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Perceptions of Western Michigan University International Perceptions of Western Michigan University International

Students Regarding Seeking Personal Counseling Students Regarding Seeking Personal Counseling

Nader F. Al-Qasem Western Michigan University

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PERCEPTIONS OF WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS REGARDING

SEEKING PERSONAL COUNSELING

by

Nader F. Al-Qasem

A Dissertation Submitted to the

Faculty of The Graduate College in pa rtia l fu lf illm e n t of the

requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education

Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan

April 1987

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

PERCEPTIONS OF WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS REGARDING

SEEKING PERSONAL COUNSELING

Nader F. Al-Qasem, Ed.D.

Western Michigan Univers ity , 1987

The purpose of th is study was to examine the perceptions of the

international students at Western Michigan University toward seeking

personal counseling and to answer the following questions:

1. Is there a relationship between international students'

duration of stay in the United States and th e ir perceptions toward

seeking personal counseling?

2. Is there a re lationship between international students' pre

vious contact with counselors and th e ir perceptions toward seeking

personal counseling?

3. Are the perceptions of international students toward seeking

personal counseling affected by th e ir sex?

4. Is there a re lationship between the academic level of in te r

national students and th e ir perceptions toward seeking personal

counseling?

The research population consisted of a ll international students

at Western Michigan University in Fall 1986. Of the questionnaires

d istrib u ted , 46.5% were returned. The researcher used a demographic

questionnaire and the instrument called the Attitudes Toward Seeking

Psychological Help (ATSPH) scale to gather data.

Percentages were used to show the d is trib u tio n of respondents


by sex, country, duration of stay in the U .S ., and source of help.

A t - te s t with a 95% confidence le v e l, o< .05, was used to tre a t the

hypotheses.

Results of the hypothesis testing indicated tha t the students

from Asia encountered less perception than students from other conti

nents toward seeking personal counseling. The m ajority of interna

tional students were more interested in seeking help through friends

and fam ily (informal help) rather than formal help. The length of

stay in the U.S. was found to have no e ffe c t on the perceptions of

in ternational students toward seeking personal counseling, and the

academic level was also found to have no e ffe ct on th e ir perceptions.

Neither the sex of the international students nor previous contact

with counselors had an e ffe ct on th e ir perceptions toward seeking

personal counseling. Suggestions and recommendations are offered fo r

the benefit of future international students.


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Al-Qasem, Nader Fahml

PERCEPTIONS OF WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS REGARDING SEEKING PERSONAL COUNSELING

Western Michigan University Ed.D. 1987

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express his deepest appreciation and

gratitude to Dr. Thelma Urbick, advisor and committee chairperson,

fo r her unconditional positive regard. Dr. Urbick has been a

teacher and advisor, a fr ie n d , and, most important of a l l , she has

become a s ign ifican t other in the l i f e of the author.

This d issertation could not have been completed without the

assistance and cooperation of several people.

To my dissertation committee. Dr. Robert Brashear, Dr. Joseph

Morris, Dr. Donald Cooney, go special accolades fo r th e ir guidance,

direction and encouragement which stayed me through many anxious

periods. I would like to express additional thanks to Dr. Brashear

for his insightfu l d irection and the many hours he spent helping me

in th is d issertation research.

Many thanks to my colleagues and friends who gave me encouraging

words of support, and special thanks to my friend Ahmad Zaghalil for

his support.

I would lik e to express special appreciation to the O ffice of

In ternational Students, especially Barbara Strand for her assistance,

support and encouragement. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the

in ternational students at Western Michigan University for th e ir

cooperation in making th is study possible. I wish to thank Pamela

Grath fo r her technical advice and beautiful typing.


I want to thank my fa th er, Fahmi, fo r his life lo n g a b il i ty to

understand the importance of things of value and for his encourage

ment and support from overseas, and my mother, Sarnia Hamad, who

made i t a ll possible and continually offered support with care and

love.

Nader F. Al-Qasem


TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. Ü

LIST OF TABLES...........................................................................................................v ii

CHAPTER

I . INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1

Background ......................................................................................... 1

Statement of the Problem ............................................................ 8

Research Hypotheses .................................................................... 8

Significance of the Study ........................................................ 9 '

Limitations of the S tu d y ........................................................ 10

D efin ition of Terms .................................................................. 10

Organization of the S tu d y ........................................................11

I I . REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE ................................................... 12

Introduction ................................................................................. 12

Selected Studies Related to InternationalStudent Problems and D iff ic u lt ie s ....................................... 13

Foreign Student Dilemmas ........................................................ 18

Language Barriers ................................................................ 19

Academic Advising ................................................................ 20

Economic Problems ................................................................ 21

Cultural A s s im ila tio n ........................................................ 22

In s titu tio n a l Perspectives ................................................... 23

Possible Solutions .................................................................... 24

Rationale fo r Counseling Program ....................................... 26

iv


Table of Contents--Continued

CHAPTER

Counseling Foreign Students .................................................... 28

I I I . METHOD...................................................................................................... 29

Instrum ent............................................................................ 29

Sampling Procedure and Data Collection ............................... 30

The Scoring and Analysis of Data Hypotheses .................... 36

S ta tis tic a l Analysis ................................................................ 37

IV . FINDINGS........................................................................................................38

Respondents' Behavior.... .............................................................. 38

S e x .............................................................................................. 38

Level of S tu d y ........................................................................ 38

Field of S tu d y ........................................................................ 39

Duration of Stay in the United S ta te s ...................... 41

D is tribu tion of Respondents by Continent .................. 42

Students Seeking Professional Help ................................... 42

Test of Hypotheses.................................................................... 48

Hypothesis 1 ..................................................................................48

Hypothesis 2 ..................................................................................48

Hypothesis 3 ..................................................................................49

Hypothesis 4 ..................................................................................50

Hypothesis 5 ..................................................................................52

V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................. 53

Recommendations ................................................................................. 56


Table of Contents— Continued

APPENDICES............................................................................................................... 58

A. Questionnaire Cover Le tte r ............................................................... 58

B. Attitudes Toward Seeking PsychologicalHelp (ATSPH) S c a le ......................................................................................60

C. Letter to Edward H. F is c h e r........................................................... 66

D. Reply from Edward H. F is c h e r ................................................................ 68

E. Frequency, Percentage, Mean and StandardDeviation of Questionnaire Items ................................................... 70

BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 78


LIST OF TABLES

1. Foreign Students Enrolled but not SurveyedFall Semester 1986 ..................................................................................... 31

2. D is tribution of Respondents by Continent,Country and S e x .......................................................................................... 33

3. D is tribu tion of Respondents by Sex and Country .......................... 39

4. D istribution of Respondents by Educational Level and Sex . . 40

5. D is tribution of Respondents by Field of Study ........................... 40

6. D istribution of Respondents by Duration of Stayin the United States ................................................................................. 41

7. D istribution of Respondents by Continent ........................................ 42

8. Respondents' P rio r Contact With Professional Helpby Continent and S e x .................................................................................44

9 . D is tribution of Respondents by Sex, Continent andSource of H e lp ..............................................................................................45

10. D is tribution of Respondents Who Had Professional Helpin the United States by C ountry ........................................................ 46

11. Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores by Continent...... ............................ 49

12. Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores by Length of Stayin U.S............................................................................................................... 50

13. Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores fo r Respondents Withand Without Previous Contact ................................................................... 51

14. Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores fo r Male and Female Respondents.................................................................................................. 51

15. Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores fo r Educational Levels . . . 52


CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background

An increasingly large number of foreign students are coming to

the United States fo r advanced and specialized education (Hagey &

Hagey, 1972). This is seen as a favorable development by most educa

tors. What better way to learn about the world in depth than to

establish a tru ly cosmopolitan atmosphere in our colleges and univer

s it ie s (Pederson, 1977)? Also, what better way to promote interna

tional understanding than to provide mutual liv in g and educational

experiences for students from diverse cultures (Akka, 1975)?

The increasing flow of international students to the United

States has created new horizons fo r international understanding and

cooperation on the one hand and new problems of a ttitude formation,

in teraction and adjustment in cross-cultural contacts on the other.

These emerging problems have been the focus of a number of studies

which have examined the status of international students in the

United States, including th e ir problems during th e ir sojourn here;

the effects of the sojourn on th e ir a ttitu d e s , learning and behavior;

as well as problems and readjustment upon th e ir return to th e ir

native lands (Dawis, 1978). From these studies several factors

associated with cross-cultural adjustment have come to lig h t .

The rising enrollment and d is trib u tion of foreign students in

1


2

the United States have opened new avenues re lated to the objectives

and problems of administration and counseling techniques employed

with those students. There are two major factors which complicate

the s ituation of foreign students in the trad itiona l autonomous

American in s titu tio n s : (1 ) the lack of communication and understand

ing of various countries' norms and values and foreign po lic ies; and

(2 ) "the re la tiv e ly recent use by the federal government of exchange

students as an instrument of foreign policy, which has introduced for

students and institu tions a like new motives in cross-cultural con

tracts d iffe re n t from tra d itio n a l motives" (C ieslak, 1955, p. 144).

In addition, there are several informal goodwill approaches by the

community's re lig ious organizations and other social agencies to

solve some of the problems of foreign students and to build bridges

between American people and people of other countries to promote

in ternational peace.

How do college students view counselors? This question has

been asked often, but seldom from the perspective of service-using

students (Strong, Hendel, & Bratton, 1971). For students, the

question is : How do I view counselors re la tiv e to other persons I

could seek out to help me deal with my problems? Thus a better

research question is : How do students view counselors compared to

other potential help-givers (Ka-wai Yuen & Tins ley , 1981)? Students

may view counselors in several ways; however, the question remains

regarding what they would discuss with a counselor. While few

students have asked th is question re la tiv e to other help-givers

(Grant, 1954a; Jensen, 1955), a ll studies agree that students see


3

problems such as routine academic, educational and vocational plan

ning as appropriate fo r counseling and problems in personal adjust

ment as less appropriate (Dunlop, 1965; Grant, 1954b; Jensen, 1955;

Warman, 1960). These students' preferences are disturbing to coun

selors, who disagree with th is role expectation (Grant, 1954a; War

man, 1960). In the la s t few decades, counselors have worked to shape

a unique profession which combines tra d itio n a l vocational guidance

with personal adjustment therapy within the "normal" range of func

tion ing . Thus counselors tend to deal with the more searching,

puzzling questions in vocational and educational planning, taking

over where academic advisors stop. In addition, counselors tend to

deal with many personal adjustment problems but usually re fer more

seriously disturbed students to psychologists (Gelso, Brooks, & Karl,

1975).

