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Article published In: Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education
Vol. 6:2 (2021) ► pp.214–243

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Fluctuations in mental well-being during Study Abroad

 | Birkbeck, University of London
 | RAND Europe
Published online: 22 September 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.21002.dew
Abstract
This mixed-methods study focuses on the effect of Study Abroad (SA) on the mental well-being of 33 Anglophone students who spent between four and twelve months in Francophone countries. It investigates the relationship between well-being and personality traits. Statistical analyses revealed no significant change in well-being between the start, the middle and the end of the SA. A closer look at individual patterns showed large fluctuations, with half of participants scoring higher and the other half scoring lower between the start and the middle of the SA. The narratives of three participants whose well-being scores increased most were not very different from the three participants whose well-being scores decreased most, and only (lower) Emotional Stability was linked with the increase in well-being. At the group level, well-being was not significantly linked to personality traits. The apparent stability of well-being during SA seems to be the result of upward and downward patterns cancelling each other out.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1The psychological framework
    • 2.2SLA research on SA including psychological variables
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Questionnaires
    • 4.3Design
    • 4.4Data analysis
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1The effect of SA on participants’ well-being
    • 5.2Experiential and personality characteristics of participants with the strongest increase or decrease in well-being between Time 1 and Time 2
      • 5.2.1Strongest increase in well-being between Time 1 and Time 2
      • 5.2.2Strongest decrease in well-being between Time 1 and Time 2
    • 5.3The relationship between well-being and personality traits
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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