest College Impact Analysis
LEGEND. (11 participants did not answer the question). Impact: A = activities/sports, E = education, P = people, R = responsibility/confidence, S = study
abroad
All Participants:
IMPACT * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
4 5 910.3% 6.6% 7.8%
11 7 1828.2% 9.2% 15.7%
14 16 3035.9% 21.1% 26.1%
10 7 1725.6% 9.2% 14.8%
41 4153.9% 35.7%
39 76 115100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
P
R
S
IMPACT
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
34.310a 4 .00046.393 4 .000
115
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
1 cells (10.0%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 3.05.
a.
159
IMPACT * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
1 3 45.0% 5.3% 5.2%
8 5 1340.0% 8.8% 16.9%
6 10 1630.0% 17.5% 20.8%
5 5 1025.0% 8.8% 13.0%
34 3459.6% 44.2%
20 57 77100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
3 2 515.8% 10.5% 13.2%
3 2 515.8% 10.5% 13.2%
8 6 1442.1% 31.6% 36.8%
5 2 726.3% 10.5% 18.4%
7 736.8% 18.4%
19 19 38100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
P
R
S
IMPACT
Total
A
E
P
R
S
IMPACT
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
24.591a 4 .00031.354 4 .000
778.971b 4 .062
11.722 4 .02038
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
5 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 1.04.
a.
8 cells (80.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is 2.50.
b.
160
Matched Pairs:
IMPACT * N_OR_S Crosstabulation
2 3 58.7% 13.0% 10.9%
5 3 821.7% 13.0% 17.4%
11 2 1347.8% 8.7% 28.3%
5 1 621.7% 4.3% 13.0%
14 1460.9% 30.4%
23 23 46100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
P
R
S
IMPACT
Total
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
23.597a 4 .00029.885 4 .000
46
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
6 cells (60.0%) have expected count less than 5. Theminimum expected count is 2.50.
a.
161
IMPACT * N_OR_S * GENDER Crosstabulation
1 1 27.7% 6.7% 7.1%
4 2 630.8% 13.3% 21.4%
6 1 746.2% 6.7% 25.0%
2 1 315.4% 6.7% 10.7%
10 1066.7% 35.7%
13 15 28100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
1 2 310.0% 25.0% 16.7%
1 1 210.0% 12.5% 11.1%
5 1 650.0% 12.5% 33.3%
3 330.0% 16.7%
4 450.0% 22.2%
10 8 18100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Count% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_SCount% within N_OR_S
A
E
P
R
S
IMPACT
Total
A
E
P
R
S
IMPACT
Total
GENDERF
M
N SN_OR_S
Total
Chi-Square Tests
14.503a 4 .00618.702 4 .001
289.900b 4 .042
12.732 4 .01318
Pearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid CasesPearson Chi-SquareLikelihood RatioN of Valid Cases
GENDERF
M
Value dfAsymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
9 cells (90.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .93.
a.
10 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimumexpected count is .89.
b.
For the SA group fully 53.9% said that the study abroad program was the greatest
influence in their college years. This is an important statistic, since this selection was not
162
prompted by the survey but was a spontaneous choice. Education was a much stronger
choice for the NA group (28.2%) compared to the SA group (9.2%). Gain in
responsibility and confidence was also stronger for the NAs at 25.6% compared to 9.2%
for the SAs. This statistic may be misleading because only one choice was allowed, but
for those students who did not travel abroad the increase in confidence may be related to
their first experience living away from home. Future survey items might include a
request for the three most important influences and have them rated by importance.
Across gender the balance between SA and NA scores paralleled the total scores,
but a few responses were interesting. For males, activities and athletics were stronger
influences than for females (13.2% compared to 5.2%). Surprisingly, males felt that
meeting people (36.8%) was more important than females did (20.6%), whereas females
valued education more (16.9% compared to 13.2%). This fact is interesting when one
contemplates the methods used to gain promotions in the employment sector. Often
advancement is not the result of the knowledge employees gain or possess but who they
network with. This trend toward the “old boys network” for males seems to be already
established in the college years.
Between gender, the SA female participants chose study abroad as the most
important influence in their college years more than the male SAs (59.6% for females
compared to 36.8% for males). It is difficult to know whether our own cultural
differences in restricting females more than males from life experiences may have
influenced this reaction. Although our society strives toward equality of the sexes there
remain strong, albeit sometimes hidden, inclinations toward sheltering females and
restricting nontraditional interests and achievements. The study abroad experience may
have been the first time the females felt independent of the social bonds of the home
culture. The following anecdotal comments related to the greatest impact in college were
received from participants:
163
Study abroad. Anybody can take classes but not everyone gets the chance to experience life from a different set of eyes. Reading Great Books. It has made me a well-rounded person. Road trips with my friends. Just the bonding experience and feeling independent. Travel. My first excursion into foreign countries was on a student trip to Asia. It was a revelation to me how fascinating the world at large was and ignited my passion for travel to foreign countries. The trip opened the door to the world and it was then up to me to find a way to continue stepping through into new opportunities. Getting my diploma. College changed the way I think about problems and encouraged a desire for knowledge. Traveling abroad. I learned to let go of the dependence of my parents and others and do things on my own without anyone around to help if I needed it. I learned to make decisions and to handle bad situations on my own. Meeting certain people had a profound impact on me. I now fully understand that people are capable of changing their lives for the better. Playing college baseball. It was irreplaceable. Traveling, playing, interacting closely with teammates. Being sponsored by a professor during a summer internship. This gave me the opportunity to know the professor (whom I considered an influential mentor), and I ended up working for him on several interesting research projects. The time I spent abroad had the greatest impact on me. This year had me reevaluate so many things in my life. I began to appreciate everything on a fuller level. I realized I had become so muddled in my thinking. The U.S. places such an emphasis on money, material things, etc. In time, I realized this isn’t a U.S. issue, it is simply a universal issue that one can either embrace or ignore. Through my time abroad I was given perspective.
164
Integration and Synthesis of Data
This study explored how and why travel and study abroad affect personal growth
and career consolidation, and whether adapting to a new culture emulates earlier stages of
psychological development through positive regression. The participants consisted of
126 college alumni, five or more years after graduation. Participants included 78 alumni
who attended a study abroad program and 48 alumni who had not.
A total of 10 personality traits, 4 temperaments, 16 vocational types, and 4 self-
awareness and regression traits were measured and analyzed using the statistical
procedures of two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square (χ2). Although
many studies on students have shown that autonomy increases with a study abroad
experience, this study comparing study abroad alumni with those who did not attend a
study abroad program did not show any significant differences in autonomy.
Personality traits were quantitatively analyzed using numeric scores and none
were significant between the study abroad and non-study abroad participants. Qualitative
analysis of absolute scores showed one significant trait pair difference between the two
groups, that of judging/perceiving. This trait pair deals with time allocation and making
and keeping schedules. The study abroad alumni were more likely to modify schedules
when circumstances dictated they do so and were also more balanced between using
either reaction depending on the circumstances. This significant difference was also
observed between the matched-pairs groups.
The four temperament types defined by Myers are indications of attitude,
communication style, and behavior in the workplace—not specific vocations. It was
expected, and confirmed, that no significant differences existed in temperament between
all the grouped participants. This clarifies that temperament was not a deciding factor in
165
choosing to attend a study abroad program for this participant group and should not be
used as a measure of potential success in such a program.
Comparing participant demographics by occupation category showed a significant
difference between female participants. Female study abroad subjects were more
represented in creative arts and service-oriented vocations and less represented in
individual-oriented and business-centered jobs than their female non-study abroad
counterparts. There were no occupational differences between the male participants, or
between the matched pairs groups.
Of the sixteen MBTI vocational types 38 of the participants (30%) had equal
scores on at least one trait pair. The numeric score differences for the remaining 88 study
abroad and non-study abroad participants were not significant. Comparing descriptive
trends, only one category was absent from the study abroad group, that of INTP -
Architect; whereas five were missing from the non-study abroad group: ENFJ-Teacher,
ENTP - Inventor, ISFP - Composer, INTP - Architect and ISTP - Crafter. The study
abroad program may attract people with more varied interests or help to expand
vocational interests and choices.
