Article published In:
Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International EducationVol. 1:1 (2016) ► pp.107–127
Vol. 1:1 (2016) ► pp.107–127
Personality changes after the ‘year abroad’?
A mixed-methods study
This study utilizes a mixed-methods approach to investigate personality changes of British undergraduate students who spent their third year abroad in a French or Spanish-speaking country. Personality changes were measured quantitatively using the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ, Van der Zee & Van Oudenhoven, 2000; 2001), administered twice: pre-departure and after returning to their home university. A reflective interview was also conducted at the end of their stay abroad and analysed qualitatively to investigate whether students noted any personality changes. The MPQ results demonstrate statistically significant changes over time on the Emotional Stability factor only. These results are supported by the reflective interviews as 77% of participants mentioned feeling more confident and independent after residence abroad. Based on these findings, residence abroad appears to be an example of a type of social investment with the potential to positively affect the emotional stability of university students undertaking the experience as temporary sojourners.
References
Alred, G., & Byram, M
(2002) Becoming an intercultural mediator: A longitudinal study of residence abroad. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 231, 339–352. 
Amuzie, G.L., & Winke, P
(2009) Changes in language learning beliefs as a result of study abroad. System, 37(3), 366–379.
Anderson, P.H., Lawton, L., Rexeisen, R.J., & Hubbard, A.C
(2006) Short-term study abroad and intercultural sensitivity: A pilot study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 30(4), 457–469.
Bakalis, S., & Joiner, T.A
(2004) Participation in tertiary study abroad programs: The role of personality. International Journal of Educational Management, 18(5), 286–291.
Benson, P., Barkhuizen, G., Bodycott, P., & Brown, J
(2013) Second language identity in narratives of study abroad. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Clarke, I.I., Flaherty, T.B., Wright, N.D., & McMillen, R.M
(2009) Student intercultural proficiency from study abroad programs. Journal of Marketing Education, 31(2), 173–181.
Cohen, J
(1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Coleman, J.A
(1996) Studying languages: A survey of British and European students. The proficiency, background, attitudes and motivations of students of foreign languages in the United Kingdom and Europe. London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research.
(1997) Residence abroad within language study. Language Teaching, 301, 1–20.
(2002) Translating research into disseminated good practice: The case of student residence abroad. In R. Macdonald & J. Wisdom (Eds.), Academic and educational development: Research, evaluation and changing practice in higher education (pp. 88–98). London: Kogan Page.
Coleman, J.A., & Chafer, T
(2011) The experience and long-term impact of study abroad by Europeans in an African context. In F. Dervin (Ed.), Analysing the consequences of academic mobility and migration (pp. 67–96). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Collentine, J
(2004) The effects of learning contexts on morphosyntactic and lexical development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 261, 227–248.
(2009) Study abroad research: findings, implications and future directions. In M.H. Long & C.J. Doughty (Eds.), The handbook of language teaching, (pp. 218–233). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
DeKeyser, R
(2014) Research on language development during study abroad: Methodological considerations and future perspectives. In C. Pérez-Vidal (Ed.), Language acquisition in study abroad and formal instruction contexts (pp. 313–326). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Dewaele, J.-M
(2010) Multilingualism and affordances: Variation in self-perceived communicative competence and communicative anxiety in French L1, L2, L3 and L4. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 481, 105–129.
Dewaele, J.-M., Comanaru, R.S., & Faraco, M
(2015) The affective benefits of a pre-sessional course at the start of study abroad. In R. Mitchell, N. Tracy-Ventura, & K. McManus (Eds.), Social interaction, identity and language learning during residence abroad (pp. 95–114). EUROSLA Monograph Series, 4.
Dewaele, J.-M., & Li Wei
(2013) Is multilingualism linked to a higher tolerance of ambiguity? Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, 16(1), 231–240.
Dewaele, J.-M., & Stavans, A
(2014) The effect of immigration, acculturation and multicompetence on personality profiles of Israeli multilinguals. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 18 (3), 203–221.
