Gambaran Penyesuaian Diri Mahasiswa Anak Tunggal yang Merantau

Pramaditho, Bonaventura Bagastama Widhi
Etikawati, Agnes Indar

Suksma: Jurnal Psikologi Universitas Sanata Dharma
Vol 6, No 1 (2025)

This study aims to obtain a description of the adjustment of single-child students who migrate. The characteristics of an only child raises the assumption that single-child students experience greater challenges and are required to make greater efforts when they have to live in a new environment. This study uses a qualitative approach with thematic analysis to obtain descriptive results. This study involved three students who were only children who migrated to the Special Region of Yogyakarta and were in their first and second years of college. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to collect information, with core questions that explored the informan's experiences in making adjustment efforts as students who migrated. This study found six themes of adjustment of single-child students who migrated, namely 1) developing social skills, 2) carrying out self-regulation, 3) increasing involvement in campus activities, 4) developing learning skills, 5) exploring the environment, and 6) contributing to the surrounding community. The most dominant themes were developing social skills and showing involvement in campus activities. The three informants made great efforts related to these themes. There are a number of factors that influence the informants' adjustment efforts, which can be classified into internal and external factors. Internal factors found include motivation to achieve goals, the need to establish relationships, self-reflection skills, consumption behavior, self-discipline, and social conformity. External factors found include campus climate, parental care, level of demands from the surrounding community, demands of lectures, parental care and culture differences. The limitation of this study is the selection of respondents who come from one college and do not specify the minimum distance of the original residence from the location of the migration. In the discussion section, the results of this study are compared with the adjustment of migrant students in general and the comparison between the three respondents related to the context of their respective backgrounds.