A second way students may view counselors' concerns and coun

selors' personal characteristics was noted by Schofield (1964), who

characterized the YAVIS syndrome (young, a ttra c t iv e , verbal, i n t e l l i

gent and successful) regarding counselor in te res t in c lie n ts . Sue

and Sue (1977) id en tified several major characteristics of counselors

that are a source of c o n flic t for the Third World groups:

F irs t , counselors often expect th e ir counselees to exh ib it some degree of openness, psychological mindedness, or sophistication. Most theories of counseling place a high premium upon verbal, emotional, and behavioral expressiveness and the attainment of insight. These are e ith er the end goals of counseling or are the medium by which "cures" are effected . Second, counseling is tra d itio n a lly a one-to-one a c t iv ity that encourages c lien ts to ta lk about or discuss the most intim ate aspects of th e ir live s . Individuals who fa i l or res is t doing th is may be seen as res is tan t, defensive, or s u p erfic ia l. Third , the counsel


ing s ituatio n is often an ambiguous one. The c lie n t is encouraged to discuss problems, whereas the counselor lis tens and responds. Relative ly speaking, the counseling situation is unstructured and forces the c lie n t to be the primary active p artic ipan t. Patterns of communication are generally from c lie n t to counselor.

Four other factors id en tified as generally characte r is t ic of counseling are (a) a monolingual orientation ,(b) emphasis on long-range goals, (c) d is tin ctio n between physical and mental w ell-being, and (d) emphasis on cause and e ffe c t re lationships. With respect to the former, the use o f "good" standard English is predominantly the vehicle by which communication occurs. To individuals who may not speak or use English w e ll, the lack of b ilingual counselors is a serious handicap to accurate communication. (Sue &Sue, 1977, p. 421)

Most of our information about foreign students has been drawn

from case h istories and studies of c lin ic a l populations. While this

approach is adequate to id en tify the presence of a problem, i t is

hardly s u ffic ie n t to understand the problem in depth. The c lin ic a l

case is atypical by d e fin itio n . What problem areas ex is t among the

more typical students? Is there a subpopulation that is pa rticu la rly

vulnerable to the stress of leaving a fa m ilia r cu lture, causing them

to have d iffe re n t problems? Is i t the American academic culture that

precip itates emotional crises, or do those students bring the begin

nings of emotional disturbance with them and have a pre-existent

v u ln era b ility which then interacts with the American culture to

produce abnormal behavior patterns (Eckman, 1971)? The need for

fu rth er information regarding problem areas fo r international stu

dents is c r it ic a l .

Schools tha t have a large foreign student enrollment usually

o ffe r vocational counseling services, and i t has been noted that

foreign students expect less counseling than average Americans.


5

Even though there are great differences of l i fe s ty le and academic

system in foreign countries, the m ajority of international students

(84%) are satis fied with the vocational counseling and educational

guidance provided (C ieslak, 1955).

There are various reasons why the m ajority of international

students do not have high expectations of counseling and psycholo

gical help. Most foreign students, because of cultural constraints,

are not comfortable discussing personal matters with and asking

assistance from an outsider. The only place they go fo r counseling

in th e ir culture is the fam ily (Dadfar, 1981). International stu

dents, however, commonly share a t lea s t two needs fo r counseling:

(1) They have problems with socializing with fe llow college students;

and (2) they need to be able to discuss frankly certa in personal

m atters, such as dealing with loneliness, homesickness, and so on.

I t may be possible in some cultures to feel so much g u ilt fo r the

need fo r counseling that one fa i ls to ask fo r counseling (Eddy,

1978). An international student may fa i l to seek psychotherapy

because of the values inherent in d iffe re n t counseling or psychologi

cal treatment. Because of language b a rrie rs , international students

consider themselves at a disadvantage in discussing problems with

counselors or engaging in in te lle c tu a l discussions (A ltscher, 1976).

As Altscher stated .

The d ifference in friendship-build ing e tiquette often is a source of anxiety. D ifferen t feelings about social d istance, body distance, expression or emotion, depth of friendship, lo y a lty , and the amount of disclosure appropria te , can be confusing and disappointing. Dating and mating behavior cause much personal discomfort. Questions about how aggressive a man should be re jecting behavior are often


compounded by the fa c t that th e ir subjects are often taboo —extremely uncomfortable fo r the international students to discuss. (A ltscher, 1976, p. 8)

As Vontress (1977) states, the counselor in a cross-cultural

situation must be a le r t to and fa m ilia r with the verbal and nonverbal

stim uli of his c lie n ts . In te rp retation may be necessary to f a c i l i

ta te and strengthen the counseling process as well as the counseling

re la tionsh ip . I t has also been observed tha t counseling and psycho

therapy are d iffe re n t approaches or tasks in themselves, but cultural

differences among participants could make e ith e r extremely d i f f ic u l t .

In addition, there is evidence that most American counseling person

nel and other psychoprofessionals are not fu l ly aware of d iffe re n t

foreign cultures, nor are they adequately trained to work e ffe c tive ly

with international students (Dadfar, 1981).

Counseling problems can be categorized into those pertaining to

the individual versus those pertaining to the environment. On the

individual side, there are problems with respect to behavioral capa

b i l i t ie s (lack of s k il ls or inappropriate behavior patterns) and

problems with respect to reinforcement expectations. The environment

side of the problem might involve behavioral requirements or the

re inforcer system. In cross-cultural counseling, counselors often

have to develop nonconventional assessment s k ills (Eddy, 1978) be

cause of the importance of an ind ividua l's social and cultural back

ground in influencing expectations and behavior. A cross-cultural

study of c lie n t expectations, based on a more comprehensive sampling

of expectancy dimensions and na tio n a lity groups, is needed (Alexan

der, Workneh, K le in , & M il le r , 1976).


7

One topic tha t might bear more investigation is that of verbal

re in forcers. What verbal reinforcers are used in d iffe re n t cultures

(Arbuckle, 1956)? Which are unique? Are there differences in re la

tiv e frequency of use? As an example, references to the achievement

of other fam ily members might be reinforcing to an individual from a

highly o f f ic ia t iv e cu ltu re , but the same kind of references might be

aversive when used with a nonachieving individual from a highly ind i

v id u a lis t ic , achievement-oriented culture (Strong et a l . , 1971).

Since few foreign un ivers ities have developed service units to

provide counseling and guidance fo r th e ir students, most foreign

students neither expect nor seek and may even resent what they

perceive as interference in th e ir lives (Hendricks & Skinner, 1977).

Depending on the student's problem, most often the o ffic e is seen as

but one of several potential guides to help rather than a d irec t

source of help. Although foreign student advisors may well be more

sensitive to cross-cultural c o n flic ts , nevertheless they usually

operate w ithin th e ir own cultural frame of reference drawn from the

U.S. sociocultural scene (Hendricks & Skinner, 1977).

The American in s t itu tio n is obligated in the f i r s t place to

provide the best education possible to the foreign student. This

objective can be achieved by e ffe c tive academic advising. In s t itu

tions should used trained facu lty advisors who are much more involved

in th is environment. The more understanding the advisor has about

other cultures, the b e tte r. Advisors should be fa m ilia r with each

ind iv idua l's previous tra in ing and academic background (Ashby, 1979).


statement of the Problem

The purpose of th is study was to examine the perceptions of the

in ternational students at Western Michigan University toward seeking

professional counseling and to answer the following questions:

1. Is there a re lationship between international students'

duration (length of stay) in the United States and th e ir perceptions

toward seeking personal counseling?

2. Is there a re lationship between international students who

have had previous contact with counselors and th e ir perceptions

toward seeking personal counseling?

3. Are the perceptions of international students toward seeking

personal counseling affected by th e ir sex?

4. Is there a re lationship between the academic level o f in te r

national students and th e ir perceptions toward seeking personal

counseling?

Research Hypotheses

A fte r reviewing the relevant l i te ra tu re , the following research

hypotheses were drawn:

1. There is no s ign ific a n t d ifference between students from the

d iffe re n t continents toward seeking personal counseling as measured

by the to ta l score of Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help

scale (ATSPH).

2. There is no s ig n ifican t d ifference between international

students with longer and shorter duration of stay in the United


9

States toward seeking personal counseling as measured by total ATSPH

score.

3. There is no s ign ifican t d ifference between international

students who have had previous contact with counselors and those who

have not toward seeking personal counseling as measured by the total

score on the ATSPH scale.


student male and female subjects toward seeking personal counseling

as measured by the to tal score on the ATSPH scale.

5. There is no s ign ifican t difference between graduate and

undergraduate international students toward seeking personal counsel

ing as measured by the to ta l ATSPH score.

Significance of the Study

With more international students coming to the United States and

the d if f ic u lt ie s that many international students encounter upon

th e ir a rriva l a t an American educational in s t itu tio n , i t is important

to look at how th e ir problems can be a llev ia ted through professional

counseling. International students are confronted with unfam iliar

customs, unappetizing food, a novel educational system, loneliness, a

lack of knowledge about the environment, student re lationships,

etiquette and survival s k i l ls .

Institu tions provide a variety of support and counseling fo r the

incoming American students but a ll too often ignore the unique prob

lems of the foreign students. Institu tions tha t expect to serve

adequately the international student population need to provide an


10

ongoing counseling program designed s p e c ific a lly fo r students from

abroad. Consequently, the need for research in this area is obvious.

Limitations of the Study

This study was made within certain lim ita tio n s :

1. The study was lim ited geographically to the campus of

Western Michigan University.

2. Some questionnaires were returned undelivered td the sender

because of incomplete, incorrect or outdated addresses.

D efin ition of Terms

International student: A student who comes to the United States

fo r educational purposes but is not an immigrant, a resident of the

United States, or a c it ize n of the United States; a student who holds

a visa (F I , F2, B l, 82, J l , J2) and is enrolled in courses at Western

Michigan University fo r the acadanic year 1986/87.

Personal counseling: A personal, face-to -face re lationship

between two people in which the counselor assists the individual in

counseling to learn about him self/herself and his/her environment

and helps him/her with decision-making, self-understanding, and

s e lf-d ire c tio n .

Professional help: Help provided from a qua lified person such

as a psychologist, psych iatris t, social worker, or other professional

counselor to a person who has emotional problems or who is troubled

by problems with which he or she cannot cope alone.


11

Informal help: Help from a person not professionally qualified

in counseling, such as a friend or re la tiv e .

