International Students’ Acculturation Information Seeking: Personality, Information Needs and Uses

摘要

As part of a larger study on acculturation informationseeking (AIS), this poster presents preliminary findings of asurvey of 188 international students in the United States.The study surveyed the types of information needs relatedto academic and everyday life, those that were challengingto fulfill, and the sources used for AIS. Using the Big FiveInventory, the study also tested the relationship betweenAIS and personality. Findings show that individuals withdifferent personality traits viewed different needs (e.g.,health, legal information) as challenging. Similarly,respondents with certain traits favored certain sources thatwere seldom used by others (e.g., those with high opennessuse social Q&A sites more frequently). Recommendationsfor better sharing of acculturation information arediscussed.