Four complex behavior patterns were measured using open-ended survey
questions and qualitative analysis. These included: self-awareness, world-mindedness,
positive regression, and career consolidation. Six open-ended questions centered on the
themes of representative activities, culture shock, life goals, regression/child-like
feelings, cultural perception/reentry, and college influences. Regression was measured
by the experience of culture shock and childlike feelings; world-mindedness was
measured by home reentry reactions. Career consolidation was measured by having life
goals, a representative activity, and the impact of college. Self-awareness was measured
by impact of college and having an activity that reflected the participant’s personality.
166
Experiencing culture shock was significantly higher for study abroad groups than
non-study abroad groups. The triggers in order of the highest causes first were travel,
domestic moves, social changes at home, followed by work. Those who had traveled to
other cultures found the occupational environment and corporate culture to be less
stressful than those who had not. Males from the study abroad program found domestic
moves less stressful than females did. Study abroad participants experienced childhood
(regressive) feelings more often. They were more likely to have thoughts of helplessness
or anger (not necessarily actions), were less emotional, and were more willing to perceive
and accept the reality of challenges.
World-mindedness was measured by reentry reactions to international or domestic
travel or moves. More study abroad participants said that travel gave them a greater
appreciation for their home culture, but they also saw their culture as being too
materialistic upon return.
Although there were no statistical differences between the study abroad and non-
study abroad participants in terms of having an activity that reflected their personality,
significant differences were revealed in life goals. Helping others was more important
for study abroad participants, while interest in earning money was less important than it
was for non-study abroad participants.
When responding to what experience had the greatest impact at college, over half
of the study abroad participants mentioned their foreign travel experience. For non-study
abroad participants across gender, males felt that meeting people was more important
whereas females valued education more highly. Study abroad participants also expressed
an interest in “living life to the fullest,” whereas none of the participants in the non-study
abroad group submitted this response.
Anecdotal comments were used in the subjective evaluation of responses, and
noted throughout each section. One example was very insightful: “The U.S. places such
167
an emphasis on money, material things, etc. In time, I realized this isn’t a U.S. issue, it is
simply a universal issue that one can either embrace or ignore. Through my time abroad
I was given perspective.”
168
CHAPTER 5.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this study was to explore the psychology of travel—to review
theoretical concepts; measure individual traits concerning how and why travel and study
abroad affect personal growth and career consolidation; and investigate whether adapting
to a new culture emulates earlier stages of psychological development through positive
regression. Specific research questions within this problem were as follows:
• What personal transformation occurs (or is perceived to occur) through travel and study abroad?
• How does study abroad influence life goals and career choice?
• Can adult cultural adaptation be explained in terms of positive regression to earlier developmental stages of psychological adjustment?
The theories of developmental psychology help to define how people acquire new
behavioral skills as they pass through stages of growth. Certain conceptual frameworks
define transformative learning that involves a substantive, qualitative shift in perception.
There is a strong link between this shift and learning. Experiencing the diversity of other
cultures allows people to perceive alternate forms of behavior and cognition, and to
question their own beliefs and attitudes through a multitude of factors that utilize all the
senses. Travelers experience something far beyond acquisition of new subject matter or
cultural awareness—they undergo a kind of personal paradigm shift. Travel can alter
their perception of themselves and their world in such a way as to clarify areas of their
lives that were previously unclear.
Many research projects have helped to identify the impact a study abroad program
has on students, but few have expanded this to determine the lasting effects of travel on
169
personality and career choice. This retrospective study measured survey responses from
126 college alumni five or more years after graduation, some who had participated in a
study abroad program and some who had not. Various hypotheses related to
developmental psychology, positive regression, cultural adaptation, career consolidation,
and the long-term effects of international travel and study were presented. Both
quantitative and qualitative statistical analyses were used to analyze survey responses.
Of particular note were the basic trait differences between gender. Study abroad
research must take into account culture-oriented restrictions, behavior, and environments
that are clearly different for males and females. Results showed differences between the
participant groups in methods of time allocation, the experience of culture shock,
reactions in regressive/stressful situations, vocational goals, and the activity that had the
greatest impact during the college years.
Limitations
This study was retrospective in nature. That is, self-reported data were collected
to test etiologic hypotheses about events that have already happened in which inferences
to putative causal factors or trends may be derived. Thus, it was not a directly controlled
experimental “cause-and-effect” relationship study design. To help enhance the value of
the results a third matched-pairs sample group was used as an additional comparison
group. Although longitudinal studies with data collected over time are generally used to
establish cause-and-effect relationships, it is also possible to conceptualize the
reconstruction of events through introspection and self-reporting. This represents a type
of “quasi-longitudinal” account of the participant’s perceptions. Reports from the past
can be very insightful when seen in the context of what currently holds meaning. But, it
is important to remember that retrospective research relies heavily on self-perception and
subjective judgment about what has already happened.
170
The participants were 126 college graduates, from five years or more after
graduation. Participants of one group had participated in a study abroad program and the
other group had not. The results may not reflect the reactions and responses of the
general college alumni population and should be considered in relation to representative
college experiences. There is a potential tendency to alter behavior when being assessed;
thus, some responses could vary from the actual events that occurred.
Summary of Findings and Relationship to Literature
This research project explored the psychology of travel and how study abroad and
positive regression affects personal growth. Both mailed and on-line Internet surveys
were used that consisted of questions on demographics information, dual-choice
personality trait items, and open-ended questions related to behavior and perception. The
Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS II) was selected to test personality traits due to its
popular use, shorter number of items, ease of scoring, and availability (Keirsey, 1998). It
is a simplified “introductory” self-scoring version of the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator)—a personality test based on the psychological theories of Carl Jung. Although
not formally validated, Berens (1996) stated that the KTS correlated at an acceptable
level with the MBTI.
The KTS evaluates differences in personal style in four areas: (1) interacting with
others (extrovert versus introvert), (2) understanding the world (sensing/viewing versus
intuition), (3) making decisions (thinking versus feeling), and (4) time allocation
(perceiving versus judging/scheduled).
As was predicted there were no significant differences in quantitative
temperament scores between the non-study abroad (NA) and study abroad group (SA)
groups. Kennedy (1994) concurred that one’s personality type was not related to
transformative growth. Analyzing the 10 personality traits with qualitative statistics
171
revealed one trait pair, judging/perceiving (time allocation), as significantly different.
The study abroad (SA) alumni were more likely to change schedules, or use more
balanced reactions when circumstances dictated they do so, than their counterparts in the
non-study abroad (NA) group. This coincides with the results by Swinger (1985), who
noted increased personal flexibility as a benefit of travel.
Of interest were the differences found in basic personality traits between the
female and male participants. Only one research project in the review of literature
included analysis between gender (Thomlison, 1991), but it stands to reason that different
cultures provide very different experiences to travelers based on diverse concepts of
appropriate gender behavior and opportunity. Research on the influence of travel on
personal growth should therefore include within-gender analysis.
Many studies on students have shown that autonomy increases within a study
abroad environment (Hutchins, 1996; Kauffmann, 1983; Nash, 1975), but that was not
corroborated in this study of alumni. Males from the study abroad program reported that
domestic moves were easier and less stressful than was reported by females.
Having experienced culture shock was significantly higher for study abroad than
non-study abroad groups. This factor was used as an indicator of developmental positive
regression. The study abroad groups listed travel as the greatest cause of culture shock
followed by domestic moves, social changes, and then work. Those with travel
experience within other cultures found the occupational environment and corporate
culture to be less stressful than those who had not traveled abroad. Thus, there is a
stronger ability to adapt to new environments for the study abroad participants, which is
corroborated in the literature (Gurman, 1990; Kauffmann, 1983; Thomlison, 1991).
Study abroad participants experienced childhood (regressive) feelings more often.
They were more likely to have thoughts of helplessness or anger (not necessarily
actions), were less emotional, and were more willing to perceive and accept the reality of
172
challenges. The reaction of anger to a new environment has frequently been noted as one
of the “stages of acculturation” that people go through when faced with extreme
differences in culture (Adler, 1975). Adler listed this reaction in his second phase of the
stages of culture shock, disintegration, but he was quick to point out that this frustration
is sometimes necessary to stimulate or trigger personal development.
Significant differences were seen in life goals. Interest in earning money was less
important for study abroad participants than for non-study abroad participants. Pfnister
(1979, as cited in Kauffmann, 1983) also noted a decreased interest in material
possessions. More study abroad participants said that travel gave them a greater
appreciation for their home culture, but they also saw their culture as being too
materialistic upon return.
