The Longitudinal Interplay between Individual Characteristics and Acculturation Behavior among German High School Students

International student mobility of high school students is an important phenomenon. For example, current statistics show that each year more than 17,000 students from Germany gain educational experiences abroad by transferring to a foreign school for a few months or a whole school year (weltweiser, 2016). A year abroad is a unique adventure for many students, offering them new opportunities and experiences. However, students are also challenged by the acculturation to the new cultural environment. While numerous studies focused their attention on the consequences of acculturation for the adaptation of migrants to a new culture, little is known about its predictors or its implications for individual development.

As acculturation behavior can be understood as deliberate behavior (Berry, 1997), the theory of planned behavior (TPB, Ajzen, 1985) provides a suitable generic framework for the definition of the individual predictors of acculturation behavior. Against this background, the cross-lagged effects between (1) acculturation attitudes, (2) subjective norms, (3) multicultural self-efficacy and acculturation behavior were investigated.

The data come from the first four waves of the longitudinal research project "MAPS - Mobility and Acculturation Experiences of Students". We recruited a sample of 1,461 German high school students who stayed abroad during the school year 2016/17. Information on sociodemographic and psychological characteristics were collected using established measurement instruments.

Our results confirmed the mutual influence of individual characteristics and acculturation behavior. On the one hand, acculturation attitudes, subjective norms, and multicultural self-efficacy predicted acculturation behavior and its change over time. On the other hand, acculturation behavior affected the development of all three predictors. Thus, acculturation behavior was identified as a relevant predictor of adolescents’ individual development during a school year abroad.

To conclude, theoretical and practical implications for student international mobility are discussed.