Long-term effects of the participation in international youth exchange programs on personality development: Research in Progress

1. Subject matter
Both organizers of international youth exchange programs and former participants as well as researchers in this field argue that the most lasting effects of youth exchange programs refer to the development of personality variables. However, there are hardly any studies which focus on personality change, especially not from a long term perspective. Most studies in this area are pre-post approaches with quantitative data derived from questionnaires. Yet, it is not known what psychological processes lie behind statements such as the widening of one’s horizon or the enrichment of one’s life. Furthermore not much is known about the significance of the exchange experience in the context of the participants' later biography and the process of how the experience is biographically integrated. Another reason why the deeper psychological meaning structure is not known is the lack of theory which is applied in this area of research. This lack of theory has already been critized decades ago (e.g. Thomas, 1985) yet it is still prevalent.

This present research project takes the above mentioned aspects into account. It aims to analyze the psychological processes of change which can be related to the exchange experience. A theory-based approach and multiple methods are applied. The research focuses on short-term exchange programs which take place in groups with duration of up to four weeks. This is a program format which is discussed with controversy in literature. On the one hand it is argued that they are too short to reach their goals (e.g. the development of an international perspective) (Grove, 1983). On the other hand there is evidence that short-term programs are perceived to have a considerable impact on personal development by former participants (Thomas, Kammhuber, Chang & Ehret, 2002). The question is therefore not so much the duration of the program but more the identification of program elements or context variables which foster intended outcomes such as intercultural learning (Ehret & Chang, 2003).

The project will take four program types into account, which are (a) high school student exchange with homestays, (b) mutual exchange of youth groups (one youth group visits a youth group in a different country and then they are revisited at home), (c) project-oriented youth exchange at a third place which is unknown to both groups, (d) multinational workcamps. Within two types of programs (b, d) only German participants will be surveyed. Within the other two (a, d) also non-German participants will be included in the sample. This will allow for cross-cultural comparisons.

2. Objectives
The project’s main objective is the reconstruction of the long-term effects of the exchange experience on the personality of the participants. This will be examined with regard to the following research questions:
• Which fields of experience and action of the participants are triggered by the exchange experience?
• Which program effects can be found regarding the levels of cognition, emotion and behavior?
• How do these chances take place?
• How is the exchange experience biographically processed?
• What differences in effects can be found regarding the four program types?
• Do German participants perceive the long term effects differently than participants from a different country with a different cultural background?
• Are the long-term effects differently perceived by female and male participants?

3. Theoretical approach
One of our objectives is an integrative theoretical approach for the conceptualization of the exchange experience. In our opinion this is a necessity that stems from the complexity of the subject matter. Since the theoretical work is still in progress only our main theoretical framework and two other theoretical aspects will be addressed in this section.

The leading theoretical framework for the project is the Cognitive-Experiential Self Theory (CEST) by Epstein (1998). CEST is an integrative personality theory which also conceptualizes the process of personality change and the different consequences connected with it. According to CEST the personality of a person is comprised of his/her individual reality theory which is a differentiated and integrated system consisting of hierarchically ordered schemes. The reality theory is divided into the schemes regarding my self (so called self-theory), regarding my beliefs of the environment (world-theory) and the interaction between the two. The schemes can be modified by experience. The change of personality depends on which hierarchical level the schemes are when activated. The higher the levels, the more central aspects of the personality are triggered by experience. In reference to the subject matter of the project, CEST offers a differentiated conceptualization for explaining the impact of the exchange experience on personality development. The hierarchy of schemes has implications for hypotheses on the relationship between the quality or intensity of experiences and the character of the long-term effects. The theory has already proved to be a useful theoretical framework for the conceptualization of the exchange experience and its effect on personality development in a pilot-study by Hetzenecker (1999).