World-mindedness was measured by the reactions to international or domestic
travel reentry or moves. Other researchers have noted that after travel abroad the home
culture is seen in greater bipolar extremes: both smaller and more naïve, but containing
more value and with more appreciative aspects (Bates, 1998; Gwynne, 1981; Richardson,
1996). This dual reaction was also noted in the anecdotal comments of this study. One
participant in particular described feelings of euphoria in the new culture and never
wanting to return home, along with an increased appreciation for all that the home culture
offered and represented. Greater world-mindedness seems to incorporate both
viewpoints.
Vocational choice and goals were partially measured by what experience had the
greatest impact at college. Over half of the study abroad participants stated that this
program was definitely the most significant experience. For non-study abroad
participants, males felt that meeting people was more important, whereas females valued
education more highly. This reflects an interesting difference related to corporate
culture. Many promotions are based on networking or the “old boy network.” The idea
173
that women can advance in the business world by working hard and learning more about
their vocations must be balanced by the need to build social connections with colleagues.
Strong personal bonds are important to advancement in the corporate world, and this
concept is apparently already well established in males by the college years. Women
who studied abroad showed a much higher interest in service-oriented jobs and the arts
compared to those who did not travel internationally. Previous study abroad research
projects have corroborated that study abroad does have an impact on career goals
(Hutchins, 1996; Nafziger, 1996; Wallace, 1999) and enhanced career opportunities
(Swinger, 1985).
Recommendations
When pretravel training sessions are implemented for study abroad participants, it
is very important to balance the extent of training with the need to retain some unknown
surprise elements in the experience that serve as “learning triggers.” Bowlby’s theory
explains the psychoanalytic concept of a person’s early experiences and later socio-
emotional functioning, but it also points out how important it is for some stress or anxiety
to be present in order for transformative learning to take place (Adler, 1975; Dabrowski,
1964; Erikson, 1964). Instead of extensive pretravel training to reduce culture shock and
anxiety, it might be more effective to provide a secure place abroad where the sojourner
could return when new situations became overwhelming—a sort of moving “safety net”
with a protective figure and physical haven close by for assistance. For stressful life
stages Cantalupo (1987) suggested that providing continuous background support is more
successful than direct confrontation, especially for teenagers during times of anxiety
caused by increasing awareness of personal limitations. This concept is similar to recent
methods outlined by McGuire (2000) for treating schizophrenic patients, whereby
establishing a safe place for stress reduction is more effective than “treating” the
174
symptoms with drugs or interference. Weaver (1994) even suggested that culture shock
might be a temporary form of schizophrenia! Further research on the balance between
degree of pretravel training versus having minimal training with a continuously available
safe location abroad needs to be explored, especially in light of the need for some degree
of tension to stimulate personal growth.
One of the most quoted passages from Alice in Wonderland is that of the Cheshire
Cat advising Alice that if she does not know where she is going, then “it doesn’t matter
which way you go” (Gardner, 1993, p. 88). This seems funny to the reader because
people should know what they want, but in reality many people do not know, and they
have not had opportunities to explore options. During career counseling a frequently
asked question is, “What should I do?” Written assessments like the KTS-II and MBTI
can offer some direction for career choice based on personality traits. But experience
through travel and living within another culture opens many new and unique
opportunities for exploring self-awareness and vocational direction, while increasing a
traveler’s global knowledge, value in the workforce, and self-reliance. Further research
into the process of travel/study abroad and its impact on personal growth is
recommended.
It has been stated that people have one view of the world that is continuously
modified based on their experiences (Parin, 1980; Kopp, 1983). Hong (2000) has
described a dynamic constructivist approach to perception that allows individuals to
retain multiple and seemingly conflicting cognitive patterns of behavior. In this model,
people who have been exposed to two or more cultures are triggered to react differently
depending on the type of stimulus. In other words, absorbing the concepts of a new
culture does not always replace the ideas of the original culture, even when the cultural
rules collide. Instead, one can retain multiple ideas and forms of behavior to be used
when resolving issues within diverse situations.
175
Although much of the literature states that travel abroad affects personal growth
and career choice (see Table 2.1), very few researchers have attempted to explain why.
Further research combining the concepts of positive regression, travel, culture shock, and
developmental psychology will help to understand and design study abroad programs that
are more effective in triggering personal growth and self-awareness, while
simultaneously increasing academic and cultural knowledge.
Conclusions
With the dawning of the twenty-first century, positive psychology is emerging as a
field in its own right. This specialty encompasses the science of positive subjective
experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions that strive to improve the
quality of life for everyone. The positive emphasis is in direct contrast to the dominant
psychological focus in the past that has stressed negative pathology. People should be
assisted and trained in methods that identify and nurture their strongest qualities and
skills and find paths in which they can utilize these strengths.
The “Grand Tour” of the past is one avenue of self-exploration. This should be
reinstated—as more than just a tourist trip to many countries and more than a fully
supervised academic semester living abroad. Some planning and preparation will
enhance the effects of such a trip, but overtraining can actually reduce the benefits of the
experience. In addition, just being abroad without plans will have some positive effect
on personal awareness and growth.
It is hoped that the identification of differences in personality, self-awareness,
vocational goals, positive regression, and cross-cultural adaptation revealed in this
research project will assist persons who are contemplating a study abroad program.
Knowledge of the potential personal benefits gained beyond those achieved in the
academic, educational, and political arenas are important in making this choice. Travel
176
and study abroad provide excellent situations for seeing ourselves more clearly, both
inwardly and from afar, in new environments with new challenges, and better
understanding who we are and who we want to become. Pico Iyer (1998) summarized
this concept: So at heart, travel is just a quick way of keeping our minds mobile and awake. . . . Romantic poets inaugurated an era of travel because they were the great apostles of open eyes. Buddhist monks are often vagabonds, in part because they believe in wakefulness. And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. (p. 55)
177
APPENDICES
Appendix A. U.S. Population: Temperament, Traits, and Vocational Type
As cited in Please Understand Me II (Keirsey, 1998).
Temperament NF NT SJ SP Idealists Rationals Guardians Artisans
Percent 12% 12% 38% 38%
Trait Definition Percent
E Extroversion (expressive) 75% I Introversion (reserved) 25% S Sensing (observant) 75% N Intuitive (introspective) 25% T Thinking (objective) 50% F Feeling (sympathetic) 50% J Judging (scheduled) 55% P Perceiving (probing) 45%
Type Definition Percent ENFJ Teacher 5% ENFP Champion 5% ENTJ Field Marshal 5% ENTP Inventor 5% ESFJ Provider 13% ESFP Performer 13% ESTJ Supervisor 13% ESTP Promoter 13% INFJ Counselor 1% INFP Healer 1% INTJ Mastermind 1% INTP Architect 1% ISFJ Protector 6% ISFP Composer 6% ISTJ Inspector 6% ISTP Crafter 6%
178
Appendix B. Letter of Consent, Instruction, and Rationale for Study
Dear Alumnus: Self-knowledge and global awareness are increasingly important to personal and career success. A research project is being conducted to help us understand how such awareness is best acquired. It is not necessary to have traveled outside of the United States to participate, because such information can be obtained through the media, assessments, library research, and education. You were randomly selected as part of a relatively small group of alumni to participate in this study. Your opinion is extremely important to define a complete picture of the process for enhancing personal growth and awareness. In appreciation for your participation you will receive a printed Career Assessment Report based on your responses. This will assist you in exploring career options. We would be very grateful if you can take a few minutes to complete the survey. A postage-paid return envelope is enclosed. If you prefer to respond on-line via the Internet, you will find the survey at www.university.edu/research/, but this cover letter should be faxed or mailed back with your signature for verification purposes. Your individual data will be kept completely confidential, and your name will be encoded to maintain anonymity during the analysis of the results. Your signature below indicates that you understand the research procedures and that this process is entirely voluntary. If you have any questions regarding this study, please contact us by phone, fax, or e-mail as indicated in the header above, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I look forward to your participation and providing you a personal Career Assessment Report. Sincerely,
(Researcher Name and Signature)
Participant Signature: ______________________ Date: ___________________
E-mail: __________________________ Telephone: ______________________
179
Appendix C. Personality Career Inventory (PCI)
Demographic Information Please fill out the information below. This data will not be stored with your survey responses but will be encoded to maintain anonymity. This will assist in the evaluation of the overall results from participants. Name: _____________________________ Graduation Year: ____________ Occupation: _________________________ Circle one: Female/Male Address: _______________________________________________________ Telephone: ______________________________ Email: __________________________________ Country of Citizenship: _____________________________ Primary Language: _________________________________ List any foreign languages and indicate knowledge level with the codes below: 1 = grammar, 2 = reading, 3 = speaking, 4 = business fluent, 5 = fluent (Sample: French - 3)
Language Level
List any trips outside of the United States (use back of sheet if needed): Reason is a code as follows: VAC = vacation, BUS = business, EDU = education, OTH = other, Group = the number of persons traveling, include yourself.