Formal help: Help from a professionally q ua lified person such

as a counselor, social worker, psych iatris t, psychologist, academic

advisor, or foreign student advisor.

Organization of the Study

This study is organized into fiv e chapters. The f i r s t chapter

contains the background and problem statement, including the in tro

duction, the statement of the problem, research hypotheses, s ig n if i

cance of the study, lim itations of the study, and d e fin itio n of

terms. Chapter I I is the review of the lite r a tu r e , which includes

foreign student dilemmas such as language ba rrie rs , academic advis

ing, economic problems, and cultural assim ila tion , as well as in s t i

tutional perspectives, possible solutions to these problems, ration

a le fo r counseling programs, and a section on counseling foreign

students. Chapter I I I gives the study methodology, which includes

the instrument, sampling procedure and data c o lle c tio n , scoring, and

analysis of data hypotheses. Chapter IV presents the findings of the

study. Summary, conclusions and recommendations are in the f i f t h

chapter.


REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE

Introduction

The purpose of th is chapter is to present a review of the l i t e r

ature dealing with problems faced by international students studying

in the United States. Many studies have dealt with the problems and

d iff ic u lt ie s of foreign students. Some of the studies looked at

advising and counseling of international students abroad. Other

studies discussed the academic, personal and social problems of

in ternational students to provide a c lear picture of the problems

these students face while studying in the United States.

The United States ranks as the world's major host country for

undergraduate and graduate students from other countries, even though

American colleges and un ivers ities are enro lling a decreasing propor

tion of the world's to ta l population of students in internatinal

exchange. In the past 20 years the number of foreign students in

th is country has increased s ix fo ld , and foreign enrollments continue

to rise (Benson & Kovach, 1974), but there are problems. Services

fo r foreign students are inadequate, especially in the area of orien

ta tio n . Foreign students are often perplexed by admissions proce

dures, personal counseling, financial aid and academic advising while

endeavoring to adjust to a d iffe re n t cu lture.


Selected Studies Related to International Student Problems and D iff ic u lt ie s

Much research has focused on problems of foreign students in

U.S. colleges and un ivers ities . Peterson and Neumeyer (1948) stated

tha t:

Most of these d if f ic u lt ie s could be overcome by more adequate counseling service, but the lack of such service is ranked as second in importance of a ll problems (p. 790).

Porter (1962) developed the Michigan International Student

Problem Inventory (M ISPI). The purposes of his study included the

following: (a) to develop an international student problem inven

to ry , (b) to compare problems of international students with problems

of American students, and (c) to ascertain i f there are s ign ifican t

differences in the problems of selected groups of foreign students.

The results of the MISPI showed that female foreign students ind i

cated more problems than males, undergraduates more than graduates,

and students who had been in the U.S. longer than 13 months indicated

more problems than those who had been in the U.S. less than one year.

Porter found no s ig n ific a n t differences based upon marital status and

sex.

Zain (1966) conducted a study a t the University of Oregon where

he surveyed 147 foreign students from 50 non-English-speaking coun

tr ie s to id en tify the academic and personal-social d if f ic u lt ie s faced

by foreign students. He designed the questionnaire to be adminis

tered during a personal interview with each student. The results of

his study showed that foreign students faced academic d if f ic u lt ie s


14

which were language-related—d iff ic u lt ie s in w riting essays and

reports, partic ipating in classroom discussion, and taking notes

during class. At personal and social leve ls , the students reported

problems which were large ly social in nature, while personal problems

posed the least d i f f ic u lty . Other problems were adjusting to Ameri

can food and customs, partic ipation in social events, and companion

ship with the opposite sex. Duration of stay, academic le v e l, sex

and age had no bearing on the academic and social-personal d if f ic u l

t ie s .

P ru it t (1978) conducted a study on adaptation among African

students. This study was designed to determine the problems experi

enced by African students on a rriv a l and a t the time of the study,

and to discover how the students coped with these problems. The

investigator concluded that the major problems faced by African

students on a rriv a l in the United States had to do with clim ate,

communication, d iscrim ination, homesickness and depression. The

study analyzed the effects of age, level of study, sex, m arital

status, country of o rig in , fam ily background and financial support.

The results were as follows:

Men reported be tte r adjustment than women. Nigeriansand those supported by th e ir home government reported above average adjustment, while Ethiopians and those supporting themselves were below average. Predeparture knowledge about the United States seems to contribute to adjustment. Assimilation into American society is d e fin ite ly predictive of adjustment, as reflected in the finding that students who become intim ate with Americans and accept American culture are happier and fre e r from problems than those who do not. Contact with white Americans appears to make a larger contribution to adjustment than contact with black Americans. By contrast, contact with fellow countrymen and other Africans seems


to be somewhat counterproductive of adjustment. The best predictor of adjustment is maintenance of re lig ious commitment. When they come to this country, most African students reduce th e ir church attendance and develop a more negative a ttitude toward re lig io n . The students report less happiness and more problems than do the smaller number who maintain th e ir religious a c t iv it ie s and conv ic tions. (P ru it t , 1978, p. 148)

Sundberg (1976) stated that international students are more

l ik e ly to seek help with personal problems from other foreign

students than to ta lk with a professional counselor. The inves ti

gator makes the following hypothesis:

Despite great differences in cultural context, language, and in the im p lic it theory of counseling process, am ajority of the important elements of in tercu ltu ra lcounseling are common across cultures and c lie n ts . These elements include such counselor characteristics as a tolerance fo r anxiety in the c lie n t , a manifest positive f le x ib i l i t y in response to the c lie n t , a reasonable confidence in one's information and b e lie f system, and in terest in the c lie n t as a person. (Sundberg, 1976, p. 156)

Sue and Sue (1972) expressed concern th a t value conflicts be

tween Asian c lients and non-Asian therapists would create many prob

lems in the counseling setting .

Dadfar and Friedlander (1982) conducted a study to id en tify the

d iffe re n tia l attitudes of international students toward seeking

professional psychological help. The sample comprised 300 students

at a midwestern un ivers ity , s tra t if ie d by four continents (A frica ,

Asia, Europe, and Latin America). Equal numbers of males and females

were included, and the population was randomly selected. The con

clusion of th is study was that Western students (European and Latin

American) had more positive attitudes than the students from non-


Western societies. Sex and education levels were not uniquely s ig-

nficant in predicting a ttitu d es .

Saleh (1980) conducted a study of personal, social and academic

adjustment problems of Arabian students at selected Texas in s t itu

tions. Questionnaires were sent to 425 Arabian students. A total of

315 (75.7%) were returned. An analysis was made of the students'

responses to each item, a ll o f which were tabulated and indicated as

percentages. T -test and chi-square were used to compare subgroups.

The researcher indicated th a t the most frequent problems of Arab

student adjustment, reported by 50% or more respondents, were as

follows:

A) Americans have many misconceptions about Arabs (93.2 percent); B) Americans do not lik e Arabs (90.5 percent);C) Americans do not understand Arabs (89.9 percent);D) I plan to return to l iv e in my native country for the rest of my l i f e (87.5 percent); E) I have d if f ic u lty with American type tests such as the m ultiple choice and true- fa lse type (82.7 percent) ; F) The university is not fu l f i l l in g its role in helping Arab students (75.2 percent);G) The university needs to have orientation programs fo r Arab students (74.9 percent); H) I do not lik e American food (64.8 percent); I ) I often feel homesick (61.9 percent); J) Americans are not easy to make friends with (58.0 percent) ; K) I have had to take courses I did not want to take (56.6 percent); L) I have d if f ic u lty taking notes in class (54.5 percent); M) Finding professors who were not considerate of my feelings was a s ituation which caused me to worry (53.7 percent); N) Using the lib ra ry caused me d i f f ic u lty (53.4 percent); 0 ) I have d if f ic u lty getting c red it or a loan (51.6 percent); P) I would recommend that ny friends come to the United States (50.9 percent) ; Q) Being a fra id to speak up in class was a s ituation which caused me to worry (50.7 percent); R) I have d if f ic u lty in making course selections (50.0 percent);S) I believe the foreign student o ffic e is not doing a good job (50 .0 percent); T) I believe Americans make i t d i f f i c u lt fo r Arabs to l iv e in the United States (50.0 percent). (Saleh, 1980, pp. 134-135)

The investigator in th is study made the following recommenda-


17

tions: (a) O rientation programs should be provided fo r Arab stu

dents, (b) develop a better communication to fa c il i ta te understanding

and respect between Arab and American students, (c) develop improved

re lations between undergraduate Arab students and faculty/adm inis

tra to rs , and (d) Arab counselors should work with Arab students to

help them with th e ir problems.

Alexander e t a l. (1976) s tate that most foreign students seek

assistance fo r physical or medical problems but that the need for

professional counseling fo r personal or emotional problems is one of

the las t things they consider. Emotional and stress problems are

most often presented by these students as physical problems rather

than psychological problems. The international students from African

and Eastern cultures underutilize professional counseling because of

a strong adherence to cu ltural values that restra in them from seeking

professional help.

Porter (1979) conducted a study a t Oklahoma State University in

two residence halls to assess the needs of 35 South American students

fo r counseling. The results of his study showed th a t 26 o f the

students wanted assistance from academic advisors or professional

counselors, while nine preferred to ask close friends fo r academic or

professional help. With most personal problems, however, v ir tu a lly

a ll respondents preferred to obtain help among or through the fam ily

system; only two of them indicated they would seek assistance with

personal problems from a professional counselor or the c lergy.


Foreign Student Dilemmas

The foreign student experience actually begins before a rriva l at

a college or un ivers ity , since a choice must be made of the type and

place of education (Johnson, 1971). This requires the kind of back

ground knowledge that even Americans find d i f f ic u l t to obtain. Add

to th is distance, language and cultural factors, and a ll the ingre

dients ex is t fo r misunderstanding (Tan, 1967). A fter the student

chooses a college or university and is accepted, a number of poten

t ia l l y threatening circumstances begin to surface, including lan

guage differences, the American educational system, standards of

academic and social behavior, an a lien economy and unforeseen expen

ses, and legal barriers to assim ilation (Hagey & Hagey, 1972). A

student who is not fa m ilia r with his new or her new environment may

not get help in dealing with problems, since student personnel ser

vices are oriented to the needs of American students and not to those

of foreign students (A ltscher, 1976).

