| Scope and method of study. This cross-cultural study investigates the importance of privacy regulation on college adjustment of American and Turkish freshmen living in residence halls. The research was carried out by means of a survey at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma and at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. The total sample size was 408 students; 200 in the American sample and 208 in the Turkish sample. Adjustment to college was assessed through social, academic, institutional, and personal dimensions. Specific objectives were to examine (a) whether adjustment scores differed between American and Turkish freshmen among crowded, optimum, and isolated students, (b) whether the desired level of privacy differed based on culture and gender, (c) the relationships between the desired and achieved levels of privacy and the crowding perception in residential settings, (d) whether the crowding perception among crowded, optimum, and isolated students differed based on culture and gender, (e) whether territorial behavior differed between American and Turkish male and female freshmen based on previous bedroom sharing experience during adolescence and knowing one's roommate previously.; Findings and conclusions. This study enhances our understanding of how students regulate their privacy in their residential settings from a behavioral and cultural perspective. Students who feel crowded in their residence hall rooms tend to have poorer social and personal adjustment. Thus, privacy regulation was found to be important for the social and personal dimensions of college adjustment. American freshmen have difficulties in social adjustment compared to Turkish freshmen, who have personal adjustment difficulties. These different patterns in college adjustment were discussed in relation to the usage of behavioral mechanisms. The findings are important for residential staff at universities to identify potential problems of adjustment during the first months at the university. |
