Malaysian Students’ Manifestation of Cultural Adaptation and Resilience during Their Sojourn in Germany

Abstract

The cultural adaptation process manifested by students enrolled in the double-degree programme at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) in 2009 to 2010 was investigated in this study. The concept of resilience was also examined using two standard psychometric tools, namely, the Big Five Inventory and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. In this study, the changes in both the personality, behaviour and self-esteem of the students based on a theoretical adaptation framework were amplified. Analyses were presented in a frequency computational form to compare the changes in real time. The students’ adaptation patterns were found linked to their period of stay at the UDE.