Country Duration Year Group Reason Comments
Have you ever taken a career assessment survey before? If so, what and where? If yes above, did the career assessment assist in determining your employment goals?
180
Situation Statements Responses are: T = True, F = False
1. Usually I prefer known ways of doing things rather than trying out new ways.
2. Society puts too much restraint on the individual.
3. More than anything else, it is good, hard work that makes life worthwhile.
4. The unfinished and the imperfect often have greater appeal for me than the completed and the polished.
5. I dislike following a set schedule.
6. People ought to be satisfied with what they have.
7. In most ways the poor man is better off than the rich man.
8. I have been quite independent and free from family rule.
9. I don’t like things to be uncertain and unpredictable.
10. I like to go alone to visit new and strange places.
11. One of the most important things children should learn is when to disobey authorities.
12. I often find myself listening without hearing.
13. I like to fool around with new ideas, even if they turn out later to have been a total waste of time.
14. I sometimes feel that I am several persons rather than just one.
15. Science has its place, but there are many important things that can never possibly be understood by the human mind.
16. It doesn’t bother me when things are uncertain and unpredictable.
17. For most questions there is just one right answer, once a person is able to get all the facts.
18. It is better never to expect much; then you are rarely disappointed.
19. If you start trying to change things very much you usually make them worse.
181
20. Many of my friends would probably be considered unconventional by other people.
21. I find it difficult to give up ideas and opinions that I hold.
22. I have been inspired to a way of life based on duty, which I have carefully followed.
23. I believe it is a responsibility of intelligent leadership to maintain the established order of things.
24. I dislike having others deliberate and hesitate before acting.
25. I find that a well-ordered mode of life with regular hours is not congenial to my temperament.
26. I don’t like to undertake any project unless I have a pretty good idea how it will turn out.
Open Questions: Please answer the following questions. If they do not apply to you, simply write “N/A.” Use back of sheet if necessary.
1. Is there some activity that reflects your personality? Explain.
2. Have you ever felt culture shock? Explain.
3. Do you have a special goal or purpose in life? Explain.
4. Have you ever felt “child-like” in an adult stressful situation? Explain.
5. After traveling did your home/community appear differently? Explain.
6. What college experience/event had the greatest impact on your life?
182
Appendix D. Assessment Utilization Request Form
OMNIBUS PERSONALITY INVENTORY (OPI)
Assessment Utilization Request Form In using portions of the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI) I agree to the following terms/conditions: 1. I understand that the OPI was formerly copyrighted by Paul Heist, Ph.D., George Yonge,
Ph.D., and THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CORPORATION, New York, NY. 2. I am a professional trained in psychology having completed university graduate courses in
multicultural issues, counseling theories, developmental psychology, psychometrics, and research ethics.
3. In using subsets of the OPI, all ethical standards of the American Psychological Association
and/or related professional organizations will be adhered to. Furthermore, I will follow the “Research With Human Subjects” guidelines put forth by my university. Ethical considerations include but are not limited to participant informed consent, confidentiality of records, adequate pre- and debriefing of participants, and participant opportunity to review a concise written summary of the study’s purpose, method, results, and implications.
4. Consistent with accepted professional practice, I will save and protect my raw data for a
minimum of five years; and if requested I will make the raw data available to The Psychological Corporation (which is ethically responsible to monitor developments on the instrument in terms of utility, reliability, and validity), and to other professional scholars researching the ethical constructs of this instrument.
5. I will send a notification of availability of the research results to The Psychological
Corporation, New York, regardless of whether the study is published, presented, or fully completed.
Signature: _________________________ Date: _________________________ Name: ______________________________________ Address: _____________________________________ Phone: ______________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________
183
Appendix E. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS)
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II is a self-report personality inventory that
consists of 70 dual-choice statements in which participants select one response (Keirsey,
1998). An assessment is generated that is similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
assessment. There are 16 possible combined personality roles based on four
combinations of preferences. Participants might agree with both the options in the
statement, so they are requested to select the one response they agree with most. At least
25 questions must be answered in order for the results to have any significant meaning.
In addition, there are four major character temperament indicators, developed
from the S/N major score, and a minor trait. These reflect the personality type and
method of intelligence that is favored, as follows: NF = Idealists, NT = Rationals, SJ = Guardians, SP = Artisans, where:
NF = Diplomatic Intelligence, NT = Strategic Intelligence,
SJ = Logistical Intelligence, SP = Tactical Intelligence
Appendix F. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-report personality inventory
designed to provide information about Jungian psychological type preferences (Keirsey,
1998). Isabel Briggs Myers and Katherine Cook Briggs began developing the MBTI in
the early 1940s in order to apply C. G. Jung’s theory of human personality to experiences
in everyday life. MBTI results indicate the respondent’s likely preferences on four paired
dimensions:
• Extroversion (E) / Introversion (I)
• Sensing (S) / Intuition (N)
184
• Thinking (T) / Feeling (F)
• Judging (J) / Perceiving (P)
Results on the Indicator are generally reported with letters representing each of
the preferences. There are 16 possible ways to combine the preferences, resulting in
types:
• ENFP, Champion
• ENFJ, Teacher
• ENTP, Inventor
• ENTJ, Field marshal
• ESFP, Performer
• ESFJ, Provider
• ESTP, Promoter
• ESTJ, Supervisor
• INFJ, Counselor
• INFP, Healer
• INTJ, Mastermind
• INTP, Architect
• ISFJ, Protector
• ISFP, Composer
• ISTJ, Inspector
• ISTP, Crafter
Though many factors influence an individual’s behavior, values, and attitudes, the
four-letter descriptions summarize roles underlying patterns and behaviors common to
most people of that type (Keirsey, 1998).