There are several factors that may a ffe c t the future of foreign

admissions and advising. Foreign student advisors are neither being

added nor supported by budgets as they were in the past. A tig h t

money situation has made loans d i f f ic u l t , and the weak c o lla te ra l of

many foreign students further diminishes th e ir chances fo r some type

of financial aid and loans. New restric tions by some foreign govern

ments l im it th e ir students' use of funds. A ll U.S. government regu

lations in h ib it employment fo r students from overseas.


Language Barriers

The f i r s t b a rrie r foreign students encounter is that of language

(Eddy, 1978). By fa r the m ajority of foreign students in the United

States come from countries where English is not the f i r s t language.

Some of these students have had English instruction throughout th e ir

formal education, and some come from fam ilies where English is

commonly spoken. Yet there are a large number of students who find

i t d i f f ic u l t to function s a t is fa c to r ily in an English-speaking

academic context, even though they are able to pass a standardized

proficiency examination. This is especially s ign ifican t since the

students least p ro fic ien t in English are usually from the developing

countries that urgently need the technical and s c ie n tif ic competence

these students have come to the U.S. to acquire.

Over h a lf of the foreign students have language d i f f ic u lt ie s

when they f i r s t enter the in s t itu tio n . In order to handle th e ir

problems, certa in guidelines need to be set in place and implemented;

however, not everyone is in agreement that special consideration

should be directed to foreign students. Several overseas students

themselves remarked that they should be treated the same as U.S.

students in th is country. Some o ff ic ia ls have also taken th is

approach and do not give any special consideration to foreign stu

dents. College s ta f f , therefore, should not simply accept previous

guidelines but also obtain the publication of the National Associa

tion of Foreign Student A ffa irs (Sue & Sue, 1977).

The language gap usually places foreign students in an in fe r io r


20

position in in te lle c tu a l discussions. Roommates feel comfortable

giving instructions and guidance but not re la ting on an equal give-

and-take basis. The foreign students are often highly competent and

proud individuals; to find themselves looked down upon by others is

very d i f f ic u l t and damaging to self-concept. D ifferen t feelings

about social distance, body distance, expression of emotion, depth of

friendship and lo ya lty can also be confusing and disappointing (A lt

scher, 1976).

Academic Advising

Iro n ic a lly , our educational system i t s e l f may become an obstacle

to education. Degree requirements, course structure, course content,

and academic standards may be quite d iffe re n t from those in the

foreign student's home country. The student may be confused by the

course options and program organization. So while academic advising

is not always crucial fo r native students, Eddy suggests that the

v is itin g student's program and progress be care fu lly supervised

throughout his studies (Eddy, 1978).

The implementation of an outreach approach is based on the

premise that foreign students, because of cultural differences, tend

to seek primary assistance from s ign ifican t others w ithin th e ir own

cu ltu re, usually mature graduate students who have been on campus for

re la tiv e ly longer periods and therefore have c re d ib ility with under

graduates. The outreach group tra in ing counselor should have special

s e n s itiv itie s fo r th is type of approach. These special s e n s itiv itie s

include; (a) dealing with the foreign student as a fellow human


21

being, (b) accepting the communication d i f f ic u lt ie s which inevitably

arise as a resu lt of d iffe re n t cultural backgrounds, and (c) being

sensitive to the potential involvement of the foreign students with

the counselor.

The results of th is type of program have been encouraging. Both

re ferra ls and counseling by group members with th e ir peers have been

successful in solving many types of problems. Group members report

that th e ir experiences are rewarding although at times too time-

consuming. Almost unanimously they agree th a t a new foundation of

s o lid a r ity developed within th e ir respective national group and that

th e ir assistance proved meaningful to a m ajority of th e ir peers,

especially the new international students (Ho, 1974).

Economic Problems

Economic problems also loom large among the matters of great

concern to foreign students. I t has been observed that fam ily and

personal savings account fo r the largest portion of foreign students'

to ta l resources (about 48%); employment, mostly by graduate schools,

and instiu tiona l aid are the next largest source of support, followed

by aid from private organizations, home governments, and U.S. govern

ment sources (Open Doors. 1984).

Fewer funds are available fo r foreign students, thus money is a

bigger issue for these sudents. Foreign student advisors are neither

being added nor supported by budgets as they were in the past. Due

to immigration regulations, students are required to be fu l ly funded

before they come to the U.S. and are not allowed to accept any type


22

o f employment. A tig h t money situatio n has made loans d i f f ic u l t ,

and many foreign students' weak c o lla te ra l further decreases th e ir

chances of obtaining a loan or any type of financial a id . In addi

tio n , currency exchange rates are not always s table, and in fla tio n

rates can quickly erode a student's savings. The cost of housing

and food may be higher than anticipated, and th is , coupled with

employment re s tric tio n s , often cuts the foreign student o ff from

family funds and further complicates his or her financial d i f f ic u l

t ie s (Eddy, 1978).

Cultural Assim ilation

Understanding and adjusting to American behavior may be a

d if f ic u l t task fo r newly-arrived foreign students. I t is not a

continuation of the developmental process begun in the home country;

many new factors come into play. F irs t , the student's legal status

as an a lien may imply to his native peers th a t he is in pursuit of

American society and thus brand him from the outset as an outsider

(Hendricks & Skinner, 1975). Also, as foreigners, students may not

have a clear idea of what is expected of them, how much Americans

assume they understand, or how many questions they should ask

(Hendricks & Skinner, 1975). A lsaffar (1977) stated that cultural

differences in friendship -bu ild ing , dating e tiquette and even

expressions of aggression may be confusing and possibly considered

taboo as a topic fo r discussion with any but very close friends.

Homesickness and climate may also make adjustment d i f f ic u l t .

American a c t iv it ie s and interests may seem quite strange, and preju


23

d ice , impatience, and re lig ious and p o litic a l attitudes on the part

of both foreign and native students may in te rfe re with socia liza tion .

In a survey of 447 international students a t the University of

Tennessee, A lsaffar (1977) found that most international students

spent th e ir available free time with friends from th e ir own country.

Faculty who are c r it ic a l of the United States and the college or

u n ivers ity 's ivory-tower detachment from the community may also serve

to d is to rt the student's view of America. Moreover, relationships

with the host fam ily are l ik e ly to be prim arily socia l, without

needed emotional t ie s . Compounding th is ensemble of problems is the

p o s s ib ility tha t seeking personal counseling may not be c u ltu ra lly

acceptable to the foreigner.

In s titu tio n a l Perspectives

Getsinger and G arfie ld (1976) stated th a t colleges and univer

s it ie s usually view foreign students as a source of d ive rs ity , en-

lighterment and revenue. As has already been discussed, however,

the international students also bring with them th e ir own special

needs. I t is the responsib ility of the in s t itu tio n to deal with

these needs. When a foreign student makes in i t ia l inqu iries , i t is

d if f ic u l t fo r the in s t itu tio n to know how much orientation that

student w ill need, since the sophistication may vary greatly among

foreign students even from the same country. Accurate evaluation of

the entering student's academic needs is also hampered by d if f ic u lty

in obtaining c urricu lar and equivalency information about the appli

cant's academic preparation. In recent years the American Associa


24

tio n of C olleg iate Registers and Admissions and the International

Council fo r Educational Development have tr ie d to bridge the gap with

th e ir respective series on educational systems around the world, but

the information exchange is s t i l l a great problem. There is a temp

ta tio n fo r some institu tio n s to re cru it foreign applicants fo r purely

financial reasons. This risks both the success of the students and

the quality of the programs into which they are channeled. Students

and programs may be mismatched, with the resu lt that the student is

u n fu lf ille d or performs poorly and the program gets an undeservedly

poor reputation.

Once the in s t itu tio n accepts foreign applicants, special program

needs a ris e . For example, testing and placement in the English

language and other academic subjects must be done, and changes in

program content may have to be made to accommodate differences in the

student's academic tra in in g . During th is process, and throughout

the student's en tire program, there is a need fo r accurate and sensi

t iv e advising. Personal and career counseling are especially impor

tant in foreign student programs, and trained s ta ff are needed to

handle th e ir areas of need.

Possible Solutions

There is considerable concern about the problems encountered by

foreign students in th is country and by the colleges and universities

serving them, but there is also considerable agreement about approa

ches to addressing these concerns (Sue & Sue, 1972). Most attention

is focused on admissions, orientation and counseling. More recently


25

some consideration has been given to classroom procedures in the

country of o rig in . These procedures may be very d iffe re n t from

those to which the student must now adapt.

Applications and admissions should be better organized. Idea lly

some manner of standardization of centralized admissions would be

usefu l. The u til iz a t io n of foreign student alumni as admissions

aides and the involvement of several o fficers (one from admissions,

one foreign student advisor, and one faculty member in the major

department of study) could be very helpful in processing each appli

cation.

Foreign students would benefit from special teacher tra in in g .

Teacher tra in ing has not received a great deal of a ttention in the

l i te ra tu re on foreign students except as i t re lates to o rientatio n .

What may seem small items fo r the teacher to remember or incorporate

in teaching may have great s ignificance to the student. Such items

include putting outlines on the blackboard (an aid in learning both

the subject matter and language), monitoring h is/her own ra te of

speech, allowing use of dictionaries in exams wherever possible, and

allowing a s lig h tly longer exam period (Cable, 1974). Cable also

believed that learning to pronounce foreign names properly is a s k ill

to be cultivated and encourages facu lty to meet students outside of

class in a more informal s ituatio n . Both can be extremely helpful

to a ll concerned. In addition, the teacher and the foreign student

advisor can be valuable resources fo r each other and should consult

regu larly to monitor the student's progress.

Programs are needed to prepare foreign students fo r re-entry


26

to th e ir home countries (Sharon, 1972). Re-entry is the tra ns ition

process during which the foreign student returns to h is/her home

country. I t begins with the antic ipation of and preparation fo r

return and continues through recultu ra liza tio n at home. Stafford,

Marion and S alte r (1978) suggest tha t re-entry orien tatio n might

begin as early as admission to the in s t itu tio n , and they provide a

thorough discussion of the goals and issues to be considered.

Maintaining contact with alumni is important. Marsh (1975) and

McCrone (1975) both support the continuing involvement of foreign

student alumni with the in s titu tio n s , especially in the areas of

continuing professional education and admission. An alumnic contact

network plays a part in such development a c t iv it ie s . That same net

work could also bring needed insight and assistance to the foreign

student admissions process, thus coming fu l l c irc le on the foreign

student's experience.

