Characteristics of Korean International Students and Their Perceived Preferences for Counselling Style
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Characteristics of Korean International Students and Their Perceived Preferences for Counselling Style Young Seok Seo1,2
This study investigated how particular within-group variables (gender, marital status, and duration of stay in the United States) affected Korean international students’ perceived preferences for counselling style (directive vs. nondirective). It was found that counselling style and the within-group variables considered interacted to affect differentially Korean international students’ perceived preferences for counselling style. Female students showed stronger preference for a directive counselor and a significant interaction was found among marital status, duration of stay, and counselling style. KEY WORDS: Korean international students; directive style; nondirective style; client variables.
INTRODUCTION International students are an identifiable population that must learn a wide range of culturally defined and typically unfamiliar roles in a short time under conditions of considerable stress (Pedersen, 1991). They collectively face common concerns and difficulties including racial discrimination, language barriers, homesickness, culture shock, isolation, and loneliness (Brinson & Kottler, 1995; Leong & Chou, 1996). Despite the concerns and difficulties they face in the host culture, international students reportedly underutilize university and college counselling services (Zhang & Dixon, 2001). Their reluctance to use counselling services may be due to a low level of awareness and usage of these services in their home countries (Lomak, 1984), stigma attached to utilizing mental health services (Leong, 1 Educational
Psychology, Graduate School of Education, Konkuk University. should be directed to Young Seok Seo, Konkuk University, Educational Psychology, Graduate School of Education, 1 Hwayang-dong Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143–701, Korea; e-mail: [email protected].
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1986), and/or a clash between their cultural values and those inherent in traditional counselling styles (Leong & Chou, 1996; Lin & Yi, 1997). When attention is paid to Asian students in particular, these claims appear especially plausible. There have been investigations of international students’ perceptions of counselling services driven by the assumption that their view of counselling may impact whether they access services as well as their satisfaction with those services. For instance, Asian students were found to expect the counsellor to be an authority figure prescribing more definite and clear-cut solutions to their problems while they assumed a more passive and dependent role (Yuen & Tinsley, 1981). These expectations of counselling seem to be incongruent with cultural values associated with conventional counselling in which counsellors expect their clients to exhibit openness, psychological mindedness, and assertiveness (Sue & Sue, 1999). These conflicts in expectations and values then lead to the prediction that Asi
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