Hardiness, Sense of Belonging, and Homesickness among First-year

Boarding School Students

Maya Yasmin and Duryati

Department of Psychology, State University of Padang, Padang, Indonesia

Keywords: Hardiness, Sense of Belonging, Homesickness, First-Year Students, Boarding School.

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the effect of hardiness and sense of belonging on homesickness among first-

year boarding school students, involving 219 new students in Agam, West Sumatera by using the cluster

sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to collect data were DRS-II adapted by Sinclair (2003), the

sense of belonging scale-revised adapted by Hoffman et al (2002); and a homesickness scale based on the

dimensions proposed by Stroebe et al (2002). The hypothesis test is done with multiple linear regression

analysis resulting in the value of F=16,699 (p<0.05). Data analysis results explained that hardiness and a sense

of belonging together contributed 14.6 % influence toward homesickness.

1 INTRODUCTION

Boarding school is one of the oldest educational

institutions in Indonesia that’s able to maintain its

existence in this modern era. One of the special

characteristics of boarding school is an integration of

science and religious values into the educational

process. To implement its curriculum, boarding

school requires all students to live in a dormitory for

six years of their education.

The transition process that students go through

when they leave home to the dormitory can provide

new experiences in life. However, students can also

find the transition to be anxiety-provoking and

isolating (Thurber & Walton, 2012). Mostly this

situation gives the potential trigger for several

problems such as homesickness (Stroebe, Van Vliet,

Hewstone, & Willis, 2002).

Homesickness is defined as a negative emotional

state caused by separation from home and close

people, and the longing to return home accompanied

by unhappiness and disorientation feeling in a new

place (Stroebe, Schut, & Nauta, 2016). This feeling

of longing operates on a spectrum, ranging from mild

to intense symptoms of homesickness debilitating

effects on daily functioning (Fisher, 2016).

Previous researchers (Fisher, Frazer, & Murray,

1986) explained that 71% of students experienced

homesickness during their time away from home in

boarding school. It is supported by Yasmin's study

that 81.40% of students in boarding school have felt

homesick in their first year of school (Yasmin &

Daulay, 2017).

Homesickness can negatively affect the

adaptation process, academic performance, anxiety,

and loneliness (Flett, Endler, & Besser, 2009; Stroebe

et al., 2002). Previous findings (Thurber & Walton,

2012) explained that homesick students are 3 times

more likely to drop out of school than those who were

not homesick. At a more severe level, it can trigger

various psychological problems such as depression

and suicide (Willis, Stroebe, & Hewstone, 2003).

One of the factors that play an important role in

responding to a problem is hardiness. Hardiness is a

set of attitudes consisting of commitment, control,

and challenges that play a role to provides the courage

and motivation to do the hard work of turning

stressful changes from potential disasters into

opportunities instead (Maddi, 2004).

For a hardy person, it will be easier to control their

life including difficult situations and various

emotions that fluctuate during the transition from the

original environment to the new place. Although they

feel homesick, they try to use various strategies to

reduce homesickness and adapt well to a new

environment.

Vogt, Rizvi, Shipherd, and Resick (2008)

explained that a person with high hardiness is more

positive and optimistic about the situations that can

push and trigger stress and face problems as an

important stimulus for learning (Vogt et al., 2008).

Yasmin, M. and Duryati, .

Hardiness, Sense of Belonging, and Homesickness among First-year Boarding School Students.

DOI: 10.5220/0011094900003368

In Proceedings of the International Conference of Mental Health (Icometh 2021), pages 46-49

ISBN: 978-989-758-586-9

This is supported by several studies that showed that

hardiness can influence psychological distress and as

a predictor of success in psychological adjustment

when living in a new environment (Harrison &

Brower, 2011; Jotwani, 2016).

Another factor that also affects homesickness is

the sense of belonging. Goodenow (1993) described

the concept of a sense of belonging as a student's

sense of being accepted, respected, valued, included,

and encouraged by all members of the school

(teachers and peers) in the academic classroom

setting and feeling oneself be an important part of the

life and activities of the class.

When students left the home to stay in a dormitory,

many things disappear such as affection, comfort, and

attention from the family which can lead to

homesickness. If the new environment can help

individuals to feel comfortable and accepted, then it

can become a new resource in giving warmth that

they previously received.

Based on many researchers explained that the

sense of belonging is one of the most important

factors for all students to function well in academic

learning and environments. Zhao, Lu, Wang, Chau, &

Zhang (2012) al explained that people who have a

sense of belonging tend to be healthy and happy. It is

in line with Watt and Badger's (2009) study that

individuals who feel accepted in their environment

will experience a lower level of homesickness. The

lack of a sense of belonging can lead individuals to

negative emotions such as anxiety, depression,

jealousy, and feelings of loneliness (Choenarom,

Williams, & Hagerty, 2005; Osterman, 2000). Thus,

a sense of belonging plays a role in helping

individuals to reduce attachment to home and control

feelings of homesickness when moving to a new

environment

2 METHOD

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect

of hardiness and a sense of belonging on

homesickness among first-year boarding school

students. The subjects of this study were 219 new

students in West Sumatera with the cluster sampling

technique.

