Social adjustment and friendship patterns of international students
A study of Norwegian students studying abroad
Gunn Irene Iversen
Supervisor: Floyd Rudmin
Master thesis in psychology
Spring 2009
Det Samfunnsvitenskapelige Fakultet
Institutt for psykologi
University of Tromsø, Norway
Table of contents
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….5
Preface………………………………………………………………………………………….7
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………...9
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….11
Definitions…………………………………………………………………………….11
Coping strategies……………………………………………………………………...16
Contact strategies……………………………………………………………………..19
Sojourners…………………………………………………………………………….21
Purpose………………………………………………………………………………..23
Method……………………………………………………………………………………….25
Instrument……………………………………………………………………………..25
Distribution……………………………………………………………………………26
Sample……………………………………………………………………………...…26
Results………………………………………………………………………………………..29
Sociocultural Adaptation Scale……………………………………………………….29
Openness Scale and Co-national Scale……………………………………………….30
Success Scale………………………………………………………………………….31
Correlations…………………………………………………………………………...32
Open-ended questions………………………………………………………………...33
Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………….35
Caveats and problems…………………………………………………………………35
Interpretation of results……………………………………………………………….37
Open-ended questions………………………………………………………………...43
Suggestions for improving international students’ adjustment………………………45
2
-Pre-departure preparations…………………………………………………...45
-Practical issues………………………………………………………….……47
-Social issues………………………………………………………………….49
-Re-entry………………………………………………………………………50
Future research………………………………………………………………………..51
References……………………………………………………………………………………55
Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………..63
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4
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to my supervisor, Floyd Rudmin, for invaluable advice and suggestions.
Also, I thank ANSA for helpful cooperation...