Dewaele, J.-M., & Van Oudenhoven, J.P
(2009) The effect of multilingualism/multiculturalism on personality: No gain without pain for third culture kids? International Journal of Multilingualism, 6(4), 443–459.
Du, H
(2013) The development of Chinese fluency during study abroad in China. The Modern Language Journal, 971, 131–143.
Ellis, R
(2008) The study of second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Freed, B.F., Dewey, D.P., Segalowitz, N., & Halter, R
(2004) The language contact profile. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26(2), 349–356.
Goldberg, L.R
(1999) Abroad-bandwidth, public-domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F. Ostendorf (Eds.), Personality psychology in Europe (Vol. 71, pp. 1–28). Tilburg, the Netherlands: Tilburg University Press.
Gu, Q., & Maley, A
(2008) Changing places: A study of Chinese students in the UK. Language and Intercultural Communication, 8(4), 224–245.
Hernández, T.A
(2010) The relationship among motivation, interaction, and the development of second language oral proficiency in a study‐abroad context. The Modern Language Journal, 94(4), 600–617.
Ife, A
(2000) Language learning and residence abroad: how self-directed are students? Language Learning Journal, 221, 30–37.
Kinginger, C
(2008) Language learning in study abroad: Case histories of Americans in France. Modern Language Journal 921, 1–124.
(2011) Enhancing language learning in study abroad. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 311, 58–73.
(2015) Student mobility and identity-related language learning. Intercultural Education, 26(1), 6–15.
Klapper, J., & Rees, J
(2012) University residence abroad for foreign language students: analysing the linguistic benefits. The Language Learning Journal, 401, 335–358.
Leone, L., Van der Zee, K.I., van Oudenhoven, J.P., Perugini, M., & Ercolani, A.P
(2005) The cross-cultural generalizability and validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 38(6), 1449–1462.
Leong, C.H
(2007) Predictive validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A longitudinal study on the socio-psychological adaptation of Asian undergraduates who took part in a study-abroad program. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31(5), 545–559.
Llanes, À
(2011) The many faces of study abroad: An update on the research on L2 gains emerged during a study abroad experience. The International Journal of Multilingualism, 31, 189–215.
MacWhinney, B
2000 The CHILDES Project: Tools for analyzing talk (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Magnan, S.S., & Lafford, B
(2011) Learning through immersion during study abroad. In S. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 7–23). New York: Routledge.
McCrae, R.R
(2004) Human nature and culture: A trait perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 381, 3–14.
McCrae, R.R., & Costa P.T
(1985) Updating Norman’s “adequacy taxonomy”: Intelligence and personality dimensions in natural language and in questionnaires. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 491, 710–721.
McManus, K., & Mitchell, R
(2015) Subjunctive use and development in L2 French: A longitudinal study. Language, Interaction, and Acquisition, 61, 42–73.
Meara, P
(1994) The year abroad and its effects. Language Learning Journal, 101, 32–38.
Mitchell, R., McManus, K., & Tracy-Ventura, N
(2015) Comparison of language development during different residence abroad programmes. In R. Mitchell, N. Tracy-Ventura, & K. McManus (Eds.), Social interaction, identity and language learning during residence abroad (pp. 115–138). EUROSLA Monograph Series, 4.
Mora, J.C., & Valls‐Ferrer, M
(2012) Oral fluency, accuracy, and complexity in formal instruction and study abroad learning contexts. TESOL Quarterly, 461, 610–641.
Murphy-Lejeune, E
(2002) Student mobility and narrative in Europe: The new strangers. New York: Routledge.
Pérez-Vidal, C., & Juan-Garau, M
Pervin, L.A., & Cervone, D
(2013) Personality: Theory and research (12th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Roberts, B.W., Wood, D., & Smith, J.L
(2005) Evaluating five factor theory and social investment perspectives on personality trait development. Journal of Research in Personality, 39(1), 166–184.
Segalowitz, N., & Freed, B
(2004) Context, contact, and cognition in oral fluency acquisition: Learning Spanish in at home and study abroad contexts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 261, 173–199.