An additional theoretical perspective stems from the analysis of the target group. Since the exchange programs of interest are for adolescents it is important to take the developmental tasks (Havighurst, 1972) of this life-period into account. In a study by Dreher & Dreher (1985) adolescents described their main developmental tasks which were the improvement of social competence (such as conflict management, reduction of prejudices and tolerance toward people from other nations), political understanding and an increasing awareness of the environment. With traditional forms of living dissolving towards more individual and plural forms of living the adolescent becomes the active designer of his/her development. This implies that adolescents choose to participate at the exchange program in order to pursue the fulfilment of their developmental tasks. The question is now, which developmental tasks are activated by the exchange experience and based on what motives do adolescents choose to participate.

Since we going to query former participants about an event which took place quite some time ago it is important to consider findings and theoretical models of autobiographical remembering. This will be helpful not only for the construction of the methods of enquiry but also for the interpretation of the data. The first question to be considered is how autobiographical memory functions and whether it is reliable. Conway and Rubin (1993) differentiate three levels of the autobiographical memory which are hierarchically ordered. The first level contains memories regarding life periods with a time frame of years and decades (e.g. college years). The second level contains memories of general events with a time frame of days, weeks or months (e.g. vacation). On level three specific single events are represented with a time frame of seconds, minutes or hours (e.g. the first time I saw a significant person). The telling of autobiography is characterized by a combination of all levels. Yet, mostly it is easier to start with level two and then to continue with level three. Level one represents more the skeleton of the memory. In addition, the characteristic of a told memory is dependent on certain memory cues given, encoded details of the situation in the past and the current state of the person (his/her wishes or needs). These findings have implications especially for the interview phase of the project. It is especially important to give adequate cues and to consider the person’s momentary state. As for the details of the memory, they become weaker the longer the experience lies back. Yet, the interpretation and the meaning of the memory remain reliable. This is an important finding for the research we conduct since it is more the meaning and interpretation of experiences or situations that we focus on. Since cross-cultural comparisons are conducted it is also important that the influence of culture on the way autobiography is told be considered (Habermas & Bluck, 2000).

4. Methods
Especially since the subject matter is of high complexity a multiple method approach is needed. This reduces the possibility of a biased knowledge of the subject matter, since each method has its strength and weaknesses. In the project five phases are pursued.

Phase 1: Extensive literature review
Since the beginning of the project in Dec. 2002 we have been searching and analyzing literature regarding empirical results and theoretical conceptualizations which are related to the subject matter. Thereby we have looked not only into personality and cross-cultural psychology but also into other fields of psychology, such as developmental psychology, autobiographical memory, (auto)biography research and life-event research. This phase is still in progress but will be finished before August.

Phase 2: Analysis of documents
Since a long-term perspective is taken in the project, the time of participation is at least eight years ago which allows the reconstruction of change processes. In order to get some more information on the programs back then we looked at documents of programs which took place at least eight years ago. Since February of this year we have been analyzing descriptions of the various programs, reports written by conductors of exchanges or by participants and questionnaires which were filled out by the participants at the end of the exchange. The objectives of this phase are to get to know the program characteristics in detail and to consider possible historical influences (e.g. the integration of participants from former eastern Germany after the reunification). Ideally we will query those participants of whom we have questionnaires or who participated at exchanges where we have descriptions and reports of. This phase is still in progress but will be also finished by the end of July.

Phase 3: Interviews of Experts in the field
Interviews (N=17) were conducted with experts in the field. The objectives were to gain more knowledge about participants’ characteristics, context variables of the program as well as hints for possible long-term effects. On the basis of the results we constructed an interview manual for phase 4.

Phase 4: Interviews of Participants
Interviews will be conducted with former participants of all program types. Altogether N=120 interviews with German participants and N=40 interviews with non-German participants are planned.

Phase 5: Survey by means of questionnaire
On the basis of the interviews the questionnaire will be constructed. The questionnaire is meant to examine the long-term effects on a larger sample of former participants (N= 800).