Rationale fo r Counseling Program

When students come to the United States, they are basically

motivated to acquire a good education, the qua lity of education not

availab le to them a t home. They are also seeking to learn about

another cu ltu re , another people, and to gain new perspectives on

l i f e . The exchange is , therefore, mutually b e n efic ia l. On one hand,

the student spends his or her money in school and d ive rs if ie s his or

her cu lture; in exchange, the school offers i ts education and its

educational support services.


27

Some institu tions have established support and counseling ser

vices so that the student can make use of his or her fu l l in te lle c

tual p o ten tia l. For instance, the campus career service ty p ica lly

aids in the job search a fte r graduation and provides material about

the job market and trends. In addition, the counseling center

usually provides individual or group therapy to students. We have

seen th a t international students have basically two counseling needs :

The f i r s t has to do with problems and concerns with other college

students, how to make American friends, how to deal w ith homesickness

and how to learn social s k i l ls , and the second is the more tra d itio n

al need fo r personal therapy.

Recent findings suggest that p rio r assumptions concerning

differences in help-seeking attitudes and treatment expectations

among socioeconomic status groups must be care fu lly re-evaluated

(Fischer & Turner, 1970). Participants in the Fischer and Turner

(1970) study, regardless of socioeconomic status, verbalized confi

dence in counseling's potential e ffic ac y , recognized th e ir need for

help, and perceived l i t t l e stigma attached to treatment. They did

not anticipate a highly active , supportive, problem-solving thera

p is t . They were able to d iffe re n tia te the role of therap is t from

that of the more trad itiona l medical caregiver. Subjects also

assumed that they would discuss personal emotional issues with

a therapist whose primary function would be to l is te n . The cur

rent findings, therefore, suggest that low-income c lien ts do

not necessarily have more negative pretreatment attitudes and expec

tations than applicants from higher socioeconomic leve ls .


Counseling Foreign Students

Close a ttention is especially necessary in dealing with in te r

national students. Rapport may be d i f f ic u l t to establish because of

the language b a rrie r or con flicting nonverbal cues, and foreign

unwillingness to self-d isc lose may in h ib it frank discussion. Trans

ference or countertransference may hinder counseling. The counselor

may have to establish a more concrete structure to the re lationship

and adopt a more d irec tive approach than is normal with American

students. D iffering a ttitudes toward sex roles and the fam ily may

contribute to adjustment problems, as may the emotional fatigue of

academic tension and homesickness. Ethnic differences among the

in ternational students themselves w ill also have a bearing on adjust

ment.

I f the counselor is able to convey a respect fo r cultural d i f

ferences, a desire to understand and help, and a f le x ib le approach,

however, a positive helping re lationship can be established in spite

of potential barrie rs . Some responsibility taken by college and

university counselors could help international students work through

the problems they face.


METHOD

The purpose of th is chapter is to explain the method and proce

dure used in this investigation . Kerlinger (1973) stated that the

main purposes of methodology are "to provide answers to research

questions and to control variance" (p. 300).

The topics included here are as follows: (a) the instrument

used, (b) the sampling procedure and data co llection , and (c) the

scoring and analysis of the data.

Instrument

The instrument used in th is research was the A ttitude Toward

Seeking Psychological Help (ATSPH) scale (see Appendix B). This

instrument was designed by Fischer and Turner (1970) to re fle c t

c lie n ts ' attitudes toward seeking professional counseling fo r psy

chological problems. The r e l ia b i l i ty and v a lid ity of th is instrument

were also assessed by Fischer and Turner in the course of th e ir

research. In add ition , the researcher ran a small p ilo t group of

international students through the questionnaire before i t was put

in to fin a l form to make sure the students understood the items.

The results of the p ilo t test indicated that the questionnaire was

clean and that no items were ambiguous, thus establishing v a lid ity .

For purposes of the present study the questionnaire, consisting

o f 29 items, was mailed to 993 students, among them graduate, under-

29


30

graduate and nondegree students. An additional 61 students who were

not enrolled during the Fa ll 1986 semester but who were involved in

doing th e ir thesis research, comprehensive exams, practical tra in in g ,

e tc . (as shown in Table 1) were not included in the 993 students

su rveyed.

Students were asked to indicate th e ir degree of accordance with

each item. A four-point scale was used: agree, probably agree,

probably disagree, disagree. W ritten instructions given with the

questionnaire were: "Below are a number of questions regarding

seeking professional counseling. Read each statement care fu lly and

indicate your personal opinion in rating the statement. There are no

'wrong' answers, and the only r ig h t ones are whatever you honestly

feel or believe is r ig h t."

Sampling Procedure and Data Collection

A l i s t of names, addresses and telephone numbers of interna

tional students was obtained from the Office of International Student

Advising a t Western Michigan University . The questionnaire was then

prepared and mailed out to a ll in ternational students, representing

66 countries from fiv e continents, along with a self-addressed enve

lope, a stamp, and a cover le t te r explaining the purpose of the

study. C on fid en tia lity was assured, and recip ients were requested to

return the completed questionnaire. Of the 993 d istributed question

naires, 462 (46.5%) were returned to the researcher, representing 54

countries (see Table 2 ). Questionnaires received a fte r the deadline

were not included in the research and analysis. More s p e c ific a lly .


Foreign Students Enrolled but Not Surveyed Fall Semester 1986

Practical Training

Country Hale Female Total

China 3 0 3

Colombia 3 0 3

Hong Kong 2 0 2

Iran 1 3 4

Japan 1 0 1

Malaysia 3 0

Panama 1 0 1

South African Republic 0 1 1

Sudan 1 0 1

Taiwan 5 2 7

Thailand 6 5 11

Turkey 1 0 1

Venezuela

Total Number of Foreign Students

Total Foreign Countries Represented:

3 1 4

42

13


Table l--Continued

Thesis, Research, Comprehensive Exam Preparation, Etc.

Country Female Total

A ustralia 0 1 1

Egypt 1 0 1

Ethiopia 1 0 1

India 1 0 1

Iran 3 1 4

Japan 1 1 2

Jordan 3 0 3

Malaysia 1 0 1

Pakistan 1 0 1

Saudi Arabia 2 0 2


Taiwan 1 0 1

Total Number of Foreign Students 19

Total Foreign Countries Represented 12

Combined Total Number of Foreign Students

Combined Total Foreign Countries Represented 19

Prepared by: O ffice of International Student Services, 9 /29/86


Table 2

D istribution of Respondents by Continent,Country and Sex

Country Male Female Total

AFRICA

A1 geria 1 0 1

Ethiopia 1 0 1

Ghana 4 0 4

Ivory Coast 2 0 2

Kenya 2 2 4

Libya 5 0 5

Nigeria 16 2 18


Sudan 1 0 1

Tunisia 1 0 1

Totals 35 4 39

ASIA

Bahrein 1 0 1

Bangladesh 3 0 3

Burma 1 0 1

China 3 0 3

Hong Kong 2 1 3

India 7 3 10

Indonesia 5 1 6


Table 2 - -Continued


ASIA, continued

Iran 6 4 10

Iraq 1 1 2

Japan 7 8 15

Jordan 20 3 23

Korea, South 9 1 10

Kuwait 13 0 13

Lebanon 6 0 6

Malaysia 68 65 133

PakiStan 7 1 8

Philippines 2 0 2

Qatar 6 0 6

Saudia Arabia 21 1 22

Singapore 4 0 4

Sri Lanka 3 1 4

Taiwan 3 8 11

Thailand 15 20 35

Turkey 6 1 7

United Arab Emirates 10 0 10

Vietnam 1 1 2

Yemen, North 1 0 1

♦Palestine 5 0 5

Totals 236 120 356


Table 2--Continued


EUROPE

Germany, West 2 0 2

Greece 5 1 6

Iceland 0 1 1

Ireland 1 1 2

Norway 1 0 1

Poland 1 1 2

Spain 8 3 11

United Kingdom 0 1 1

Totals 18 8 26

LATIN AMERICA

Argentina 1 2 3

Brazil 0 1 1

Colombia 5 2 7

Mexico 3 1 4

Peru 1 0 1

Trinidad y Tobago 1 1 2

Venezuela 6 3 9— — —

Totals 17 10 27


Table 2--Continued


NORTH AMERICA

Canada 6 8 14

(♦Subjects indicated Palestine as th e ir country, but th is country is not recognized by the United Nations.)

only six were not included because of la te rece ip t. I t may be valid

to state that these six responses would not have affected the fina l

re su lt in any way. Considering the total number of responses (462),

the six excluded questionnaires represent oC (.0 5 ) 0.029, which is

too small to a ffe c t the fin a l re su lt.

The Scoring and Analysis of Data Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were treated with a/ph, o ( a t .05

(95% confidence le v e l) :


students from the d iffe re n t continents toward seeking personal coun

seling as measured by the total score of Attitudes Toward Seeking

Psychological Help scale (ATSPH).



States toward seeking personal counseling as measured by total ATSPH

score.

3. There is no s ig n ifican t difference between international


37



score on the ATSPH scale.



as measured by the to tal score on the ATSPH scale.

5. There is no s ig n ifican t d ifference between graduate and

undergraduate international students toward seeking personal counsel

ing as measured by the to ta l ATSPH score.

S ta tis tic a l Analysis

The responses to the questionnaire were coded and processed

using Western Michigan U niversity 's DecSystem 10.

Percentages were used to show the d is trib u tio n of respondents by

sex, country, continent, duration, source of help (demographic and

personal data) of the student.

A ^ te s t with the confidence level of 95%, the oC .05, was used

to tre a t the five null hypotheses.


FINDINGS

This chapter is devoted to an analysis of the collected study

data. Findings are reported in three sections. The f i r s t includes

academic le v e l, f ie ld o f study, duration of stey, and country of

orig in ; the second reports in terms of students' approaches toward

professional help, source of help, and the response due to d iffe re n t

origins; and the th ird section presents findings which were obtained

from the testing of the research hypotheses.

Respondents' Behavior

The f i r s t section of the Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological

Help (ATSPH) Scale consists of some personal data, such as: country

of o rig in , sex, academic le v e l, f ie ld of study, and length of stay in

the United States.

Sex

Approximately, two-thirds (67.5%) of the respondents were male,

while about one-third (32.5%) were female (see Table 3 ).

Level of Study

Table 4 summarizes findings related to respondents' levels of

education. International students at Western Michigan University


D istribution of Respondentsby Sex and Continent

Sex N %

Male 312 67.5

Female 150 32.5

Total 462 100%

Male Female Total

Continent N % N % N %

Asia 236 75.6 120 80.0 356 77.0

Africa 35 11.2 4 2.7 39 8.4

Latin America 17 5.4 10 6.7 27 5.8

Europe 18 5.9 8 5.3 26 5.6

North America 6 1.9 8 5.3 14 3.2

Total 312 100.0 150 100.0 462 100.0

were 41.8% graduate students, 56% undergraduate students, and 2.2%

nondegree students.