185
Appendix G. Demographics/Scores
Table G.1 Participant Occupations
LEGEND. NAF = non-study abroad female, NAM = non-study abroad male, SAF = study abroad female,
SAM = study abroad male. Jobs have been classified into five categories: B = Business Administration, E = External-
oriented, I = Introspective, S = Service-oriented, A = Creative Arts
Code OCCUPATION CATEGORY NAF1 Compensation Manager I NAF2 Marketing E NAF3 Education Franchise S NAF4 Leasing E NAF5 Financial Services I NAF6 Lawyer E NAF7 Health Products S NAF8 Entertainment - Producer A NAF9 Engineer I NAF10 Telecommunications I NAF11 Project Manager B NAF12 Financial Services I NAF13 Business Administration B NAF14 Information Technology I NAF15 Marketing E NAF16 Controller I NAF17 Sales & Marketing E NAF18 Product Development I NAF19 TV Production A NAF20 Financial Services I NAF21 Telecommunications E NAF22 Church Director S NAF23 Financial Manager I NAF24 Mortgage Analyst I NAF25 Operations Manager B NAM1 Customer Service S NAM2 Writer A NAM3 Financial Analyst I NAM4 Intl. Sales and Marketing E NAM5 Financial Analyst I NAM6 Engineer I NAM7 Project Manager B NAM8 Business Manager B NAM9 Sports E
186
NAM10 Technology I NAM11 Engineer I NAM12 Mortgage Analyst I NAM13 Sales E NAM14 Sales Training E NAM15 Artist A NAM16 Utilities S NAM17 Manufacturing B NAM18 Information Technology I NAM19 Lawyer E NAM20 Executive Recruiter S NAM21 Systems Analyst I NAM22 Marketing E NAM23 Financial Consultant I SAF1 Teacher S SAF2 Technology Product Manager B SAF3 Teacher S SAF4 Teacher S SAF5 Law E SAF6 Health Care S SAF7 Advertising A SAF8 Administrator B SAF9 Financial Services I SAF10 Teacher S SAF11 Software I SAF12 Education S SAF13 Financial Services I SAF14 Contract Administrator B SAF15 Technical Writer A SAF16 Systems Analyst I SAF17 Systems Analyst I SAF18 Teacher S SAF19 Graphic Artist A SAF20 Medical Assistant S SAF21 Product Development B SAF22 Web Technology I SAF23 Sales E SAF24 Accountant I SAF25 Financial Systems I SAF26 Homemaker S SAF27 Teacher S SAF28 College Faculty S SAF29 Writer/Artist A SAF30 Bank Automation I SAF31 Rental Agency E SAF32 Editor A SAF33 Public Relations E
187
SAF34 Advertising A SAF35 Teacher S SAF36 Physician S SAF37 City Management S SAF38 Physical Therapy S SAF39 Psychology grad school S SAF40 Sales E SAF41 Minister S SAF42 Sales E SAF43 Technology Consultant B SAF44 Public Relations E SAF45 Broadcasting E SAF46 Interior Design A SAF47 Health Care Products S SAF48 Social Worker S SAF49 Sales & Marketing E SAF50 Legal Administrator B SAF51 Vocational Counselor S SAF52 Leasing Agent E SAF53 Consultant B SAF54 Teacher S SAF55 International Trade E SAF56 Financial Services I SAF57 Travel Industry E SAF58 Govt. Offices S SAF59 Music Business A SAM1 Financial Consultant I SAM2 Sales E SAM3 Marketing E SAM4 Theatre Manager A SAM5 Intl. Business Consultant B SAM6 Video Editor A SAM7 Aerospace I SAM8 Engineer I SAM9 Business Management B SAM10 Account Manager E SAM11 Business Management B SAM12 Sales E SAM13 Teacher S SAM14 Project Manager B SAM15 College Staff S SAM16 Financial Officer I SAM17 Retailing E SAM18 Marketing E SAM19 Medical Supplier S
188
Table G.2 Participant Quantitative Scores
Code MatchPr Autny Cmpx E I S N T F J PNAF1 8 9 3 7 10 10 14 6 15 5NAF2 20 9 6 8 2 14 6 11 9 13 7NAF3 16 10 7 3 7 10 10 6 14 8 12NAF4 5 3 3 7 15 5 17 3 19 1NAF5 17 5 6 7 3 13 7 9 11 16 4NAF6 2 11 6 9 1 15 5 11 8 18 2NAF7 8 11 2 8 7 13 3 17 11 9NAF8 7 7 11 0 10 3 17 3 17 8 12NAF9 10 9 5 5 14 6 3 17 6 14NAF10 25 12 4 7 3 14 6 10 10 14 6NAF11 21 10 7 6 4 14 6 11 9 17 3NAF12 4 10 10 1 9 11 9 16 4 11 9NAF13 1 10 9 5 5 8 12 3 17 13 7NAF14 9 9 3 2 8 14 6 11 9 17 3NAF15 5 5 3 7 11 9 11 9 14 6NAF16 24 7 2 7 3 17 3 12 8 20 0NAF17 22 6 3 2 8 15 5 13 6 18 2NAF18 18 10 6 2 8 15 5 10 10 15 5NAF19 6 5 6 1 9 10 10 5 15 13 7NAF20 8 9 10 5 5 1 19 1 19 4 16NAF21 19 5 9 8 2 12 8 10 10 13 7NAF22 5 5 5 5 5 11 9 9 11 16 4NAF23 5 2 8 2 14 6 10 10 16 4NAF24 9 10 3 7 8 12 7 13 13 7NAF25 3 5 5 3 7 17 3 5 15 13 7NAM1 7 7 9 1 13 7 2 18 14 6NAM2 29 9 10 3 7 6 14 15 5 13 7NAM3 7 5 3 7 12 8 11 9 16 4NAM4 12 6 4 7 3 12 8 6 14 8 12NAM5 7 4 6 4 13 7 7 13 12 8NAM6 10 8 3 7 10 10 13 7 8 12NAM7 10 10 10 6 4 10 10 9 11 12 8NAM8 11 10 9 2 8 13 7 17 3 13 7NAM9 15 7 6 3 7 11 9 11 9 14 6NAM10 6 10 5 5 12 8 13 6 12 8NAM11 13 11 10 0 12 8 1 19 8 12NAM12 27 9 5 1 9 9 11 13 7 13 7NAM13 28 8 8 6 4 11 9 14 6 5 15NAM14 9 8 4 6 11 9 3 17 12 8NAM15 8 9 2 8 16 4 18 2 19 1NAM16 10 8 1 9 3 17 2 18 5 15
189
NAM17 26 8 4 9 1 2 18 3 17 9 11NAM18 14 7 10 6 4 8 12 12 8 13 7NAM19 11 12 5 5 10 10 14 6 5 15NAM20 11 3 7 3 15 5 14 6 16 4NAM21 15 10 7 5 5 16 4 8 8 13 7NAM22 13 6 8 4 6 13 7 7 13 13 7NAM23 10 11 5 5 6 14 7 13 3 17SAF1 2 6 10 7 2 9 10 4 16 11 9SAF2 10 11 1 9 8 12 8 12 14 6SAF3 7 4 8 2 15 5 10 10 16 4SAF4 9 7 4 4 7 11 5 13 7 11SAF5 8 7 0 10 7 13 10 10 9 11SAF6 21 9 10 6 4 11 9 13 7 9 11SAF7 6 4 3 7 12 8 11 9 15 5SAF8 6 4 7 3 11 9 6 14 15 5SAF9 25 9 9 7 3 4 16 3 17 8 12SAF10 4 2 8 2 17 3 15 5 19 1SAF11 10 6 7 3 10 10 10 9 15 5SAF12 7 6 8 2 10 10 1 19 15 5SAF13 6 3 3 7 9 11 5 15 16 4SAF14 18 8 9 1 9 8 12 13 7 11 9SAF15 8 7 1 9 15 5 8 12 16 4SAF16 20 9 5 4 6 14 3 11 9 14 6SAF17 10 11 7 3 12 8 11 9 7 13SAF18 7 4 0 10 10 10 19 1 13 7SAF19 9 2 6 2 13 7 5 15 19 1SAF20 7 7 3 7 6 14 2 18 10 10SAF21 7 8 6 4 12 8 8 12 14 6SAF22 4 4 8 2 14 6 7 12 18 2SAF23 23 8 8 6 4 16 4 12 8 17 3SAF24 10 7 6 2 8 6 10 8 14 5SAF25 19 7 11 6 4 13 7 13 7 16 4SAF26 9 5 4 6 10 10 9 11 12 8SAF27 6 5 3 7 12 8 3 17 15 5SAF28 8 7 8 2 13 7 8 12 15 5SAF29 7 6 5 3 7 8 3 10 9 8SAF30 23 9 9 7 3 6 14 6 14 10 10SAF31 1 11 4 1 8 14 6 13 7 17 3SAF32 9 4 3 7 12 8 6 14 13 7SAF33 10 5 9 1 12 8 15 5 18 2SAF34 8 5 5 5 13 7 4 16 14 6SAF35 8 4 3 7 12 8 1 19 12 8SAF36 2 3 9 1 12 8 3 17 7 13SAF37 7 5 7 3 16 4 13 7 17 3SAF38 16 11 4 8 2 17 3 11 9 16 4SAF39 11 6 1 9 5 15 6 14 8 12SAF40 6 8 5 5 10 10 10 10 12 8
190
SAF41 6 5 8 1 9 9 11 7 13 14 6SAF42 7 12 8 2 8 12 2 18 9 11SAF43 10 11 3 7 11 9 11 9 11 9SAF44 5 5 9 3 7 11 9 7 13 14 6SAF45 8 6 4 3 7 10 10 5 15 15 5SAF46 5 6 6 3 15 5 3 17 15 5SAF47 22 8 12 8 2 4 16 3 17 9 11SAF48 8 8 3 6 4 15 9 10 12 8SAF49 7 11 9 1 11 9 13 7 9 11SAF50 4 9 8 5 3 13 6 3 13 12 4SAF51 7 8 8 7 3 6 14 7 13 8 12SAF52 9 10 9 1 9 11 3 17 7 13SAF53 17 10 13 6 4 1 19 12 8 1 19SAF54 8 3 2 8 14 6 7 13 13 7SAF55 3 3 2 3 7 19 1 14 6 20 0SAF56 24 5 11 6 4 10 10 6 14 7 13SAF57 4 11 5 5 9 11 7 13 11 9SAF58 9 10 6 9 1 14 6 9 11 10 10SAF59 8 7 5 5 9 10 5 14 8 11SAM1 9 3 10 0 11 9 11 9 13 7SAM2 11 9 7 10 0 9 11 6 14 12 8SAM3 10 4 7 2 8 16 4 9 10 13 7SAM4 4 4 3 7 12 8 8 12 15 5SAM5 27 11 10 2 8 12 8 15 5 12 8SAM6 6 4 4 6 14 6 8 12 5 15SAM7 9 5 6 4 10 10 12 8 15 5SAM8 8 9 8 2 8 12 9 11 10 10SAM9 8 10 2 8 9 11 12 8 10 10SAM10 10 11 2 8 10 10 10 10 11 9SAM11 9 9 6 4 5 15 13 7 6 14SAM12 13 8 4 4 6 15 5 18 2 16 3SAM13 10 9 8 2 12 8 7 13 7 13SAM14 28 10 12 4 6 12 8 12 8 9 11SAM15 26 9 10 6 4 3 17 3 17 10 10SAM16 12 8 12 4 6 4 16 5 15 5 15SAM17 7 10 9 1 16 4 15 5 14 6SAM18 14 7 9 7 3 7 13 15 5 12 8SAM19 29 9 9 3 7 16 4 14 6 15 5
191
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abbot, E. A. (1991). Flatland: A romance of many dimensions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Adler, P. S. (1994). Beyond cultural identity: Reflections upon cultural and multicultural man. In G. R. Weaver (Ed.), Culture, communication and conflict: Readings in intercultural relations, (pp. 241-259), Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press.
