Foreign Students in the U. S.: A Study of Attitudes and Orientations

Abstract

This is a report of a study of students from four developing countries, Chile, Colombia, Greece, and Turkey, who were enrolled in colleges and universities in New York City. Its purpose was to discover the relation ship between their attitudes toward modernization of their own countries and their attitudes toward the United States. The students were classified as Constrictors, or conservative in their orientation toward modern ization, Adjusters, or those who tended to accept the course of modernization as it is occurring, or Ideologists, or those who desired changes that were different or more rapid in their home countries. Hypotheses were developed and tested concerning the differential at titudes the three types would hold toward the United States. Theoretical Background Foreign students in the United States are differentially affected by their stay here, partly because of what happens to them here, and partly because of the attitudes and values they develop before they get here. Students make differential use of the same facilities and opportunities, have different experiences, and perceive and interpret the same things differently, depending upon a complex of factors. Age, status at home, personality, etc., are linked with culturally-conditioned conceptions and expectations, and influence communication, perception, and learning. This has been illustrated for students from a number of countries (Becker, 1968; Bailyn and Kelman, 1962). National background?in the sense of area of the world the student comes from?has thus far been found to be the most significant variable accounting for differences in attitudes, impressions, and adjust ments of foreign students in the United States (Selltiz, et. al., 1963). Yet, within any national group significant variations are to be found, and there is often considerable overlap between national groups.