F ield of Study

The d is trib u tio n of the respondents, based on the various Col

leges at Western Michigan University, is shown in Table 5. Th irty -


Table 4

D istribution of Respondentsby Educational Level and Sex

Male Female Total

Level of Education N % N % N %

Undergraduate 179 38.7 80 17.3 259 56.0

Graduate 129 27.9 64 13.9 193 41.8

Nondegree 4 0.9 6 1.3 10 2.2

Total 312 67.5 150 32.5 462 100.0

Table 5

D istribution of Respondents by Field of Study

Field of Study N %

Arts and Sciences 178 38.5

Business 131 28.4

Education 33 7.8

Engineering and Applied Sciences 102 22.1

Fine Arts 5 1.1

Health and Human Services 12 2.6

General Studies 1 0.2

Total 462 100.0


eight and one-half percent were studying in the College of Arts and

Sciences. The second most popular College was the College of Busi

ness, with 28.4% of WMU foreign students enrolled. The College of

Education was represented by 7.17%, while 22.1% were from the

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 1.1% from the College

of Fine Arts , 2.6% from the College of Health and Human Services,

and the remaining 0.2% from the College of General Studies.

Duration of Stay in the United States

Table 6 shows the respondents' duration of stay in the United

States. The largest number of respondents (47.6%) had been in the

United States fo r less than two years, while 34.4% had been in the

U.S. for between two and four years, 13% fo r between four and six

Table 6

D is trib u tio n of Respondents by Duration of Stay in the United States

Years of Stay in the United States Number of Students %

0 - 2 220 47.6

2 - 4 159 34.4

4 - 6 60 13.0

6 - 8 11 2.6

8 - 1 0 6 1.3

10 and more 6 1.3

Total 462 100.0


42

years, 2.6% fo r between six and e ight years, and 1.3% fo r between

eight and ten years. Only 1.3% had lived in the U.S. for more than

ten years.

D is tribu tion of Respondents by Continent

D is tribu tion of respondents according to continent is shown in

Table 7. As this table reveals, approximately three-fourths (76.84%)

of the respondents were from Asia, 8% were A fricans, 6.5% Europeans,

5.63% Latin Americans, and 3.03% North Americans from outside Mexico

and the U.S.

Table 7

D istribution of Respondents by Continent

Continent N %

Asia 356 77.0

Africa 39 8.4

Europe 27 5.8

Latin America 26 5.6

North America 14 3.2

Total 462 100.0

Students Seeking Professional Help

This section deals with the responses of students to the item

which asks i f they had sought professional help in the U.S. or in


43

th e ir native country. The frequencies and percentages of responses

regarding th is item are presented in Table 8, categorized by conti

nent and sex.

As Table 8 shows, foreign students who sought professional help

in general were: from Asia - 34 males (14.5% ), 15 females (12.5%);

from Africa - 4 males (12%), one female (25%); from Europe - 10

males (50%), 4 females (40%); from Latin America - 3 males (16.7%),

1 female (12.5%); and from North America - 2 males (33%), 3 females

(37.5%). Those who responded yes to the item that asked i f they had

sought professional help e ith er in the U.S. or in th e ir native coun

try are further categorized in Table 8 as discussed below.

Foreign students who indicated tha t they had sought informal

help can be broken down by continent and sex as follows: from Asia -

145 males (61.7% ), 84 females (70%); from A frica - 18 males (54.5%),

2 females (50%); from Europe - 16 males (80%), 8 females (80%); from

Latin America - 12 males (66.7% ), 5 females (62.5% ); and from North

America - 3 males (50%), 7 females (87.5%).

Table 9 breaks down the source of help sought as i t corresponds

to continent and sex of respondent. Table 10 shows how many respon

dents sought professional help categorized by country.

The number of respondents fo r each question is shown with the

percentages in Appendix C, as well as the mean and standard deviation

fo r each item. A quick examination of Appendix C shows the highest

and lowest mean and percentage, but exhaustive analysis of th is

appendix is beyond the scope of this report, e .g . , items 2, 7, 8, and

29 have the most disagreement among respondents. More s p ec ific a lly ,


Respondents' P r io r Contact w ith P rofessional Help by Continent and Sex

Asia A fr ic a Europe L a tin America North America

Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

Contact N % N %

Have sought professional help 15 12.5 1 25.0 10 50.0 3 16.7 1 12.5 2 33.0 3 37.5

Have sought professional help In the U.S. 12 10.0 0 0.0 9 45.0 1 5.6 0 0.0 1 16.7 1 12.5

Have sought professional

country 1 25.0 1 5.0 2 11.1 1 12.5 1 16.7 2 25.0

Have sought Informal

84 70.0 2 50.0 16 80.0 12 66.7 5 62.5 3 50.0 7 87.5

D is tr ib u tio n o f Respondents by Sex. Continent and Source o f Help

Asia A fr ic a Europe L a tin America North America

Female Hale Female Female Hale Female Female

Source o f Help N X N X X X X

Counselor 24 10.2 11 9.1 0.0 7 35.0 20.0 16.7 2 33.3 3

% » 3 1.3 6 5.0 1 3.0 0 0.0 2 10.0 1 10.0 1 5.6 0 2 33.3 3

2 0.9 2 1.7 1 3.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 20.0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 2

Uorker 2.1 4 3.3 2 6.0 0 0.0 1 5.0 1 10.0 1 1 0 1

Religious9.8 12 10.0 9 27.0 1 3 2 0 1 0 0.0 0

Physician 15 6.4 12 3 9.0 0 0.0 1 0.0 0 1 16.7 0

RelaHve 110 46.8 73 60.8 19 57.6 2 50.0 65.0 6 55.6 4 3 50.0 7 87.5

Foreign

Advisor 32 13.6 26 21.7 7 21.0 0 0.0 25.0 3 2 11.1 2 j 12.5

Academic15.3 26 21.7 8 24.0 0 0.0 5 25.0 2 20.0 3 16.7 2 1 12.5

Other 3.3 : 3.03 « 5.0 « 0.0 0 0.0 0 33.3 0.0

D istribution of Respondents Who Had Professional Help in the United States

by Country

Country N %

Argentina 1 0.2

Canada 2 0.4

Colombi a 3 0.6

Ghana 1 0.2

Hong Kong 1 0.2

Indonesia 1 0.2

Iran 2 0.4

Jordan 1 0.2

Korea, South 1 0.2

Lebanon 1 0.2

Libya 1 0.2

Malaysia 16 3.5

Mexico 1 0.2

Pakistan 1 0.2

Peru 1 0.2

Qatar 1 0.2

Saudi Arabia 2 0.4

Spain 1 0.2

Sri Lanka 1 0.2

Taiwan 1 0.2


Table 10--Continued

Country N %

Thailand 4 0.8

United Arab Emirates 1 0.2

Venezuela 5 1.2

Palestine 1 0.2

regarding item 7, " I would w illin g ly confide intim ate matters to an

appropriate person i f I thought i t might help me or a member of my

fam ily ," shows the highest mean with a ll items (x 3 .1 7 ), which ind i

cates the highest disagreement among the respondents, 44.38% disagree

(representing 205 students), and 36.58% probably disagree (represent

ing 169 students. While item 8, "I would rather liv e with certain

mental c o n flic t than go through the ordeal of getting psychiatric

help," has the second highest mean at x 3 .02, with 40.92% of the

respondents, representing 189 students, disagreeing with th is item

and 29.22% of the respondents, representing 135 students, probably

disagreeing. On the other hand, items 15, 21, 24 and 26 have the

highest agreement among the respondents. For example, items 21 and

26 have the lowest mean of a ll items (x 2 .1 6 ). Item 21, "There are

experiences in my l i f e I would not discuss with anyone," reveals that

36.36% o f the respondents, representing 168 students, agree with th is

item, and 27.07%, representing 128 students, probably agree. More

over, item 26, "A person should work out his own problems; getting

psychological counseling would be a las t resort," shows the same


48

lowest mean as item 21 (x 2 .1 6 ), w ith 30.95% o f the respondents,

representing 143 students, agreeing with this item and 33.76% of the

respondents, representing 156 students, indicating probable agree

ment. For more de ta ils of responses to each item, see Appendix C.

Test of Hypotheses

A ^ - te s t s ta tis t ic a l analysis was conducted on each of the

research hypotheses. The confidence level was set at 95%, with

.05 to check the significance of impact.

Hypothesis 1

Ho: There is no s ig n ifican t difference between students from

d iffe re n t continents toward seeking professional help as measured by

the to ta l score of the ATSPH scale.

A fte r the ^ - te s t s ta tis t ic a l analysis was completed on th is

hypothesis, the results showed that there were s ig n ifican t d i f fe r

ences in impact on the perceptions of d iffe re n t students. The null

hypothesis was rejected fo r Asia and accepted for the other conti

nents. The results of th is analysis are reported in Table 11.

Hypothesis 2

Ho: There is no s ig n ific a n t difference between international


States toward seeking personal counseling as measured by to ta l ATSPH

score.


Table 11

Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scoresby Continent

t 2 -ta ile dContinent N X SD VaTue Probability

Asia 356 73.01 9.6512.230 .026

Africa 39 76.76 10.521.190 .061

Europe 27 81.48 9.496-.5592 .578

Latin America 26 80.08 9.256.3787 .707

North America 14 81.43 13.20

This hypothesis states that the students who had lived in the

United States fo r shorter or longer periods of time have the same

perceptions toward seeking personal counseling, as measured by the

to ta l score of the ATSPH scale. The results of th is analysis are

reported in Table 12, and the analysis leads to the conclusion that

there is no s ig n ific a n t impact made by the length of stay in the U.S.

on students' a ttitudes toward seeking personal counseling.

Hypothesis 3

Ho: There is no s ign ifican t d ifference between international



score of the ATSPH scale.

This hypothesis was also tested by using t - te s t analysis. There

are two categories of students who were involved with counseling.


Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scoresby Length of Stay in U.S.

