International Conference on the Modern Development of Humanities and Social Science (MDHSS 2013)

The Characteristics of Social Adaptation of College

Freshmen and Educational Strategy
Liqiao Xu Chuanhua Gu*, Dongjing Zhang, Zhi Jing
Security Department,Wuhan University of Science and School of Psychology, Central China Normal University,
Technology, Wuhan, China Wuhan, China
42047165@[Link] guchanhua@[Link]
*Corresponding author

Abstract—This study investigated 680 freshmen in Wuhan to staff in china studied and analyzed the problem of freshmen’s
analyze the characteristics of their social adaptation with the adaptation and its factors [6][7][8][9]. On the intervention of
Scale of College Students’ Social Adaptation. The result indicated college freshmen’s adaptability, Zhang et al. found that class
that, the freshmen from urban areas scored higher significantly psychological service was helpful for college freshmen to adapt
on interpersonal adaptation and role adaptation than those from to a new environment [10].
rural areas, but the opposite for the self-care adaptability; the
female scored higher on role adaptation and environment- In sum, most of the researchers from home and abroad
identification than the male, but the opposite for the self-care studied the factors of adaptability qualitatively, but very little
adaptability; the only-child students scored higher on quantitative research about freshmen’s adaptability has been
interpersonal adaptation and role identification than the child carried out, and the people do not know clearly about the group
with siblings, but the opposite for the self-care adaptability. difference in the adaptability of freshmen from different areas
Based on the results, the educational strategy for improving and with different characteristics. The aim of the current
freshmen’s adaptation was discussed. research is to investigate the characteristics of social adaption
of college freshmen born after 1990, and analyze their group
Keywords- college freshmen；social adaptation；educational difference, and then give advice on the education about their
strategy social adaptation to help them form the healthy personality and
accommodate college life.
I. INTRODUCTION
With the reform of college entrance examination system in II. RESEARCH METHOD
China, more and more students have the chance to enter the
college to pursue their dreams. However, such problems in life A. Participants
as learning and friendship problems are obsessing them at the 700 freshmen from Wuhan City in Hubei Province of China
same time. As college is an important milestone of one’s life, it were selected randomly to fill in the questionnaire a week after
is significant for freshmen to adapt to college environment well entrance into college, and 680 valid copies of the
after entrance. It is difficult for the freshmen who enter the questionnaires were got back, and the recovery rate is 97%.
college just after the stressful life of high school to Among the 680 freshmen, 124 were female and 556 were male;
accommodate a series of changes in learning and interpersonal 219 were single-child and 461 were child with siblings; 145
relationship in a short time. Usually, they will be confused first, were from urban areas and 535 were from rural areas; their
and will not be able to adjust to new life and environment of majors involved architecture, water supply and drainage,
college immediately without help. environment design and civil engineering.
Adaptability is the ability that the individual deals with or
accommodates natural and social environment effectively, B. Questionnaires
including the ability to live independently, to manage his own College Freshmen’s Adaptability Scale worked out by
life, meet the cultural requirement [1]. Freshmen’s adaptation Xiefeng Lu in 2008 were used to investigate the social
was studied earlier and more thoroughly in foreign countries. adaptability of college freshmen [11]. The Scale has 7
One’s social adaptation was associated with his or her family. dimensions: learning adaptability (8 items), interpersonal
Janathan and his colleagues verified that parents’ attachment adaptability (11 items), role adaptability (9 items), choice
affected the adaptation of college freshmen; meanwhile, adaptability (9 items), self-care adaptability (6 items),
parents’ support was very important for their adaptation [2]. environmental identity adaptability (7 items), physical and
Ericka and Lamia [3] also found that parents’ support had mental symptoms (10 items), and a validity subscale including
affected students’ adaptation significantly. What’s more, 6 items. The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s α) of
Kenneth et al. considered perfectionism was associated with the scale is 0.90. So the scale has good reliability. The
freshmen’s adaptation [4]. Rosalind analyzed the relationship participants were asked to answer each question or item at a
between self-concept and freshmen’s social adaptation [5]. five-point scale: agree, somewhat agree, uncertain, somewhat
There are also some psychological consultants and teaching disagree, disagree.

