The Relationship Between Openness to Experience and Study Abroad Benefits Among Graduate and Undergraduate Saudi Students in the United States

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between the benefits of studying abroad and openness to new experience among graduate and undergraduate Saudi students. The study included 139 participants (62 female, 74 males, 3 missing). All the participants were Saudi students who are currently studying in the U.S. The first hypothesis tested the differentiation between male and female on the levels of openness to study abroad experience. The second hypothesis tested the relationship between the academic openness and the academic and social benefits from students' study abroad experiences. The third hypothesis tested the relationship between openness and the quantity of time spent with people not from home countries. The fourth hypothesis examined the difference in the tendency to be open to experience between graduate and undergraduate students. The fifth hypothesis was a regression model that predicted the benefits of study aboard experience based on the total score of openness to diversity and challenge scale, gender and the students' status. Openness to diversity and challenge and study abroad benefits were strongly correlated, r (130) = .42, p < .001, supporting hypothesis two. There was minimal support for the remaining hypothesis.