The acculturation of exchange students is a unique case in the domain of acculturation. For a pre？]determined period of time, students study abroad, leaving behind their social networks, institutions and their culture and are expected to operate in an environment that they may know little about. During their time abroad, they are expected to perform academically and they must learn about a potentially unfamiliar and different culture. In the current study, two groups of students were investigated ？] 95 students from Ajou University who went abroad to individualist countries, namely the US, Europe and Oceania and 60 students from partner institutions who came to Ajou University, which is in a collectivist country. Results indicated that different processes were at work in the acculturation patterns of the two groups. For the students who went abroad from Ajou University, there was evidence to suggest personality being an important factor in determining their acculturation, while for those students coming to Ajou University, there was evidence to suggest that adherence to Korean cultural rules, norms and values was an important factor in determining acculturation. Results were discussed in terms of the individualist and collectivist framework.