Length of Stay in t 2 -ta ile dthe U.S. by Years N X SO Value Probability

0 - 2 years 220 75.19 10.42-1.049 .295

2 - 4 years 159 74.08 9.726-0.2338 .815

4 - 6 years 60 73.73 10.94-0.5203 .605

6 - 8 years 11 71.91 8.666.8116 .430

8 - 1 0 years 6 75.67 9.973.5286 .609

10 years and more 6 72.50 10.77

those who had used th is approach p rio r to th e ir a rriva l in the U.S.

and those who sought counseling fo r the f i r s t time in the U.S. The

students also sought d iffe re n t sources of counseling. Each respon

dent showed a d iffe re n t perception when selecting the source of help.

Students who had already received professional help, therefore, might

approach the s ituation d iffe re n tly from those who had never before

been involved in counseling.

The _t-test analysis, however, showed no s ign ifican t impact of

these factors in the students' perceptions toward help-seeking

approaches. The null hypothesis was therefore accepted. The results

of this analysis are reported in Tables 9 and 13.

Hypothesis 4

Ho: There is no s ign ifican t d ifference between international


Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores for fo r Respondents With and Without

Previous Contact

PreviousContact N X SO Vafue

2 -ta ile dProbability

Have had previouscontact withcounselor 77 76.01 10.29

-1.412 .159Have not hadprevious contactwith counselor 385 74.21 10.16


as measured by to ta l score on the ATSPH scale.

For th is hypothesis, the _t-test analysis showed th a t, indeed,

there were no s ig n ific a n t differences in the perceptions of male and

female subjects toward seeking professional counseling. This ind i

cates that there is no s ig n ific a n t impact on th is question that can

be predicted on the basis of sex; therefore, the null hypothesis was

accepted (see Tables 3 and 14).

Table 14

Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores fo r Male and Female Respondents

Sex N X SDt

Value2 -ta ile d

Probability

Male 312 74.38 10.36.4078 .684

Female 150 74.79 9.874


Hypothesis 5

Ho: There w ill be no s ign ific a n t difference between the percep

tions of graduate international students and undergraduate internna-

tional students toward seeking personal counseling as measured by the

to ta l score of the ATSPH scale.

To te s t the null hypothesis, a J t-test analysis was carried out

on the responses to the questionnaire. The s ta tis t ic a l analysis

showed no s ign ifican t difference that could be predicted on the basis

of students' academic le v e l. Undergraduate students were no more mo

tivated to seek professional counseling than graduate or nondegree

students (see Table 15). Hence, there is evidence that academic

level made no difference in terms of these a ttitudes . I t was con

cluded that there is no s ign ific a n t impact of this factor on the

research hypothesis; therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted.

Table 15

Comparison of Mean ATSPH Scores fo r Educational Levels

EducationalLevel N X SD

tVaTue

2 -ta ile dP robability

Nondegree 10 80.15 13.30-1.843 .066

Undergraduate 259 74.03 10.19.8708 .384

Graduate 193 74.87 9.983


SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter w ill provide the reader with a review and summary

of the purpose and design of the study and w ill present the conclu

sions and recommendations.

This study investigated the perceptions of international stu

dents at Western Michigan University regarding seeking personal

counseling. Foreign students in the United States have a much more

d i f f ic u l t educational experience than th e ir American counterparts.

I t is true tha t v is itin g students d if fe r greatly as individuals, but

they a ll have common experiences and problems that must be dealt with

by the colleges and un ivers ities in which they are enrolled.

The l ite ra tu re on foreign students c le a rly suggests that Ameri

cans have a double standard and that foreigners coming to the United

States to study must do so on th e ir terms : in American language,

from th e ir point of view, "at th e ir prices," and yet the Americans

do not make available to the foreign students the same resources that

are available to American students. The problems of foreign students

are compounded when they are accepted into academic programs without

adequate advising assistance to ensure appropriate placement.

Basically , th is study examined the perceptions of foreign stu

dents toward seeking personal counseling (including external help).

In addition , the research also compared d iffe re n t approaches to

seeking professional help attempted by these students. The study was

53


54

designed s p ec ifica lly to answer the following questions: (1 ) Do

students from d iffe re n t countries (examined by continent) have

d iffe re n t d if f ic u lt ie s and d iffe re n t approaches to solving personal

problems? (2) Is there a d ifference in the perceptions of in te r

national students regarding th e ir problems, based on the student's

(a) sex, (b) length of stay in the United States, (c) academic le v e l,

(d) previous professional counseling h isto ry, and (e) country of

origin?

The Attitude Toward Seeking Psychological Help (ATSPH) instru

ment was used to conduct the study. The raw data fo r this study were

obtained from the to tal score of the 29-item questionnaire designed

by Fischer and Turner (1970). Nine hundred and ninety-three ques

tionnaires were mailed to a ll in ternational students enrolled a t

Western Michigan University in the Fall 1986 semester; 462 (46.5%)

questionnaires were returned. Data collected fo r the study were

analyzed u t il iz in g the percentage, mean, standard deviation, and ^

te s t. A point of o ^ .0 5 level of s ignificance was adopted fo r th e ir

comparisons. All five null hypotheses were tested.

The d e fin it io n , statement of the problem, purpose, and methods

used in the study were presented in Chapter I . The l ite ra tu re

relevant to the study was reviewed and discussed in Chapter I I . The

descriptive method was discussed in Chapter I I I . Research was

lim ited to a survey of the problem, "perceptions of Western Michigan

University international students from fiv e d iffe re n t continents

(Asia, A frica , Europe, Latin America and North America)" regarding

seeking personal counseling. The conclusions and recommendations


55

re la tiv e to the findings of the study were also discussed in detail

in Chapters IV and V.

The researcher summarized the findings of th is study in three

categories. The f i r s t section of the summary discusses the respon

dents in terms of sex, academic leve ls , f ie ld of study, country of

o rig in , and length of stay in the United States. The second section

re lates to comparisons between students' d iffe re n t perceptions toward

seeking professional help and source of help. In the th ird section,

a ll findings were presented which derived from the testing of the

hypotheses.

The data analysis y ie lds the following conclusions:

This study revealed that 12% of international students were

involved in seeking professional counseling help and the rest did not

seem to be interested. The main reason fo r th e ir lack of in terest

was lack of tru s t and confidence and u n fam ilia rity with th is approach

to problem-solving. Obtaining counseling and advice with academic

problems was reported to be a substantial d if f ic u lty by 38.56% of the

students. In su ffic ie n t understanding of oral English would certa in ly

in te rfe re with the counseling process and might resu lt in students

taking courses which were not even relevant to th e ir needs and career

goals. I t would indeed be d i f f ic u l t fo r them to explain th e ir needs

to th e ir advisor in the in i t ia l stages of th e ir course work.

Students from Asia encountered less perception than students

from Latin America, Europe, Africa and North America toward seeking

personal counseling. The m ajority of international students were

seemingly more interested in seeking help through friends (informal


56

help) rather than form al, professional help. Students from Europe

and North America receive the most formal help from professional

counselors. Results of the study also indicated that students from

Africa often seek informal help through relig ious organizations and

community services.

The length of stay in the United States was found to have no

e ffe c t on the perceptions of international students toward seeking

personal counseling. The academic level of in ternational students

was also found to have no e ffe c t on th e ir perceptions toward seeking

personal counseling. Neither the sex of the international students

nor previous contact with counselors had an e ffe c t on th e ir percep

tions toward seeking personal counseling.

Recommendations

Beyond the conclusions lis te d in the study, I believe that the

following broad recommendations should be made fo r international

students while they are in the United States:

1. American institu tio n s should design an extensive orientation

program to prepare international students with the advantages, stan

dards, local cultural structure, and requirements of the school. The

program should also make students aware of the many services and

a c t iv it ie s available to them on campus. I f there is the s ligh tes t

doubt regarding the student's understanding of the advisor, an in te r

preter could be asked to assist.

2. Providing social gatherings and meetings of the interna

tional students would provide them an opportunity to share th e ir


57

fee lings , answer each other's questions, and resolve some of th e ir

problems.

3. Foreign students should be strongly encouraged to arrive a

few months before the academic year begins. This would permit them

to improve th e ir English and become acquainted with th e ir surround

ings before being overwhelmed by academic concerns.

4. Counselors could be encouraged to spend some time in dormi

tories and liv in g areas heavily populated by international students.

I t is possible th is would help build tru s t in seeking professional

help.

5. A wel1-organized student advisory group can s ig n ific a n tly

reduce confusion and ease the trans ition to American l i f e . Key

people include those foreign students who have made a successful

tra n s itio n .

6. Many international students who are studying in the United

States have never been involved in any type of organized professional

help, although some of them do seek help from th e ir friends. The

problems which foreign students experience are generally greater

than many of them have been w illin g to admit through the use of the

tes t questionnaire. I t is apparent that these foreign students are

not psychologically motivated to u t i l iz e available professional help.

7. Bilingual counselors should work with international students

to help them with th e ir problems.


APPENDIX A

Questionnaire Cover Letter


1940 Howard S t . , #442 Kalamazoo, MI 49008 November 1, 1986

Dear Fellow International Student:

I am a doctoral student working on my degree in Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology. The purpose of this study is to id e n tify and analyze the perceptions of Western Michigan University in ternational students regarding seeking personal counseling.

I am asking you to help me with my research. Enclosed is a questionnaire which has been designed to help international students to id en tify th e ir perceptions toward seeking personal counseling.

All the information you give w ill be held in very s tr ic t confidence and w ill be used fo r th is research only.

For your convenience, a self-addressed, stamped envelope has been enclosed fo r returning the questionnaire. Your reply would be greatly appreciated. I would appreciate i t i f you could return the questionnaire by November 14. When th is study is completed, a copy of my dissertation w ill be available a t the Education lib ra ry , Sangren H a ll.

I f you have any questions regarding the questionnaire or the research, please do not hesitate to call me a 385-2381. Thank you fo r your time and cooperation.

Yours sincerely ,

Nader Al-Qasem


APPENDIX B

Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help (ATSPH) Scale


Please f i l l in the blanks below. There is no need to w rite your name.

Country of c itizensh ip :__________________________________

Sex: M F___

Your present educational level : Undergraduate___Nondegree___

How long have you been in the U.S.?

Your major f ie ld of study: ________

Months_

Have you ever sought professional help fo r a personal or emotional problem (talked with counselor, psychologist, social worker, e tc .)? Yes No___

I f yes, did you seek professional help _ in the U.S.?’ in your native country?

Did you ever seek informal help from a friend or acquaintance for a personal of emotional problem?Yes No___

I f your answer to question 7 and/or 8 is yes, what kind of help did you seek? (Check a ll the professional help categories below which apply.)