Van Der Zee, K.I., & Van Oudenhoven, J.P
(2000) The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A multidimensional instrument of multicultural effectiveness. European Journal of Personality, 14(4), 291–309.
Van der Zee, K.I., & Van Oudenhoven, J.P
(2001) The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: Reliability and validity of self-and other ratings of multicultural effectiveness. Journal of Research in Personality, 35(3), 278–288.
Van der Zee, K.I., Van Oudenhoven, J.P., Ponterotto, J.G., & Fietzer, A.W
(2013) Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: Development of a short form. Journal of Personality Assessment, 951, 118–124.
Van Oudenhoven, J.P., Timmerman, M., & Van Der Zee, K
(2007) Cross-cultural equivalence and validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire in an intercultural context. Journal of International Communication, 13(2), 51–65.
Williams, T.R
(2005) Exploring the impact of study abroad on students’ intercultural communication skills: Adaptability and sensitivity. Journal of Studies in International Education, 9(4), 356–371.
Willis, F.M., Doble, G., Sankarayya, U., & Smithers, A
(1977) Residence abroad and the student of modern languages: A preliminary survey. Bradford: University of Bradford Modern Languages Centre.
Zimmermann, J., & Neyer, F.J
(2013) Do we become a different person when hitting the road? Personality development of sojourners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(3), 515–530.
Cited by
Cited by 31 other publications
Arvidsson, Klara, June Eyckmans, Alexandra Rosiers & Fanny Forsberg Lundell
2018. Self-perceived linguistic progress, target language use and
personality development during study abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 3:1 ► pp. 144 ff. 
Borghetti, Claudia
2016. Intercultural education in practice: two pedagogical experiences with mobile students. Language and Intercultural Communication 16:3 ► pp. 502 ff.
Chen, Shu & Kwan Yie Wong
2022. Assessment of Preservice Music Teachers’ Multicultural Personality: Multicultural Music Education Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology 13
Day, Michela & Cathy Hampton
2020. The words to say it: student-led exploration of students’ written responses to the year abroad experience. In Perspectives on the year abroad: a selection of papers from YAC2018, ► pp. 77 ff.
De Costa, Peter I., Hima Rawal & Irina Zaykovskaya
2017. Introduction: Methodological diversity and innovation in study abroad research. System 71 ► pp. 1 ff.
Dewaele, Jean-Marc & Livia Dewaele
2021. Fluctuations in mental well-being during Study Abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 6:2 ► pp. 214 ff.
Genkova, Petia
2022. Intercultural Competence and Studying Abroad: Does Studying Abroad Influence the Promotion of Intercultural Competence?. In Diversity nutzen und annehmen, ► pp. 241 ff.
Genkova, Petia, Verena Fässler & Henrik Schreiber
2022. Die Rolle von Erziehungsstilen für den Zusammenhang von Auslandsaufenthalten, Selbstwirksamkeit und interkultureller Kompetenz. In Diversity nutzen und annehmen, ► pp. 179 ff.
Genkova, Petia & Lisa Kruse
2020. Do stays abroad increase intercultural and general competences, affecting employability?. Leadership, Education, Personality: An Interdisciplinary Journal 2:2 ► pp. 81 ff.
2021. Auslandsaufenthalt als Kompetenzschule? – Eine empirische Untersuchung der Auswirkungen von Auslandsaufenthalten auf die berufsbezogenen Kompetenzbereiche. Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO) 52:1 ► pp. 135 ff.
Genkova, Petia & Johanna Pollinger
2022. Acculturation and Re-entry Culture Confrontation: the Case of Development Workers. Journal of International Migration and Integration 23:2 ► pp. 931 ff.
Genkova, Petia, Christoph Daniel Schaefer, Henrik Schreiber, Martina Rašticová, Jozsef Poor, Klara Valentinyi Veresné, Csilla Suhajda, Andrea Viszetenvelt & Jovana Bjekic
2021. Scale Characteristics of Intercultural Competence Measures and the Effects of Intercultural Competence on Prejudice. Frontiers in Psychology 12
Genkova, Petia, Henrik Schreiber & Meike Gäde
2021. Interculturality and social skills? Relationships of the stays abroad of students of different faculties with intercultural and social competence. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 31:4 ► pp. 410 ff.
