An examination of the relationship between social self-efficacy and personal growth initiative in international context Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • 2017 Elsevier Ltd The cross-cultural transitioning experience of international students has been viewed as a high-impact practice for student learning. International students experience both challenges and growth opportunities when they encounter new peoples and environments. However, limited research exists on the student factors that predict benefits, growth or resilience for international students through their cross-cultural transitioning experience. This study investigated social self-efficacy as a predictor of personal growth initiative amongst international students, above and beyond demographic and linguistic factors. In addition, the factorial structure of Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II was examined. Our results indicated that the perceived ability to successfully negotiate social situations and produce positive social interactions predict greater personal growth initiative and its dimensions regardless of students language proficiency. Moreover, results from the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided further support for the first-order four-factor structure of the PGIS-II. Results have implications for improving international student integration, because efforts to support students social self-efficacy are linked to their personal growth initiative.

published proceedings

  • INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS

altmetric score

  • 1

author list (cited authors)

  • Cankaya, E. M., Dong, X., & Liew, J.

citation count

  • 6

complete list of authors

  • Cankaya, Elif Merve||Dong, Xin||Liew, Jeffrey

publication date

  • January 2017