Adler, P. S. (1975). Transitional experience: An alternative view of culture shock. Humanistic Psychology, vol. 15, no. 4, 13-23.
American Psychiatric Press (APP). (1994). American psychiatric glossary. (7th ed.) Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychological Association (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological Testing (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Andrus, A. L., Ralph, L. M., & Sims, S. M. (Eds.). (1998). Culturgram ‘98. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University.
Arkoff, A. (Ed.). (1975). Psychology and personal growth. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood. A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, (5) 469-480.
Aronson, J. (1964). Introduction. In K. Dabrowski, Positive disintegration. Boston: Brown, Little and Company.
Austin, C. N. (Ed.) (1986). Cross-cultural reentry: A book of readings. Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press.
Aydin, F. (1997). Intercultural adjustment as predicted by attachment and personality variables. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University.
Baedeker, K. (1899). Handbook for travellers. The United States with an excursion into Mexico. New York: Charles Scribner & Sons.
Baedeker, K. (1911). Handbook for travellers: The Mediterranean seaports and sea routes. Leipzig, Germany: Karl Baedeker Publishers.
192
Baloglu, S. (1996). An empirical investigation of determinants of tourist destination image (Travel). Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Baltes. P. B., & Staudinger, U. (Eds.). (1996). Interactive minds : Life-span perspectives on the social foundation of cognition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Basseches, M. (1984). Dialectical thinking and adult development. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp.
Basseches, M. (1986a). Dialectical thinking and young adult cognitive development. In R. A. Mines & K. S. Kitchener, Adult cognitive development (pp. 31-56). New York: Praeger.
Basseches, M. (1986b). Cognitive-structural development and the conditions of employment. Human Development, 29, 101-112.
Bates, J. T. (1998). The effects of study abroad on undergraduates in an honors international program. Unpublished doctoral disseration, University of South Carolina.
Bee, H. L. (1987). The journey of adulthood. New York: MacMillan.
Berens, L. (1996, Spring). “Type & temperament,” Bulletin of Psychological Type, 19(2), (pp. 8-9). Retrieved from the Internet on January 17, 2001, from www.aptcentral.org/bulberen.htm
Benack, S., & Basseches, M. A. (1989). Dialectical thinking and relativistic epistemology: Their relation in adult development. In M. L. Commons, Adult development: Volume 1 (pp. 95-109). New York: Praeger.
Bennett, J. M. (1977). Transition shock: Putting culture shock in perspective. International and Intercultural Communication Annual, 4, 123-129.
Bennett, M. J. (1986). A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10, 179-196.
Bennett, M., & Hammer, M. (1998). The developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. Portland, OR: The Intercultural Communication Institute.
Bernstein, E. (1996). Diversity in work styles. In F. T. L. Leong & J. T.Austin (Eds.), Psychology research handbook: A guide for graduate students and research assistants (pp. 325-341). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
193
Black, J. (1997). The British abroad: The Grand Tour in the eighteenth century. Gloucestershire, England: Sutton Publishing.
Blake, J. E. (2000). Personality type and interpreters for the deaf. Retrieved from the Internet on July 24, 2000, at www.terpsnet.com/resources/personality-types.htm
Bock, P. (1970). Culture shock: A reader in modern cultural anthropology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Bodden, J. L. & Klein, A. J. (1972). Cognitive complexity and appropriate vocational choice: Another look. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19(3), 257-258.
Bolles, R. N. (1998). What color is your parachute? Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books Inc.
Brein, M. & David, K. H. (1971). Intercultural communication and the adjustment of the sojourner. The Psychological Bulletin, 76(3) 215-230.
Brislin, R. W. (1994). Intercultural communication training: An introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Brown, H. (1998). Sojourner adjustment among undergraduate students: Relationships with locus of control and coping strategies. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Claremont Graduate University.
Browning, R. (1855) “De Gustibus.” In J. H. Buckley & G. B. Woods (Eds.), (1965) Poetry of the Victorian Period, (p. 239). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.
Calvino, I. (1979). Invisible cities. London: Picador.
Cantalupo, P. (1978, January 14). Psychological problems and parental loss. Science News, 113 (2), p. 21.
Cantalupo, P. A. (1987, May 8). Mourning becomes the teenager. [Letter to the editor] The Wall Street Journal, p. 23.
Carlson, J. S., Burn, B. B., Useem, J., & Yachimowicz, D. (1990). Study abroad: The experience of American undergraduates. New York: Greenwood Press.
Castaneda, C. (1972). Journey to Ixtlan. The lessons of Don Juan. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Castaneda, C. (1974). Tales of power. New York: Washington Square Press.
194
Cather, W. (1956, 1988). Willa Cather in Europe: Her own story of the first journey. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., & Cavalli-Sforza, F. (1995). The great human diasporas. The history of diversity and evolution. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Cederblom, J. (1989). Willingness to reason and the identification of the self. In E. P. Maimon, B. F. Nodine, & F. W. O’Connor (Eds.), Thinking, reasoning, and writing. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Chatwin, B. (1977). In Patagonia. New York: Viking Penguin.
Chen, S. (1997). Measurement and analysis in psychosocial research. Aldershot, England: Avebury.
Chickering, A. W. (1969). Education and identity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Church, A. T. (1982). Sojourner adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 91(3), 540-572.
Commons, M. L., Sinnott, J. D., Richards, F. A., & Armon, C. (1989a). Adult development: Volume 1. Comparisons and applications of developmental models. New York: Praeger.
Commons, M. L., Aron, C., Kohlberg, L., Richards, F. A., Grotzer, T. A., & Sinnott, J. D. (1989b). Adult development: Volume 2. Models and methods in the study of adolescent and adult thought. New York: Praeger.
Cook-Greuter, S. R. (1989). Maps for living: Ego-development stages from symbiosis to conscious universal embeddedness. In M. L. Commons, Adult development: Volume 2 (pp. 79-103). New York: Praeger.
Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of self-esteem. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.
Corsini, R. J., & Wedding, D. (Eds.) (1995). Current psychotherapies (5th ed.). Itasca, IL: R. E. Peacock Publications.
Couper, G. E. (1986). An American sculptor on the Grand Tour. Los Angeles: TreCavalli Press.
Cross, K. P. (1981). Adults as learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cross, M. P. (1998). Self efficacy and cultural awareness: A study of returned Peace Corps teachers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Catholic University of America.
195
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1993). The evolving self. New York: Harper Collins.
