Generational Status and Personality Factors as Predictors of Stress in Students

Abstract

To determine the effect of generational status on stress and several personality measures, 247 university students were asked to complete a questionnaire containing a new stress scale designed for use with immigrant students, Coopersmith's brief Self-Esteem Inventory, Rotters Internal/External Locus of Control Scale, and the introversion/extroversion subscale of the Comrey Personality Index. Students were divided into four generational groups consisting of Early Immigrants (immigration prior to age 14 years), Late Immigrants (immigration after the age of 14), Second-generation, and Third/Later generation individuals. Results revealed that the Late Immigrant Group experienced the highest stresses and scored lowest on self-esteem and locus of control. Second-generation subjects resembled the Late Immigrants on stress and the personality measures. Interestingly, the scores of Early Immigrants and Third/Later-generation individuals bore a closer resemblance on most of the measures. No significant sex main effects or sex by generation interactions were observed on any of the measures. Discriminant analysis of the stress measure revealed that the best discriminator of generational status was a Cultural/Family Function followed by a Social/Environmental Function. Together both functions correctly classified 91% of the Late Immigrants and 82% of the total subjects into the four generational groups.

The effects of Iranian EFL learners' locus of control (external vs. internal) on their test anxiety and test scores

“…In another words, students who believe in themselves, their abilities and in their control of their situations and life are less stressed than those who believe in luck or outside agents. These findings agree with those of Harari and Sek (1988), Padilla et al (1986) and Mooney, Sherman, andLopresto (1991), Reda Abouserie (1994). Additionally, Moore (2006) discussed in her dissertation about variations of test anxiety and locus of control in students that "The interaction of gender and ability/performance level also yielded significant results for both test anxiety and locus of control."…”

Acculturative stress, social support, and coping: Relations to psychological adjustment among Mexican American college students.

“…Although college populations are assumed to be more acculturated than Latinos in the general population, our results and those from other studies (e.g., Mena et al, 1987;Padilla et al, 1986) indicate that many later generation college students experience this form of stress. In our Mexican American sample, acculturative stress scores were moderate but showed sufficient variability to permit associations with anxiety and depression in the bivariate analyses (although the association with anxiety symptoms was lost in the regressions when we controlled for state).…”

Communication Verbal and Nonverbal Students Migrant at Bengkulu University

“…The change that most makes them experience anxiety is the use of the Indonesian language in front of the class. This is in accordance with a study that indicates that the highest anxiety for immigrant students is adjusting to the academic environment in the second language [6,7].…”