Ph.D., Social/Personality Psychology

The University of Texas at Austin

sarah.angulo@gmail.com

Students often return from study abroad with glowing reports about how they've changed and grown as a result of the unforgettable experience.

The goal of my research is to investigate the phenomena of personal change and growth in students abroad by using larger groups of students and empirical research methods.

I examined students who spent a semester abroad. I sent them online questionnaires before they left the United States, as well as 2, 8, and 12 weeks into the study-abroad experience.

Here are some of my research findings.

1. There is evidence students change during study abroad. After 12 weeks abroad, 84% of students reported they were different people than they were when they left the United States.

A similar percentage of students report personal change after only two weeks abroad, indicating that even short-term study abroad programs may be effective catalysts for personal change.

Change during study abroad appears to be positive. Students indicated they liked who they had developed into during study abroad.

2. 96% of students reported moderate to high personal growth after study abroad.

Personal growth is an overall score of general growth in areas such as independence, self-reliance, effectiveness, leadership skills, problem solving skills, and ability to interact with people from different backgrounds.

3. Across time, students abroad increased significantly in:

-satisfaction with life

-worldliness

-self-liking

4. Evidence suggests that students with certain traits may do especially well during the study-abroad experience.

The following traits were associated with personal growth during the study abroad experience:

-extraversion (being friendly, assertive, and interacting with people)

-agreeableness (being considerate, friendly, and likeable)

-conscientiousness (being dependable, disciplined, and organized)

-openness to experience (being imaginative, intellectually curious, and interested in variety)

5. An important process that can occur during study abroad is identification with the host country. In this process, a student begins to feel like member of host country.

The following traits were linked to higher identification with the host country:

-agreeableness

-openness to experience

-self-competence

6. In addition to personal characteristics, it is important to ask if behaving in certain ways while abroad is at all linked with positive outcomes. The good news is that yes, behaviors abroad are very important. The following behaviors were associated with higher identification with the host country:

-studying in a country where the language is not English

-taking courses in the language of the host country instead of in English

-talking with people from the host country

-not talking with people from the United States

-talking in the language of the host country

-eating food from the host country

-attending cultural events

7. There appears to be a host family advantage. Compared to students living in dorms with other Americans, students living with host families

-had higher satisfaction with life after 12 weeks abroad

-had higher identification with the host country after 2 weeks abroad, and after 12 weeks abroad

8. A key finding is that change and growth seem to be products of the study-abroad experience itself.

A valid argument is that students who study abroad tend to be relatively high functioning and prone to positive development regardless of where they are. To address this concern, students abroad were compared to students who had been accepted to study abroad the following semester but had not yet left for the experience. Thus, the only difference between the two groups was presumably that one group was abroad, and one group was not.

Students abroad were significantly higher in satisfaction with life, self-competence, and personal growth than students who were planning to study abroad but had not yet begun the experience.