Several measuring instruments were used in data

collection, namely: 1. DRS-II adapted by Sinclair

(Sinclair & Oliver, 2003) to measure hardiness; 2.

sense of belonging scale-revised adapted by Hoffman

et al to measure sense of belonging (Hoffman,

Richmond, Morrow, & Salomone, 2018); and, 3. The

homesickness scale is based on the homesickness

dimension proposed by Stroebe et al to measure

homesickness (Stroebe et al., 2002).

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Based on multiple regression analysis, it showed an F

value of 16,699 with a significance is 0.00, which

means that both hardiness and a sense of belonging

play a significant role in homesickness with an

effective contribution of 14.6%. Based on this, the

hypothesis that stated "hardiness and sense of

belonging affect homesickness" is accepted. It means

that the higher a person's hardiness and sense of

belonging, the lower his homesickness will be. The

hardiness and sense of belonging variables

contributed 14.6% to homesickness, while the

remaining 85.4 % came from the influence of other

variables outside of the study. Both hardiness and a

sense of belonging can separately also contribute to

homesickness.

Most students faced some adjustment issues when

first attending and living in a boarding school.

Homesickness is one of a phenomenon that’s often

experienced by them. The separation experienced by

students from their families is a quite difficult

situation due to the limited intensity of interaction and

communication compared to living together (Borg &

Cefai, 2014). In addition, unfamiliar situations,

culture, routines, and space social also bring a big

pressure in new environments. These various

situations were triggered homesickness.

Kobasa, Maddi, and Kahn (1982) believed that the

fundamental thing that can predict a person's success

in controlling stress is a personality type known as

hardiness. A person with hardiness has several

important characteristics, namely commitment,

control, and challenges (Kobasa, 1979).

In the characteristics of commitment, individuals

have a strong motivation to persist and be consistent

in pursuing goals despite facing various problems in

the process. They also tend to stay involved with the

people and events going on around them to find what

is experientially interesting and meaningful (Kobasa,

1979; Maddi, 2004).

In the control, it refers to the control power when

dealing with unexpected situations. They showed

enthusiasm to influence the outcomes going on

around them, even if this may seem difficult in certain

circumstances Meanwhile, challenges are defined as

the tendency to view a change in life as something

normal and be able to anticipate these changes as a

useful stimulus for development and see life as a

pleasant challenge (Kobasa, 1979; Maddi, 2004).

Hardiness, Sense of Belonging, and Homesickness among First-year Boarding School Students

The various characteristics contained in hardiness

can assist new students in responding to displacement

as something challenging and fun, developing

strategies aimed at minimizing the potential for

homesickness rather than indulging themselves in

denial and avoidance. So that they can function

positively in the new environment.

The explanation above is in line with several

previous studies which showed that hardiness plays a

role in controlling stress in students (Arishanti &

Juniarly, 2019), as well as predicting the success of

students' psychological adjustment when living in a

new environment (Harrison & Brower, 2011).

Besides hardiness, another thing that also affects

homesickness is the sense of belonging. One of the

approaches that focus on the sense of belonging

concept is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Maslow

explained that there are five basic human needs, from

basic to most sophisticated which consist of

physiological needs, safety needs, love, belonging

needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

The needs that exist at the lowest level must be

satisfied first before the needs at the next level are met

(Maslow, 1956).

When a person's basic (physiological) needs and

safety are properly met, they will try to find sources

of comfort and develop loving relationships and

attachments to others around them. Baumeister and

Leary (1995) explained the sense of belonging

concept as a lasting and positive interpersonal

attachment, characterized by consistent and

sustainable care for the surrounding environment.

At the time of moving to the boarding school,

students leave their comfort zone, a home as the

source of their physical and emotional needs to the

new environment with new roles and guidance. This

complex situation can potentially trigger feelings of

homesickness.

If the new environment can exist and play a

significant role in student life, then it can be a new

resource of warmth like at home. In other words, the

existence of a sense of belonging can make

individuals feel at home because of the feeling of

being fully appreciated and accepted by the new

environment (Muhaeminah, 2015).

The above explanation is in line with several

previous studies which stated that once students feel

more integrated into the university context, they are

more likely to feel accepted, which reduce the degrees

of homesickness (Muhaeminah, 2015) and show a

high level of satisfaction with their study experience

in a new environment (Hendrickson, Rosen, & Aune,

2011; Sun, Hagedorn, & Zhang, 2016).

4 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results and discussion that have been

done, it can be concluded that hardiness and a sense

of belonging contribute to homesickness. The higher

a person's hardiness and sense of belonging, the lower

his homesickness will be. The existence of hardiness

possessed by individuals will help in controlling the

homesickness during the transition process from

home to boarding school. In addition, the attachment

and acceptance that are built between individuals and

the environment that create the sense of belonging

also help in giving the family roles that were

previously obtained by students at home so that

feelings of homesickness diminished.

Based on the result, students are advised to be able

to socialize with people around the boarding school’s

environment as a substitute for family members to

increase their sense of belonging to the new

environment. In addition, the school can also conduct

training to increase hardiness and carry out various

activities to increase the sense of belonging between

students. For further researchers, it is recommended

to involve external variables that can affect

homesickness such as parenting styles, peer

attachment, culture, social support, and intensity of

parent’s visiting. In addition, further researchers can

also conduct a qualitative study of the dynamics of

homesickness for each student to see the differences

in the process of the emergence of homesickness and

the various factors that influence it.

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Hardiness, Sense of Belonging, and Homesickness among First-year Boarding School Students