Open AccessInternational students' acculturation information seeking: Personality, information needs and uses
Author(s) -
Sin SeiChing Joanna,
Kim KyungSun,
Yang Jiekun,
Park JoungA,
Laugheed Zac T.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
proceedings of the american society for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1550-8390
pISSN - 0044-7870
DOI - 10.1002/meet.2011.14504801222
Subject(s) - acculturation , openness to experience , big five personality traits , personality , psychology , information needs , social psychology , information sharing , applied psychology , immigration , computer science , political science , world wide web , law
As part of a larger study on acculturation information seeking (AIS), this poster presents preliminary findings of a survey of 188 international students in the United States. The study surveyed the types of information needs related to academic and everyday life, those that were challenging to fulfill, and the sources used for AIS. Using the Big Five Inventory, the study also tested the relationship between AIS and personality. Findings show that individuals with different personality traits viewed different needs (e.g., health, legal information) as challenging. Similarly, respondents with certain traits favored certain sources that were seldom used by others (e.g., those with high openness use social Q&A sites more frequently). Recommendations for better sharing of acculturation information are discussed.