American and Finnish College Students’ Traits and Interactions with Their Instructors
Abstract
This cross-cultural investigation sought to compare American and Finnish university students’ communication and personality traits (i.e., argumentativeness, assertiveness, Machiavellianism, and verbal aggressiveness) as well as out-of-class communication with their instructors. American (N = 286) and Finnish (N = 113) university students completed several self-report measures. The results of a MANOVA, an independent samples t-test, Pearson correlational analyses, and Fisher’s z tests revealed significant cultural differences, although the relationships between students’ traits and their out-of-class communication with instructors remained relatively similar in both samples.
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