International Journal of Intercultural Relations最新文献

{"title":"Crossing digital borders: Exploring the role of non-Chinese social media use in the cross-cultural adaptation of Chinese international students","authors":"Yuhui Olivia Chen ,&nbsp;Cherrie Joy Billedo","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102207","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102207","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The use of social media may play an important role in international students’ cross-cultural adaptation. When moving to a new country, many international students maintain the same set of social media they use back home. For Chinese international students, however, pursuing studies in a different country means not only physical but also digital border-crossing. Aside from the Chinese social media platforms (e.g., WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu) they use to communicate with the home-country network, they also have to use non-Chinese social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) to connect with the host-country network. This paper addresses the research question: How does the engagement of Chinese international students on non-Chinese social media within the host country context impact their cross-cultural adaptation? Using a cross-sectional survey, we examined the associations of engagement in non-Chinese social media platforms of international Chinese students (<em>N</em> = 352, <em>M</em>_<em>age</em> = 24.13) with their psychological and sociocultural adaptations. We proposed and employed a comprehensive measure of engagement in (non-Chinese) social media. Results indicate that higher engagement in non-Chinese social media significantly enhanced both psychological and sociocultural cross-cultural adaptations. The association between non-Chinese social media engagement and psychological adaptation was stronger for those who intend to stay in the host country. This study validates previous findings that social media engagement with the host-country network is important in international students’ adjustment. Moreover, this study presents a comprehensive measure of social media engagement to better capture international students’ social media usage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102207"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Foreign language learners’ self-perceived proficiency and intercultural competence: Mediating roles of quantity and quality of intercultural interactions","authors":"Jiajun Li ,&nbsp;Fangfang Yuan ,&nbsp;Steve Kulich","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102206","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102206","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the predictive role of perceived foreign language proficiency on students’ intercultural competence, with a focus on the mediating effects of the quantity and quality of intercultural interactions. Data were collected through a survey of 432 Chinese university students and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal three key findings: (1) perceived foreign language proficiency had a significant predictive effect on students’ intercultural competence; (2) the quality of intercultural interactions mediated the relationship between foreign language proficiency and intercultural competence; and (3) the quantity and quality of intercultural interactions played a chain-mediating role in this relationship. These findings underscore the importance of fostering meaningful intercultural interactions in foreign language education and provide valuable insights for enhancing intercultural competence teaching practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102206"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144071360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New developments in Hofstede’s Individualism-Collectivism: A guide for scholars, educators, trainers, and other practitioners","authors":"Adam Komisarof ,&nbsp;Plamen Akaliyski","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102200","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102200","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Introduced as a measure by Geert Hofstede in 1980, the cultural dimension of Individualism-Collectivism (“I-C”) has dominated the field of cross-cultural research and guided intercultural trainers, educators, and other practitioners up to the present. In 2023, The Culture Factor, the global cultural analytics and strategy advisor company associated with Hofstede’s framework, updated their I-C scores due to mounting concerns with Hofstede’s operationalization and measurement of I-C, specifically over its old and non-representative data, as well as its limited face and content validity. These newer I-C scores are derived from the work of Hofstede’s former collaborator, Michael Minkov, and are based on two distinct datasets: a 2015 Hofstede Insights survey covering 55 countries and the World Values Survey covering 47 more, for a total of 102 countries/regions. Conceptually, the model redefines I-C as consisting of three facets: conformism, social ascendancy, and exclusionism. We discuss three major sources of country-level scores associated with Hofstede’s name that pertain to his cultural dimensions, present a synthesized overview of the new developments in understanding and measuring I-C as it pertains to Hofstede’s work, and examine the suitability of both Hofstede’s original work and Minkov’s subsequent revisions to I-C for academic research, intercultural training, and education. Our article concludes with recommendations to (1) rigorously scrutinize the construction of cultural dimensions—in this case I-C—by critically assessing their validity, data sources, and methodologies; (2) validate these dimensions against external evidence; and (3) continue refining I-C measures by emphasizing reliable, representative data and stringent methodological validation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102200"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143947480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Humanity above all: Reflections of symbolic and realistic threats in the Palestinian Israeli Arabs' support in Israel, immediately after the October 7 massacre","authors":"Limor Yehuda ,&nbsp;Nir Rozmann","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102208","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102208","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This qualitative study examines schism in relation to integrated threat theory (ITT), triggered by the \"crossing of a red line.