Waserman, Vanessa2024-05-072024-05-072009https://hdl.handle.net/10365/33815The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the sojourn, or overseas travel, and the development of traveler intercultural communication self-efficacy. Self-efficacy, an individual's perception of his or her own ability to accomplish tasks (Bandura, 1997), originates from the psychology discipline and has rarely been applied to communication. The study examines and extends the work of Milstein (2005), a communication scholar who investigated the relationship between the sojourn and intercultural communication self-efficacy and found a positive relationship between the two. This study investigated how the experience of the sojourn affects traveler perceptions of their own intercultural communication self-efficacy. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews with participants. The researcher selected a convenience sample of 20 respondents who had all participated in separate sojourns. Participants in the study differed in age, ethnic identity, sojourn destination, and purpose for the sojourn. Responses to interview questions were tape recorded and transcribed preceding analysis and categorization of data based on emergent themes. The perceptions of travelers were analyzed to understand how the sojourn affects self-efficacy. Results of the study supported a positive relationship between the sojourn and development of intercultural communication self-efficacy among travelers with no previous exposure to multicultural settings prior to the sojourn. Travelers with prior exposure to multicultural settings in the home culture did not perceive an increase in intercultural communication self-efficacy as a result of the sojourn. How the background of the traveler may affect perceptions of the sojourn and the specific types of events abroad that were perceived as contributors to self-efficacy development are discussed.NDSU policy 190.6.2https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdfIntercultural communication.Self-efficacy.Travel -- Psychological aspects.Thesis