Genkova, Petia, Henrik Schreiber & Jan Schneider
2022. Contacts during a stay abroad and xenophobia – duration of stay, contact quality and intercultural competence as predictors of xenophobia. Current Psychology 41:11 ► pp. 7544 ff.
2022. Je mehr desto besser? – Der Einfluss von studienorientierten Auslandsaufenthalten auf Fremdenfeindlichkeit unter Berücksichtigung der Aufenthaltsdauer, interkulturellen Kompetenz und Kontaktqualität. In Diversity nutzen und annehmen, ► pp. 199 ff.
Goldstein, Susan B.
2022. Intercultural Learning through Study Abroad,
Güvendir, Emre
2017. Turkish students and their experiences during a short-term summer visit to the U.S.. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 2:1 ► pp. 21 ff.
Hackett, Simone, Jeroen Janssen, Pamela Beach, Melanie Perreault, Jos Beelen & Jan van Tartwijk
2023. The effectiveness of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) on intercultural competence development in higher education. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education 20:1
Hardison, Debra M. & Tomoko Okuno
2022. Changes in second-language learners’ oral skills and socio-affective profile following short-term study abroad to Japan. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 7:2 ► pp. 204 ff.
Hofhuis, Joep, Joran Jongerling, Karen I. Van der Zee, Jeroen Jansz & Sergio A. Useche
2020. Validation of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire Short Form (MPQ-SF) for use in the context of international education. PLOS ONE 15:12 ► pp. e0244425 ff.
IKIZER, ELIF G. & NAIRÁN RAMÍREZ-ESPARZA
2018. Bilinguals’ social flexibility. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 21:5 ► pp. 957 ff.
Isabelli-García, Christina, Jennifer Bown, John L. Plews & Dan P. Dewey
2018. Language learning and study abroad. Language Teaching 51:4 ► pp. 439 ff.
Kang, Hyun‐Sook & Mark B. Pacheco
2021. Short‐Term Study Abroad in TESOL: Current State and Prospects. TESOL Quarterly 55:3 ► pp. 817 ff.
McKinnon, Simon
2022. Understanding Diverse Learning Abroad Through Case Study Research. In Designing Second Language Study Abroad Research, ► pp. 193 ff.
Pawlak, Mirosław & Kata Csizér
2022. The impact of self-regulatory strategy use on self-efficacy beliefs and motivated learning behavior in study abroad contexts: The case of university students in Italy, Poland and Turkey. System 105 ► pp. 102735 ff.
Pawlak, Mirosław, Kata Csizér & Amy Soto
2020. Interrelationships of motivation, self-efficacy and self-regulatory strategy use: An investigation into study abroad experiences. System 93 ► pp. 102300 ff.
Rosiers, Alexandra, Koen Plevoets & June Eyckmans
Sakurai, Yusuke
2022. Engagement in Continuing Subject Knowledge Development: A Year After Short-Term International Courses. Journal of Studies in International Education 26:4 ► pp. 493 ff.
Van Maele, Jan, Basil Vassilicos & Claudia Borghetti
2016. Mobile students’ appraisals of keys to a successful stay abroad experience: hints from the IEREST project. Language and Intercultural Communication 16:3 ► pp. 384 ff.
ZALBIDEA, JANIRE, BERNARD I. ISSA & MANDY FARETTA–STUTENBERG
2022. Brief but Mighty? Sustained L2 Learning and Perceived Psychobehavioral Benefits After Short‐Term Study Abroad. The Modern Language Journal 106:2 ► pp. 411 ff.
ÇIRAK KARADAĞ, Sevinç
2022. Erasmus+ Öğrenci Değişim Programına Katılım ve Katılım İsteğinin, Bazı Demografik Değişkenler ve Kişilik Özellikleri Yönünden İncelenmesi. Cukurova University Faculty of Education Journal 51:1 ► pp. 321 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 february 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.