\" It analyzes threats from Hamas to Palestinian Arab Israeli Civilians (PAIC) and the ensuing rapid schism within this group, using articles from three major Israeli news websites over 18 days after Hamas's October 7th, 2023, targeted mainly Israeli Jewish civilians living near Gaza. The focus is on PAIC support for Israel and antagonism toward Hamas. Findings highlight three symbolic threats and one realistic threat concerning Islam's reputation, Palestinian humanization, and Palestinians' status in Israel, shedding light on the community's complex dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102208"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143936500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Narrative threads, exploring identity formation through cultural immersion: A qualitative study into the experiences of U.S. University Students Abroad","authors":"Katy Dulany,&nbsp;Kayla Rhidenour","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102205","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102205","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how U.S. university students construct and reconstruct their identities through storytelling during study abroad experiences. Drawing on narrative identity theory, cultural pluralism, and identity fragmentation frameworks, we analyze student experiences at two crucial points: pre-departure (T1) and eight weeks into cultural immersion (T2). Our participants (n = 11) were selected due to their enrollment in a semester long study abroad program in Maastricht, Netherlands. The sample primarily consisted of women (n = 8), most aged 20 years, with participants identifying as White/Caucasian (n = 8), Hispanic/Latino (n = 2), and Black/African American (n = 1). Our analysis produced three key themes: 1) processes of self-narration, 2) group dynamics as cultural construction, and 3) narratives within new cultural contexts. Results demonstrate how students use varying narrative strategies to navigate identity challenges, with some actively documenting their experiences while others draw upon established frameworks. The findings contribute to our understanding of identity development during cultural transitions and suggest practical implications for study abroad programs seeking to foster adaptive narrative identity development. This research extends theoretical work on identity formation in intercultural contexts while offering insights for educational practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102205"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143936499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Love of place: Conceptual framework and template for measuring the contributory and unitive affection towards a place","authors":"Victor Counted ,&nbsp;Matthew T. Lee ,&nbsp;Tim Lomas ,&nbsp;Richard Cowden ,&nbsp;Kelly-Ann Allen ,&nbsp;Jayanti Basu ,&nbsp;Daniel Laidler ,&nbsp;Clay Routledge ,&nbsp;David Seamon ,&nbsp;Tyler J. VanderWeele","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102203","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102203","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the construct of ‘love of place’—a deep connection with a significant place (unitive love) and a desire to see it flourish (contributory love), which is distinct from and extends beyond traditional notions of place attachment, nostalgia, or belonging that are common in the literature on place. Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives, including environmental psychology, urban studies, and cultural geography, we explore how individuals form deep affections to places that shape their admiration, care, and a sense of reverence or affection for a significant place. Using the Delphi method, a panel of experts and scholars with expertise on love, place, or the intersection between the two formed the basis for the thematic analysis, which helped refine the construct across seven core dimensions: identity, emotional attachment, biophilic connection, sacred spaces, communal harmony, and heritage. We operationalized each dimension according to unitive and contributory domains, emphasizing how this framing of love might foster personal and collective flourishing. Our findings highlight how environmental changes,in some cases leading to solastalgia, disrupt the spatial affections associated with some expressions or manifestations of love of place. Unlike related constructs, the contributory aspect of love of place involves a desire to contribute to the good of a place, akin to how people express unconditional love for individuals. We argue that a key difference lies in the nature of the affections involved. Love of place invokes deeper emotional and existential elements, as well as aspects beyond emotions, while an emotion like place attachment, for example, may focus more on functionality and familiarity. Our proposed framework of love of place offers a new lens for exploring place-related experiences and could inform future research on spatial affection and environmental stewardship.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102203"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding perceived COVID-19 changes, collectivism, and social exclusion: A cross-cultural study in 32 countries","authors":"Xiaoyu Zhou ,&nbsp;Alexander Scott English ,&nbsp;Liuqing Wei ,&nbsp;Ananta Yudiarso ,&nbsp;Arobindu Dash ,&nbsp;Arun Tipandjan ,&nbsp;Ashley Biddle ,&nbsp;Benjamin H. Nam ,&nbsp;Chinun Boonroungrut ,&nbsp;Cicilia Chettiar ,&nbsp;Paolini Daniele ,&nbsp;Dmitrii Dubrov ,&nbsp;Dmitry Grigoryev ,&nbsp;Dušana Šakan ,&nbsp;Eliza Oliver ,&nbsp;Elma Medosevic - Korjenic ,&nbsp;Adolfo Fabricio Licoa Campos ,&nbsp;Felipe Novaes ,&nbsp;Fridanna Maricchiolo ,&nbsp;Ginés Navarro-Carrillo ,&nbsp;Xinyi Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102198","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102198","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This cross-cultural study examines the relationship between perceived COVID-19 changes due to the impacts on everyday life by the pandemic with social exclusion and across 32 cultures and their levels in collectivism. With data from the start of the first outbreak from March 2020 to June 2020 (<em>N</em> = 9245), multilevel analysis indicated that as individuals perceive greater daily life changes induced by the pandemic, they experience heightened levels of social exclusion, with this association being particularly pronounced in less collectivistic cultures. These findings underscore the importance of considering cultural context in understanding responses to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, with