Transition and adjustment of students to the university environment

A sample of the student body of the Faculty of Philosophy was given two inquiries: one upon enrolment at the Faculty and another after the first year of study. The aim of the research was to establish the nature of loneliness amongst students, the durability of the effect of moving from home, and the effect of financial and educational burdens on the self-esteem and loneliness of students. The authors desired to establish which of diese variables, coupled with other personal and enviromental factors, reliably prognosticate the student's adjustment to the university. The indicators of adjustment were the satisfaction with achievement and the assessment of stress during the first year of study. The results show that loneliness amongst students is situational which validates the assumption that separation from significant persons is a stressful event but without durable effects on loneliness. Self-esteem was shown to be stable while the effects of educational burdens on self- respect proved lasting. In addition, self-esteem, just as the removal from home, showed itself to be a good predictor both regarding satisfaction with achievement and stress during die first year of study. On the basis of their findings, the authors suggest that in order to investigate the short-termed consequences of entering the university one ought to choose those psychological variables which represent states while for the prediction of long-term consequences traits should be chosen.