5. Expected contribution to the field of exchange research
The main attention of this project is given to the long-term effects of short-term international youth exchange programs, which have hardly been studied so far. By integrating theories and models from different areas of psychology, the traditional approach regarding research on the changing of attitudes and prejudices shall be replaced in favour of a more integrative theoretical approach. This shall contribute to the advancement of the theoretical conceptualization of the exchange experience and its long-term effects on the development of personality. In summary contributions are expected in regard to the following aspects:
• quality and characteristics of the representation of special life-events in long-term memory; characteristics of the situations remembered;
• typical long-term effects on personality and their relationship to specific events, experiences or characteristics of the exchange program;
• typical processes of biographical integration of the exchange experience;
• knowledge about which developmental tasks are enhanced by the exchange;
• knowledge about which fields of experience and action are activated by the exchange experience or again later in life which refer to the exchange experience;
• gender-specific long-term effects and biographical integration processes;
• knowledge about possible differences of long-term effects through cross-cultural comparison.

6. Anticipated implications for practitioners
Since the project is a joint project between researchers and practitioners it is an objective that the research findings are made useful for international youth exchange practice. Implications for the following aspects are expected:
• further development of the concepts of the four types of exchange programs (in regard to program characteristics, selection of participants, didactic concept, training of teamers)
• planning of additional projects after the return of the participants to their home country
• recognition of non-formal curricular and the development of core competences
• positioning among different other types of exchange programs and different exchange organizations.

Literature:

Conway, M.A. & Rubin, D.C. (1993). The structure of autobiographical memory. In A. E. Collins, S. E. Gathercole, M.A. Conway & P.E.M. Morris (Eds.), Theories of Memory (pp.103-137). Hove, Sussex: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Dreher, E. & Dreher, M. (1985). Wahrnehmung und Bewältigung von Entwicklungsaufgaben im Jugendalter: Fragen, Ergebnisse und Hypothesen zum Konzept einer Entwicklungs- und Pädagogischen Psychologie des Jugendalters. [Perception of and Coping with developmental tasks in adolescence: Questions, results and hypotheses fort he concept of a developemental and educational psychology of adolescence]. In R. Oerter (Hrsg.), Lebensbewältigung im Jugendalter (S. 30-61). Weinheim: VCH.

Ehret, A. & Chang, C. (2003). Interkulturelles Lernen in Kurzzeitaustauschprogrammen: Welche Bedingungen tragen dazu bei? [Intercultural learning in short-term exchange programs: Which conditions contribute to it?] In IJAB e.V. (Hrsg.), Forum Jugendarbeit International (S. 154-167). Münster: Votum Verlag.

Epstein, S. (1998). Cognitive-experiential self-theory. In D. Barone, M. Hersen & V.B. van Hasselt (Eds.), Advanced Personality (pp. 211-238). New York: Plenum.

Grove, C. (1983). What research and informed opinion have to say about very short exchange programs (VSPs). New York: AFS International/Intercultural Programs.

Habermas, T. & Bluck, S. (2000). Getting a Life: The Emergence of the Life Story in Adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 126 (5), 748-769.

Havighurst, R. (1972). Developmental tasks and education. New York: Mc Kay.

Hetzenecker, D. (1999). Analyse der langfristigen Auswirkungen eines internationalen Schüleraustauschprogramms auf die Persönlichkeit und den weiteren Lebenslauf der Teilnehmer [Analysis of the long-term effects of an international student exchange program on personality and the further CV of the participants]. Unpublished thesis, University of Regensburg, Germany.

Thomas, A. (1985). Aspekte eines rahmentheoretischen Konzepts für die Austauschforschung. [Aspects of a theoretical framework for the exchange research] In A. Thomas (Hrsg.), Interkultureller Austausch als interkulturelles Handeln (S. 207-217). SSIP-Bulletin Nr. 56. Saarbrücken: Breitenbach.

Thomas, A., Kammhuber, S., Chang, C. & Ehret, A. (2001). Evaluation der langfristigen Wirkungen des deutsch-japanischen Studienprogramms für Fachkräfte der Jugendarbeit. Oder: Lohnt sich der ganze Aufwand? [Evaluation of the long-term effects of the German-Japanese study programm for professionals in youth work. Or: Is the whole effort worthwhile] In IJAB e.V. (Hrsg.), Forum Jugendarbeit International (S.144-161). Münster: Votum Verlag.