A Preliminary Survey of the Relationships of Foreign Students Self-Concept and Personality Characteristics to Their Region of Origin

Foreign students are generally perceived as a whole in terms of their psychological, social, educational and economic needs and problems despite the fact that they come from diverse nations whose socio-economic systems are sometimes quite dissimilar from each other. The purpose of this study was, then, aimed at determining the commonalities and differences of self-concept and personality characteristics of these students using the Gough Adjective Check List (AGL); and by doing so, intended to help foreign student advisors and counselors maximize their awareness of the differences in-needs and adjustment problems of their clienteles. The AGL was administered to a random sample of 500 foreign students who held F-1 or J visas. These students were enrolled in ten state and private colleges and universities in the State of Wisconsin. They came from 79 countries, and five major regions--Africa, Europe, Far East, Near & Middle East, and South & Central America. The content areas analyzed in this study were: (1) the AGL scales used as the predictor variables, and (2) the students basic background information used as the criterion variables. The criterion variables had seven parts. (a) The question raised by the main hypothesis on students cohort by region of origin, and (b) six adjunct hypotheses-cohorts on students: (i) age, (ii) sex, (iii) duration in the United States, (iv) major source of financial support, (v) educational aspirations, and (vi) academic concentration..