Counselor Psychologist Psychiatrist Social worker Religious leader Physician F riend /re la tive Foreign student advisor

Academic advisor___________ Other (please specify)


Read each item. Indicate your answer by c irc lin g the number which best expresses your personal b e lie f or a ttitu d e . There are no r ig h t or wrong answers. Please respond to a ll items.

Example:

Probably Probably Agree Agree Disagree Disagree

Do you believe children are n atu ra lly misbehaved becausethey want you to d isc ip line them? 1 2 3 4

You might believe number 1. Then you c irc le the number the number tha t you believe is appropriate fo r you.


Although there are c lin ics for people with mental troubles, I would not have much fa ith in them.

I f a good friend asked my advice about a mental problem, I might recommend tha t he sees a psych iatris t.

I would feel uneasy going to a psych ia tris t because of what some people would th ink.

A person with a strong character can get over mental conflicts by himself and would have l i t t l e need o f a psych iatris t


Disagree

5. There are times when I have f e l t completely lo s t and would have welcomed professional advice fo r a personal or emotional problem.

6. Considering the time and expense involved in psychotherapy, i t would have doubtful value fo r a person l ik e me.

7. I would w illin g ly confide intim ate matters to an appropriate person i f I thought i t might help me or a member of my fam ily .

8. I would rather liv e with certa in mental conflicts than go through the ordeal of getting psychiatric help.

9. Emotional d if f ic u l t ie s , l ik e many things, tend to work out by themselves.

10. There are certain problems which should not be d is cussed outside of one's immediate fam ily .

11. A person with a serious emotional disturbance would probably feel most secure in a good mental hospita l.

12. I f I believed I was having a mental breakdown, my f i r s t inc lina tion would be to get professional a tten tion .

13. Keeping one's mind on a job is a good solution fo r avoiding personal worries and concerns.


Probably ProbablyAgree Agree Disagree Disagree

14. Having been a psychiatric patient is a b lo t on a person's l i f e

15. I would rather be advised by a close friend than by a psych ia tris t, even fo r an emotional problem.

16. A person with an emotional problem is not l ik e ly to solve i t alone; he is more l ik e ly to solve i t with professional help.

17. I resent a person— professional ly trained or no t-- who wants to know about my personal d if f ic u l t ie s .

18. I would want to get psychiat r ic a ttention i f I was worried or upset fo r a long period of time.

19. The idea of ta lking about problems with a psychologist strikes me as a poor way to get rid of emotional conf l i c t s .

20. Having been mentally i l l carries with a burden of shame.

21. There are experiences in my l i f e I would not discuss w ith anyone.

22. I t is probably best not to know everything about ones e lf .



23. I f I were experiencing a serious emotional c r is is at this point in my l i f e ,I would be confident tha t I could find r e l ie f in psychotherapy.

24. There is something admirable in the a ttitu d e of a person who is w illin g to cope with his conflicts and fears without resorting to professional help.

25. At some future time, I might want to have psychological counseling.

26. A person should work out his own problems; getting psychological counseling would be a la s t resort.

27. Had I received treatment in a mental hosp ita l, I would not feel that i t ought to be "covered up."

28. I f I thought I needed psychiat r ic help, I would get i t no matter who knew about i t .

29. I t is d i f f ic u l t to ta lk about personal a ffa irs w ith highly educated people such as doctors, teachers and clergy-


APPENDIX C

Letter to Edward H. Fischer


67

Nader A1-Qasem1940 Howard S t. Apt. 442Kalamazoo, MI 49003 -

November 2 0 ,. 1986

Dr. Edward H. Fischer Department o f Psychology Connecticut Valley Hospital Middletown, Connecticut 06457

Dear Dr. Fischer:

I am a doctoral student In the Department o f Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology a t Western Michigan U n ivers ity . I am presently In the process o f carrying out a study on the perceptions o f Western Michigan U nivers ity in te rn atio n al students who seek personal counseling.

Upon reviewing the l i te r a tu r e , I discovered the A ttitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help (ATSPH) sca le . I would l ik e to u t i l i z e th is Instrum ent in my study.

I am w rit in g th is le t te r to request your permission fo r the use o f the instrument th a t you have developed.

I s incerely hope th a t you w ill grant me your permission. Thank you.

S incerely ,

Nader Al-Qasem

cc: Dr. Thelma UrbickDepartment o f Counselor Education and

Counseling Psychology Western Mlchloan U n ivers ity Kalamazoo, MI 49008


APPENDIX D

Reply from Edward H. Fischer


Nader Al-Qasem1940 Howard St. Apt. 442Kalamazoo, MI 49008

November 2 0 ,. 1986

Dr. Edward H. Fischer Department of Psychology Connecticut Valley Hospital Middletown, Connecticut 06457

Dear Dr. Fischer:

I am a doctoral student in the Department o f Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology a t Western Michigan U n ivers ity . I am presently in the process o f carrying out a study on the perceptions o f Western Michigan University in ternational students who seek personal counseling.

Upon reviewing the li te ra tu re , I discovered the Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help (ATSPH) scale. I would lik e to u t i l iz e th is instrument in my study.

I am w riting th is le t te r to request your permission for the use of the instrument that you have developed.

I sincerely hope that you w ill grant me your permission.

Sincerely,

Thank you.

Nader Al-Qasem ■% / .

Dr. Thelma UrbickDepartment of Counselor Education and

Counseling Psychology Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008

copy


Frequency, Percentage, Mean, and Standard Deviation of Questionnaire Items


FREQUENCY, PERCENTAGE, MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS


Although there are c lin ic s fo r people with mental troubles, I would not have much fa ith in them.

I f a good friend asked my advice about a mental problem, I might recommend th a t he sees a psych iatris t.

I would feel uneasy going to a psych iatris t because of what some people would th ink.

81 145 124 11217 . 5% 3 1 . 4% 26.85% 24.25%

53 79 191 13911.48% 17.10% 41.34% 30.0!

80 134 127 12117.31% 30% 27.5% 26.2%

2.57 1.04

2.90 0.96

2.62 1.05

A person with a strong character can get over mental conflicts by himself and would have l i t t l e need o f a psych iatris t 143 140 106 73

30.95% 30.3% 22.95% 15.8%2.23 1.05


There are times when I have f e l t completely lo s t and would have welcomed professional advice fo r a personalor emotional problem. I l l 78 164 109

24.03% 16.88% 35.5% 23.59%

Considering the time and expense involved in psychotherapy, i t would have doubtful value fo r a personlik e me. 95 175 119 73

20.56% 37.88% 25.56% 15.10%

I would w illin g ly confide intim ate matters to an appropriate person i f I thought i t might help meor a member o f my fam ily. 39 49 169 205

8.44% 10.6% 36.58% 44.38%

I would rather liv e with certa in mental con flicts than go through the ordealof getting psychiatric help. 41 97 135 189

8.87% 30% 29.92% 40.92%

I1

I1 AgreeProbablyAgree

ProbablyDisagree Disagree X SO

1 9. Emotional d if f ic u l t ie s , lik eI many things, tend to work

out by themselves. 69 153 142 98 2.58 0.98CQ3 14.98% 33.11% 30.74% 21.22%

I 10. There are certain problemswhich should not be discussed outside of one's

s' immediate fam ily. 170 150 77 65 2.08 1.04

?36.8% 32.46% 16.66% 14.8%

1 11. A person with a serious° emotional disturbance wouldc probably feel most secure1 in a good mental hospita l. 99 131 139 93 2.49 1.04

21.2% 28.02% 30.08% -, 20.07%1 12. I f I believed I was having a1 mental breakdown, my f i r s t

inclination would be to get1 professional a tten tion . 55 107 174 126 2.80 0.97

1 11.9% 23.16% 37.66% 27.28%

13. Keeping one's mind on a job1 is a good solution fo r avoid

ing personal worries andconcerns. 107 145 126 84 2.40 1.03

23.16% 31.39% 27.27% 18.18%


14. Having been a psychiatric patient is a b lo t on aperson's l i f e 48 149 156 109

10.39% 32.24% 33.76% 23.61%

15. I would rather be advised by a close friend than by a psych iatris t, even fo ran emotional problem. 119 156 120 67

25.76% 33.76% 25.98% 14.5%

16. A person with an emotional problem is not l ik e ly to solve i t alone; he is more l ik e ly to solve i t withprofessional help. 63 145 172 82

13.64% 31.38% 37.23% 17.75%

17. I resent a person— profess ion ally trained or n o t-- who wants to know about mypersonal d if f ic u l t ie s . 59 136 173 94

12.77% 29.43% 37.45% 20.35%

18. I would want to get psychiat r ic attention i f I was worried or upset fo r a longperiod of time. 80 115 178 89

17.32% 24.89% 38.53% 19.26%


19. The idea of ta lking about prd)lems with a psychologist strikes me as a poor way to get rid of emotional conf l i c t s . 56 129 171 106

12.12% 27.91% 37.03% 22.94%

20. Having been mentally i l l carries with a burden ofshame. 54 138 140 130

11.69% 29.89% 30.3% 28.15%

21. There are experiences in my l i f e I would not discusswith anyone. 168 128 90 76

36.36% 27.07% 19.4% 16.54%

22. I t is probably best not to know everything about ones e lf . 83 120 108 151

17.97% 25.97% 23.38% 32.68%

23. I f I were experiencing a serious emotional c r is is at th is point in my l i f e ,I would be confident tha t I could find r e l ie f inpsychotherapy. 72 146 172 72

15.59% 31.6% 37.23% 15.58%


24. There is something admirable in the a ttitu d e o f a person who is w illin g to cope with his conflicts and fears without resorting toprofessional help. 108 194 117 43

23.38% 41.98% 25.33% 9.31%

25. At some future time, I might want to have psychologicalcounseling. 104 142 158 58

22.51% 30.74% 34.2% 12.55%

26. A person should work out his own problems; getting psychological counselingwould be a la s t resort. 143 156 106 57

30.95% 33.76% 22.95% 12.34%

27. Had I received treatment in a mental hospita l, I would not feel that i t ought to be"covered up." 84 138 172 68

18.18% 29.86% 37.24% 14.72%

AgreeProbably

AgreeProbablyDisagree Disagree X SD

28. I f I thought I needed psychiat r ic help, I would get i t no

29.

m atter who knew about i t .

I t is d i f f ic u l t to ta lk about personal a ffa irs with highly educated people such as doctors, teachers and clergy-

6714.5%

11023.8%

15232.9%

13328.8%

2.76 1.02

4910.6%

10723.16%

14130.52%

16535.72%

2.91 1.00

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