© 2013. The authors - Published by Atlantis Press 126

 Besides, background questionnaire was used to collect the scored higher significantly than the male, but male freshmen
data about participants’ gender, family area (i.e. urban area or scored higher than the female on the dimension of self-care.
rural area), single-child or not and other related information. Such results comply with most of the previous studies.
Compared to the male, the female can adapt to the new role of
C. Data Statistics freshmen better and faster. They are also good at changing their
ANOVA and t test were used to analyze the data with learning and life style to form new life style according to
SPSS16.0. environmental change. While male freshmen usually ignore the
change of details, their self-care ability is comparatively higher.
With the fierce social competition, female freshmen from urban
III. RESULTS areas tend to have more school and occupation pressure than
male freshmen. They tend to pay more attention to the
A. ANOVA on Each Dimension of College Freshmen’s environmental change and others’ opinions, with more mental
Adaptability pressure and life annoyance than male freshmen.
First, take the family area, gender, single child or not as
independent variables and each dimension of college B. The Difference in Social Adaptability between Single-
freshmen’s social adaptability as dependent variables to carry child Freshmen and Freshmen as the Child with Siblings
out ANOVA. The results indicated that family area and gender As the result indicated, on the dimensions of learning
had significant main effect on college freshmen’s adaptability adaptability and interpersonal adaptability, the single-child
(gender: F(1, 669)=3.14, p＜0.05; family area: F(1，669)=2.04, scored higher significantly than child with siblings, but on the
p＜0.05), and the variable of single-child or not had marginal dimension of self-care, child with siblings scored higher than
main effect (F(1, 669)=1.91, p ＜ 0.10), and there was no single-child. Such result shows that it is easier for single-child
interaction between the three independent variables. freshmen to adapt to learning and interpersonal relationship
than freshmen as the child with siblings, but single-child
B. Area Difference of College Freshmen’s Social freshmen tend to do worse in self-care. For single-child, they
Adaptability have always been the focus of their family, possessing
relatively high openness and autonomy. So they are good at
There were significant area differences in social making individual plans, preferring exploring learning. It is
adaptability, that is, the freshmen from urban areas had easier for them to attract peer’s attention and to make new
different social adaptability from those from rural areas. The friends. But just the family role of “little emperor” makes them
result of ANOVA indicated that there were significant do worse in self-care. Meanwhile, parents’ excessive care may
differences in interpersonal adaptation, role adaptation, and cause the lack of female freshmen in the ability of living
self-care. Post-test analysis showed that, in the dimension of independently and poor self-care ability.
interpersonal adaptation and role adaptation, students from
urban areas scored higher than those from rural area (t=13.99,
p<0.001; t=5.81, p<0.001), but in the dimension of self-care, C. The Difference in Social Adaptability of Freshmen from
students from rural area scored higher than those from urban Different Areas
areas (t=7.24, p<0.001). On the two dimensions of interpersonal adaptation and role
adaptation, urban freshmen scored higher than those from rural
C. Gender Difference of College Freshmen’s Social areas, but on the dimension of self-care rural freshmen scored
Adaptability higher than urban freshmen. Such results indicate that it is
easier for urban freshmen to achieve interpersonal adaptation
The results of t test indicated that, in the dimensions of role and role adaptation than those from rural areas, but those
adaptation and environment identity, female scored higher students from urban areas will have more trouble in self-care
significantly than male (t=-2.93, p<0.01; t=-2.35, p<0.05), but than rural students. Freshmen from urban areas tend to lead a
in the dimension of self-care, female scored lower significantly richer and more colorful life, and tend to have complex
than male (t=2.51, p<0.05). interpersonal relationship since they were young. So they are
good at interacting with others, dealing with interpersonal
D. The Difference of College Freshmen’s Social problems, and changing roles and accommodating to new
Adaptability between Single-child and Child with Siblings environment.
The results indicated that on the dimensions of learning But they are not good at doing housework, unable to
adaptability and interpersonal adaptability, single-child scored arrange their life well. While the students from rural areas have
higher significantly than child with siblings (t=3.13, p<0.01; more economic pressure, bear more mental pressure after
t=2.68, p<0.01), but on the dimension of self-care, the result entrance into college. The change from rural area to urban area
was the opposite (t=-2.01, p<0.05). may increase their difficulty in social adaptation including
interpersonal adaptation.
IV DISCUSSION
V. EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY
A. Gender Diference in Freshmen’s Social Adaptability
Due to the change of living environment, learning style
As the results indicated, on the dimensions of role
adaptation and environment identity, the female freshmen and social role, college freshmen will undergo a process from

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maladjustment to adjustment inevitably. Getting through the as college students, and help them learn to control their
adaptive phase smoothly is of great importance for their negative emotions.
academic success. The result of the current survey has
important implications for the education of freshmen’s D. To Carry Out the Instruction for Learning Method
adaptation. Many college freshmen continue to use the learning method
A. To Carry Out the Investigation into Mental Health for in high school. Tutors should help them form new learning
method in college, foster their consciousness of independent
Overall Freshmen and Provide Necessary Guidance
exploration and form the concept of learning in college. The
In the first few weeks after freshmen enter college, related tutors should provide the instructions on learning for freshmen,
departments of the college should carry out the investigation help them to remove the bad learning attitude and habit, and
into mental health and establish psychological file for each help them to learn how to make use of environmental resources
freshman immediately so that the responsible person can find effectively.
and prevent psychological problems of freshmen as early as
possible. The teacher responsible for mental health should
know about the freshmen’s adaptation, and offer immediate ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
help and instruction if necessary. For the freshmen with This article is financially supported by the project "The
probable psychological problems, the teacher must offer Integrated Intervention Model for Promoting College
psychological instructions and solve the problems in the first Freshmen’s Adaptation" (2010B392) of "Eleventh Five-Year
beginning. The teacher can also carry out group guidance at Plan" of Hubei Educational Science in 2010.
class for the obvious adaptive problem to help them solve
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