Effects of cultural attitudes on the adjustment of Pakistani students

Abstract

The aim of this research was to understand some of the academic, social and personal problems of Pakistani students, and secondly, to investigate the effect of cultural attitudes on the process of adjustment in Britain. As the research was concerned with Pakistani students, a descriptive note on the relevant features of the culture of Pakistan is given in the first chapter. The second chapter consists in a critical appreciation of previous works related to the present research.In the third and fourth chapters the method of the present enquiry and statistical tools used for the analysis of the data are discussed. A questionnaire was circulated to Pakistani students in the Universities of London, Manchester and Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow, to collect information and opinions about the problems and difficulties of Pakistani students in Britain. Eighty questionnaires were completed. The analysis of the results shows that conformity to cultural norms and attitudes does influence the process of adjustment, and has a bearing on problems of accommodation and academic difficulties faced by Pakistani students in Britain. It has also been observed that cultural conformity was positively related to emotional adjustment and to the experiences of worries and anxieties. The impact of Pakistani culture on the personality has also been discussed in some detail.