implications for culturally sensitive interventions aimed at promoting social inclusion across diverse cultural contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102198"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143931445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relationship between compassionate love and satisfaction with life in Angolan college students: The mediating roles of satisfaction with love life and commitment","authors":"Joana Neto ,&nbsp;Félix Neto","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102204","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102204","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research explored the relations between compassionate love (CL) for a partner, love satisfaction, commitment, and life satisfaction, and further aimed to scrutinize whether the relation between CL for a romantic partner and satisfaction with life was mediated by satisfaction with love life and commitment. The participants were 191 Angolan college students (50 % women; aged 18–34 years, <em>M</em> = 24.94; <em>SD</em> = 3.88). They answered scales to measure compassionate love, love satisfaction, commitment, and life satisfaction. Correlation, regression, and mediation analyses were performed to test the hypotheses. As expected, findings showed that CL for a partner and satisfaction with life were significantly and positively correlated. Furthermore, the results also indicated that love satisfaction and commitment fully mediated the relation between CL for a partner and satisfaction with life. The results afford insight into the relationships of compassionate love on satisfaction with life. Suggestions for future research are highlighted.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102204"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143922302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The “Japa-Japada” construct: A theoretical framework for exploring the recent medical brain drain scourge in Sub-saharan Africa and the potential medical reverse brain drain","authors":"Dara Thomas ,&nbsp;Ying Li ,&nbsp;Chiagoziem C. Ukwuoma ,&nbsp;Joel Dossa","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102201","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102201","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The emigration of professionals particularly doctors, colloquially known as “Japa”, has created a critical shortage in the country’s healthcare workforce. This mass exodus has contributed to one of the world’s lowest doctor-to-patient ratios being Nigeria, the focus of this research. In contrast, “Japada”, refers to the potential return of these emigrated professionals, offering an opportunity to mitigate the healthcare crisis. This study introduces the “Japa-Japada” construct, framed within the push-pull theory, to explore the factors driving both medical brain drain and those encouraging medical reverse migration. Leveraging Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), this research investigates the dimensional drivers for Nigerian doctors' migration decisions, focusing on existential, social, growth, economic, and political factors. The statistical validation demonstrated the model fitness and ranked the critical push factors responsible for medical brain drain as social, political, existential, growth, and economic, respectively and the pull factors as political, economic, social, existential and growth respectively. Conversely, for potential medical reverse brain drain, the key push factors were ranked as growth, social, economic, political, and existential, while pull factors such as social, existential, economic, growth, and political dimensions showed a strong propensity to influence doctors' return to Nigeria. The findings emphasize the complex interplay between push-pull factors and mediating elements such as immigration policies within the broader socio-political landscape whereas validating the insignificance of the moderating elements. Thus, contributing to the global understanding of medical migration and offer actionable strategies for retaining and attracting skilled healthcare professionals in low- and middle-income countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102201"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143902456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scapegoating immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: An examination of the determinants of blame target selection","authors":"Takuya Shimokubo","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102202","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102202","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hatred of immigrants in social crises poses a risk to intercultural relations. This study aims to identify the logic by which people scapegoat immigrants. Attributing greater blame to immigrants than to natives can be understood in terms of how individuals categorize immigrants as an out-group. Stronger perceptions of intergroup boundaries can lead to an increased “othering” of immigrants. This process may result in greater blame attribution to immigrants for social problems, even when little evidence supports these attributions. Instead of considering immigrants as inherently an out-group, this study explores the intergroup boundaries that lead individuals to attribute more blame to immigrants than to natives. Specifically, national identity, germ aversion, and authoritarianism are discussed as factors related to intergroup boundaries. From January 6–10, 2023, an opt-in web survey was conducted with 1800 adults aged 20–69 years. After excluding satisficers, the analysis was conducted with 1753 respondents to examine the blame attribution to immigrants and young and old Japanese for the spread of infection. The results showed that individuals with a national identity emphasizing ethnic concepts tended to blame immigrants just as much as Japanese. By contrast, those emphasizing only civic concepts of their national identity tended to attribute less blame to immigrants than they do to Japanese. Germ aversion increased blame attribution only to young Japanese. Respondents with stronger authoritarianism tended to blame immigrants more strongly than Japanese. These results suggest that people do not necessarily recognize immigrants as an out-group to be scapegoated, but that scapegoats are selected with reference to intergroup boundaries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102202"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143895424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}