Abstract: International students constitute a temporary population within the host country. In the age of increasing global mobility, societal fluidity, and the internationalization of higher education, studying abroad requires complex adaptation to new academic and socio-cultural environments. Focusing on the Serbian context, this paper examines the relations between international students’ geographic and socio-demographic characteristics and changes in various aspects of their lives and personalities following their experiences abroad, particularly as influenced by socio-cultural adaptation and cross-cultural interaction. Data were collected using Limesurvey. Statistical analyses included a series of t-tests and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings are interpreted within the frameworks of acculturation theory and cross-cultural adaptation theory.
The results indicate that most respondents view studying abroad as transformative, with nearly half reporting significant personal change. Geographic factors, such as country and continent of origin, and socio-demographic characteristics, including sex, age, education level attaining abroad, and length of stay, influence both the nature and extent of these changes following their study abroad experiences.