Determinants of homesickness chronicity: coping and personality

The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of coping strategies and basic personality styles on the one hand and timely recovery of homesickness on the other hand in female students. In order to study whether certain coping strategies and personality styles were associated with chronicity of homesickness, a sample of homesick female students was split up into those who were chronically homesick (N=29) and those who were not (N=30). Logistic regression analyses revealed that mental escape (coping style) and neuroticism (personality trait) predicted homesickness chronicity. Mental escape can be regarded as a relatively ineffective way of coping with homesickness. Daydreaming and fantasizing about home and wishful thinking are associated with homesickness chronicity. As the interference of neuroticism on the timely recovery of homesickness was greater than the effect of any coping style, personality seems to be more important than coping style. Recovery from homesickness was mainly attributed to making new friends. It is argued that new friends promote the adaptation process, keeping feelings of homesickness and the tendency to daydream and fantasize about home, at bay.