Cushner, K., McClelland, A., & Safford, P. (1992). Human diversity in education. An integrative approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Dabrowski, K. (1964). Positive disintegration. Boston: Brown, Little and Company.
Dabrowski, K., & Piechowski, M. M. (1977a). Theories of levels of emotional development, Volume 1. Multilevelness and positive disintegration. Oceanside, NY: Dabor Science Publications.
Dabrowski, K., & Piechowski, M. M. (1977b). Theories of levels of emotional development, Volume 2. From primary integration to self-actualization. Oceanside, NY: Dabor Science Publications.
Damasio, A. R. (1995). Descartes’ error - Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Avon Books.
De Verthelyi, R. F. (1995). International student’s spouses: Invisible sojourners in the culture shock literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 19, 387-411.
Desruisseaux, P. (1998, December 11). More American students than ever before are going overseas for credit, (p. A70). The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Desruisseaux, P. (1999, December 10). 15% Rise in American students abroad shows popularity of non-European destinations, (pp. A60-A62). The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and telephone surveys: The total design method. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Durrell, L. (1957). Bitter lemons. London: Faber & Faber.
Eliot, T. S. (1971). The complete poems and plays: 1909-1950. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.
Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton.
Erikson, E. H. (1964). Insight and responsibility. New York: W. W. Norton.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W. W. Norton.
Farber, M. L. (1954). Some hypotheses on the psychology of travel. Psychoanalytic Review, 41, 267-271.
196
Feldman, H. F., Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Gardner, H. (1994). Changing the world. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Fitzgerald, T. K. (1993). Metaphors of identity: A culture communication dialogue. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Freud, S. (1917). A general introduction to psychoanalysis. New York: Washington Square Press.
Furnham, A., & Bochner, S. (1986). Culture shock: Psychological reactions to unfamiliar environments. New York: Methuen.
Gao, G. & Gudykunst, W. B. (1990). Uncertainty, anxiety, and adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14, 301-317.
Gardner, M. (1993). The annotated Alice. Alice’s adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass. Avenel, NJ: Wings Books.
Goodwin, C. D. W., & Nacht, M. (1988). Abroad and beyond: Patterns in American overseas education. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Gruber, H. E. (1984). Preface. In M. Basseches, Dialectical thinking and adult development (pp. xi-xiii). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Gullahorn, J. T., & Gullahorn, J. E. (1963). An extension of the U-curve hypothesis. Journal of Social Issues, 3, 33-47.
Gurman, E. B., Taylor, W. B., & Hudson, T. W. (1990). Study abroad: A case study in international education. Psychological Reports, 67, 579-585.
Gwynne, M. A. (1981). The effects of study abroad on community college students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College.
Hall, E. T. (1981). Beyond culture. New York: Doubleday.
Hannigan, T. P. (1990). Traits, attitudes, and skills that are related to intercultural effectiveness and their implications for cross-cultural training: A review of the literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14, 89-111.
Hansel, B. G. (1985). The impact of a sojourn abroad: A study of secondary school students participating in a foreign exchange program. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University.
Harding, D. E. (1988). On having no head. In D. R. Hofstadter & D. C. Dennett (Eds.), The mind’s I - Fantasies and reflections on self and soul. Toronto: Bantam Books.
197
Harper, R. A. (1959). Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Harris, J. G. (1972). Prediction of success on a distant Pacific island: Peace Corps style. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 38, 181-190.
Hart, W. B. (1999). The intercultural sojourn as the hero’s journey. The Edge: The E-Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2(1). Retrieved from the Internet on February 14, 2000, at www.kumo.swcp.com/biz/theedge/hero.htm
Harwood, R. L., Miller, J. G., & Irizarry, N. L. (1995). Culture and attachment: Perceptions of the child in context. New York: The Guilford Press.
Hatch, E. (1973). Theories of man and culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
Heist, P., & Yonge, G. (1968). Omnibus Personality Inventory. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
Hermans, H. J. M., & Kempen, H. J. G. (1998). Moving cultures. The perilous problems of cultural dichotomies in a globalizing society. American Psychologist, 53(10) 1111-1120.
Hesse, H. (1925, 1999) Demian. New York: Harper Collins.
Hong, Y., Morris, M. W., Chiu, C., & Benet-Martinez, V. (2000). Multicultural minds. A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition. American Psychologist, 55(7), 709-720.
Howard, E. M. (1988). Academic year abroad. New York: Institute of International Education.
Hutchins, M. M. (1996). International education study tours abroad. Students’ professional growth and personal development in relation to international, global, and intercultural perspectives. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University.
Irwin, R. R., & Sheese, R. L. (1989) Problems in the proposal for a “stage” of dialectical thinking. In M. L. Commons, Adult development: Volume 1 (pp. 114-132). New York: Praeger.
Impara, J. C., & Plake, B. S. (Eds.). (1998). The thirteenth mental measurements yearbook. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, University of Nebraska Press.
Iyer, P. (1989). Video night in Kathmandu. New York: Vintage Departures, Random House.
198
Iyer, P. (1997). Tropical classical. Essays from several directions. New York: Vintage Departures, Random House.
Iyer, P. (1998, April 19). Why we travel, (pp. 32-55). Los Angeles Times Magazine.
Jansen, E. (1998). Cross-cultural adaptation among women: How living internationally affects your life. Society of Intercultural Education, Training, and Research (SIETAR). Unpublished article retrieved from the Internet on July 14, 1998, at www.sistergoldenhair.com/uponarrival/research.html
Kauffmann, N. L. (1983). The impact of study abroad on personality change. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University.
Kauffmann, N. L., Martin, J. N., & Weaver, J. (1992). Students abroad, strangers at home: Education for a global society. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Keen, S. (1970). To a dancing God. New York: Harper & Row.
Kegan, R. (1982). The evolving self: Problem and process in human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads. The mental demands of modern life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Keirsey, D. (1998). Please understand me II: Temperament, character, intelligence. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.
Kelley, C., & Meyers, J. (1995). CCAI: Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems, Inc.
Kennedy, J. G. (1994). The individual’s transformational learning experience as a cross-cultural sojourner: Descriptive models. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Fielding Institute.
Kim, Y. Y., & Ruben, B. D. (1988). Intercultural transformation: A systems theory. In Y. Y. Kim & W. B. Gudykunst (Eds.), Theories of intercultural communication (pp. 71-105). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
King, P. M., Kitchener, K. S., Wood, P. K., Davison, M. L. (1989). Relationships across developmental domains: A longitudinal study of intellectual, moral, and ego development. In M. L. Commons, Adult development: Volume 1. (pp. 57-71). New York: Praeger.
Knefelkamp, L. L., & Slepitza, R. (1976). A cognitive-developmental model of career development—An adaptation of the Perry Scheme. The Counseling Psychologist, 6(3).
199
Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Kohls, L. R. (1986). Foreword. In C. N. Austin, Cross-cultural reentry: A book of readings (pp. xix-xxi). Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press.
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experiences as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Kopp, S. B. (1974). The hanged man: Psychotherapy and the forces of darkness.
Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
Kopp, S. B. (1983). An end to innocence: Facing life without illusions. Toronto: Bantam Books.
Kottler, J. A. (1997). Travel that can change your life: How to create a transformative experience. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kubler-Ross, E. (1997). On death and dying. New York: Collier Books.
Lanyon, R. I., & Goodstein, L. D. (1997). Personality assessment (3rd ed.) New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Lee. L. (1969). As I walked out on a midsummer morning. London: André Deutsch.
Lee, L. (1976). I can’t stay long. New York: Atheneum.
Leong, F. T. L., & Austin, J. T. (Eds.). (1996). The psychology research handbook: A guide for graduate students and research assistants. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Levin, I. P., & Hinrichs, J. V. (1995). Experimental psychology: Contemporary methods & applications. Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark.
Lewis, C. S. (1965). Out of the silent planet. New York: McMillan.
Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Loti, P. (1895). (Translated from the original in 1993). The desert. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press.
Loti, P. (1924). Notes of my youth. New York: Doubleday
Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2000). States of excellence. American Psychologist, 55, (1), 137-150.
200
Lysgaard, S. (1955). Adjustment in a foreign society: Norwegian Fulbright grantees visiting the United States. International Social Science Bulletin, 7, 45-51.
MacDaid, G. P., McCaulley, M. H., & Kainz, R. I. (1995). Myers-Briggs type indicator atlas of type tables. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Marcia, J. E. (1980). Ego identity development. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology. New York: Wiley.
