The Impact of Cultural Intelligence and Psychological Hardiness on Homesickness among Study Abroad Students

• Published in: Frontiers (Boston, Mass.) Vol. 21; pp. 41 - 62
• Main Authors: Harrison, J. Kline, Brower, Holly H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Journal 15.08.2011
• Subjects: College Students; Correlation; Cultural Awareness; Cultural Pluralism; Educational Experience; Emotional Adjustment; Emotional Intelligence; Employees; Foreign Nationals; Intellectual Development; Intercultural Communication; Job Skills; Outcomes of Education; Personality Traits; Program Effectiveness; Skill Development; Student Development; Study Abroad
• ISSN: 1085-4568
• DOI: 10.36366/frontiers.v21i1.303

Over the last decade the number of students studying abroad has increased 150% to more than a quarter of a million. The programs in which these students participate are no longer seen as simply a campus extension of academic exercise, but as an overall educational experience that develops holistic life skills in the participants. Through their sojourns, students develop, among other traits, global competency, defined as a tolerance for ambiguity, intellectual flexibility, and an ease of conducting affairs in multicultural contexts. Because of the growth and impact of study abroad experiences, it is important to identify and evaluate factors contributing to students' success. The literature on international job assignments identifies psychological adjustment as a vital construct underlying the success of expatriate employee experiences. Furthermore, personality characteristics or stable personal traits are considered among the most important factors affecting the psychological adjustment of expatriate employees, and thus their success. Two of these traits that are especially appropriate in the study of successful cross-cultural adjustment are cultural intelligence and psychological hardiness. In this article, the authors introduce these constructs and present a rationale for predictions about their impact on successful psychological adjustment for study abroad participants. First, the authors examine the construct of cultural intelligence in the study abroad context. This construct has been defined and introduced in the business literature but the authors were unable to locate discussions or tests of it in study abroad experiences. Therefore, they extend the understanding of the construct looking at its predictive power in the context of university students studying abroad. They then describe the proposed relationship between psychological hardiness and cultural intelligence. Finally, they extend insight into an important student outcome: psychological adjustment as measured by homesickness. Such adjustment is an indicator of the success of the study abroad experience and student development. (Contains 4 tables.)