Marsella, A. J. (1998). Toward a “global-community psychology.” Meeting the needs of a changing world. American Psychologist, 53(12), 1282-1291.
Martin, J. N. (1986). Communication in the intercultural reentry: Student sojourners’ perceptions of change in reentry relationships. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10,. 1-22.
Martin, P., & Bateson, P. (1993). Measuring behaviour: An introductory guide (2nd ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Massimini, F., & Delle Fave, A. (2000). Individual development in a bio-cultural perspective. American Psychologist, 55(1), 24-33.
Mayle, P. (1991). A year in Provence. New York: Random House.
McCully, R. S. (1976). Creative psychiatry: Contributions of Jungian psychotherapy toward understanding the creative process. Ardsley, NY: Geigy Pharmaceuticals.
McGuire, P. A. (2000, February). Schizophrenia. APA Monitor, 31(2), 25-38.
McIntosh, R. W., & Goeldner, C. R. (1994). Tourism: Principles, practices, philosophies. (7th ed.) New York: John Wiley.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (1997). Research in education. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mines, R. A., & Kitchener, K. S. (Eds.). (1986). Adult cognitive development. New York: Praeger.
Mohanty, S. (1998). Travel writing today. The Hindu, 37-40.
201
Moshman, D. (1996). Does cognition develop beyond childhood? The Genetic Epistemologist, 24(2) New York: The Jean Piaget Society.
Moshman, D. (1998). Identity as a theory of oneself. The Genetic Epistemologist, 26(3), New York: The Jean Piaget Society.
Moshman, D. (1999). Adolescent psychological development: Rationality, morality, and identity. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mundorf, N. K. (1996, April). Toddler distress at separation. Paper presented at the Association for Childhood Education International Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
Muuss, R. (1996). Theories of adolescence (6th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
NAFSA: Association of International Educators (1997). Basic facts on study abroad. Washington, DC: Author.
Nafziger, K. L. (1996). Reentry adjustment of short-term student sojourners: A test of the U-curve hypothesis (Study abroad, culture shock). Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Nash, D., & Shaw, L. C. (1963). Personality and adaptation in an overseas enclave. Human Organization, 21, 252-263.
Nash, D. (1975). The personal consequences of a year of study abroad. Journal of Higher Education, 17(2), 191-203.
Norwich, J. J. (1987). A taste for travel: An anthology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Oberg, K. (1960). Culture shock: Adjustment to new cultural environments. Practical Anthropology, 7, 177-182.
Osborn, M., & Osborn, S. (1998). Public Speaking. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Parin, P., Morgenthaler, F., & Parin-Matthèy, G. (1980). Fear thy neighbor as thyself. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pascarella, E. T. , & Terenzini, P. T. (1991). How college affects students. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Pearson, D. (1964). The Peace Corps volunteer returns–problems of adjustment. Saturday Review, 47, 54-56.
Pedersen, P. (1995). The five stages of culture shock: Critical incidents around the world. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press.
202
Peng, K., & Nisbett, R. E. (1999). Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American Psychologist, 54(9), 741-754.
Perry, W. G., Jr. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston.
Perry, W. G. (1977). Comments, appreciative, and cautionary. The Counseling Psychologist. 6(4), 51-52.
Piaget, J. (1969). The intellectual development of the adolescent. In G. Coplan and S. Lebovich (Eds.), Adolescence: Psychological perspectives. New York: Basic Books.
Reason, J. (1974). Man in motion: The psychology of travel. New York: Walker.
Richardson, S. L. (1996). Understanding tourism encounters: A phenomenology of the international travel experience (intercultural contact). Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University.
Riegel, K. (1973). Dialectic operations: The final period of cognitive development. Human Development, 16, 346-370.
Rogers, C. R. (1975). What it means to become a person. In A. Arkoff, Psychology and personal growth. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Sanford, R. N. (1967). Education for individual development. New Dimensions in Higher Education, 31.
Santrock, J. W. (1997). Life-span development. Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark.
Schillaci, J. (1997). Self-shock: The intrapsychic distress of the sojourner experience (acculturation stress, Peace Corps, Paraguay). Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas.
Schomer, K. (2000, March). Cultivating global awareness. Siliconindia, 76.
Schweigert, W. A. (1998). Research methods in psychology: A handbook. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.
Sell, D. K. (1983). Research on attitude change in U.S. students who participate in foreign study experiences. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 7, 131-147.
203
Silverman, J. (1994). When schizophrenia helps. In G. R. Weaver, Culture, communication and conflict: Readings in intercultural relations (pp. 207-212), Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press,.
Simplicio, J. C. (1989). An interview study of the economic readjustments of selected returning minority Vietnam veterans. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, New York University.
Singer, M. R. (1987). Intercultural communication: A perceptual approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Sleek, S. (1998, September). Counselors who volunteer services overseas help youth, families. APA Monitor, p. 28.
Spano, S. (1998, Oct. 11). Some lessons in the art of getting lost in strange places, Los Angeles Times, L7.
SPSS Inc. (1999). SPSS base 10.0 user’s guide. Chicago: Author.
Stevens-Long, J. (1984). Adult life developmental processes (2nd ed.) Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing.
Storti, C. (1989). The art of crossing cultures. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Super, D. E. (1957). The psychology of careers: An introduction to vocational development. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Super, D. E. (1976). Career education and the meanings of work. Washington, DC: U.S. Office of Education.
Swinger, A. K. (1985). Planning for study abroad. Bloomington, IN: Phi Kappa Educational Foundation.
Taft, R. (1977). Coping with unfamiliar cultures. In N. Warren (Ed.), Studies in cross-cultural psychology, vol. 1. London: Academic Press.
Tappan, M. B. (1997). Language, culture, and moral development: A Vygotskian perspective. Developmental Review, 17, 78-100.
Taylor, I. (1976). Introduction to psycholinguistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Theroux, P. (1996). The pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean. New York: Fawcett-Columbine.
204
Thomlison, T. D. (1991, February 22). Effects of a study-abroad program on university students: Toward a predictive theory of intercultural contact. Paper presented at the Annual Intercultural and Communication Conference, Miami, FL.
Thoreau, H. D. (1962). Excursions. New York: Corinth Books.
Tuckman, B. W. (1978). Conducting educational research (2nd ed.) New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.
Turabian, K. (1996). A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations (6th edition). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Twain, M. (1911) The innocents abroad. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Uehara, A. (1986). The nature of American student reentry adjustment and perceptions of the sojourn experience. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 10, 415-438.
Volz, J. (2000). In search of the good life. APA Monitor, 13(2), 68-69.
Wallace, D. H. (1999). Academic study abroad: The long-term impact on alumni careers, volunteer activities, world and personal perspectives. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Claremont Graduate University.
Ward, C., & Searle, W. (1991). The impact of value discrepancies and cultural identity on psychological and sociocultural adjustment of sojourners. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 15, 209-225.
Ward, C., & Kennedy, A. (1992). Locus of control, mood disturbance, and social difficulty during cross-cultural transitions. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 16, 175-194.
Waterman, A. S. (1992). Identity as an aspect of optimal psychological functioning. In G. R. Adams, T. P. Gullota, & R. Montemayor (Eds.), Adolescent identity formation (pp. 50-72). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Weaver, G. R. (1994). Culture, communication and conflict: Readings in intercultural relations. Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press.
Weinmann, S. (1983, March). Cultural encounters of the stimulating kind; Personal development through culture shock. Paper presented at the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, St. Louis, MO.
Widick, C. (1977). The Perry Scheme: A foundation for developmental practice. The Counseling Psychologist. 6(4), 35-38.
205
Wilkinson, L. & APA Task Force on Statistical Inference (1999, August). Statistical methods in psychology journals: Guidelines and explanations. American Psychologist, 54(8), 594-603.
Woodside, A., Crouch, G., Mazanec, M., & Oppermann, M. (Eds.). (2000). Consumer psychology of tourism, hospitality, and leisure. New York: CABI Publishing.
Zepatos, T. (1996). A journey of one’s own: Uncommon advice for the independent woman traveler (2nd ed.). Portland, OR: The Eighth Mountain Press.
Zikman, S. (1999). The power of travel: A passport to adventure, discovery, and growth. New York: Tarcher-Putnam.