Social identification, contact, and intergroup anxiety as predictors of international students' adjustment to British culture

This study was conducted to examine the effects of student’s satisfaction on student’s trust, social identification, and loyalty amongst international students in Malaysian public higher institutions. It was conducted due to low research outputs on these variables among international students in Malaysia. A theoretical literature review was conducted, and an adapted survey of Student Loyalty Model was used to collect the data from four public universities in Malaysia, while regression analysis was performed to check for the effect of satisfaction on other variables. The findings showed that student’s trust, social identification, and loyalty can predict student’s satisfaction. International student satisfaction has a strong effect on trust (B=0.401), but a weak effect on social identification (B=0.220) and loyalty (B=0.131). The results indicated that the gaps in international students’ satisfaction can be minimized by improving the aspects of student loyalty and identification with the university through campus engagement and non-academic programs. The study also recommended carrying out further research within a larger population of students in public and private universities to compare their perceptions and to benefit from the experiences and successes of other international education destinations.

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Two degrees of separation

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430210391120 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 175-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Anja Eller ◽

Dominic Abrams ◽

Anja Zimmermann

Keyword(s):

International Students ◽

Direct Contact ◽

Longitudinal Design ◽

Intergroup Bias ◽

Contact Theory ◽

Intergroup Anxiety ◽

Extended Contact ◽

Stringent Test ◽

One Year ◽

Ingroup Outgroup

Extended contact theory proposes that knowledge of ingroup-outgroup friendships leads to reductions of intergroup bias by reducing ignorance about the outgroup and intergroup anxiety, and by increasing awareness of positive outgroup exemplars (e.g., observation of friendly behavior towards an ingroup member), and inclusion of other in the self. Over a one-year period we examined extended contact among home country friends of international students who had direct contact with British people through their study period in Britain. This provides a stringent test of extended contact theory, both due to the longitudinal design, and the inclusion of both actual and perceived naturally arising extended contact. As predicted by extended contact theory, increases in extended contact over time predicted all variables but intergroup anxiety. There was also some evidence for (weaker) reversed causal influence between prejudice and other variables. Importantly, the quality of contact experienced by the direct contact sample (international students) predicted all dependent measures in the matched extended contact sample in their home countries. Results are discussed in terms of the promise of extended contact theory for intergroup relations.

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Intergroup contact and endorsement of social change motivations: The mediating role of intergroup trust, perspective-taking, and intergroup anxiety among three advantaged groups in Northern Cyprus, Romania, and Israel

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430219885163 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 48-67

Author(s):

Huseyin Çakal ◽

Samer Halabi ◽

Ana-Maria Cazan ◽

Anja Eller

Keyword(s):

Social Change ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Social Identification ◽

Intergroup Anxiety ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Northern Cyprus ◽

Ingroup Identification ◽

Action Tendencies

Three studies investigated the effect of intergroup contact and social identification on social change among three advantaged groups in Cyprus, Romania, and Israel. In Study 1 ( n = 340, Turkish Cypriots), intergroup contact with disadvantaged immigrant Turks positively predicted endorsement of their social change motivations directly, and via intergroup trust and perspective-taking indirectly. In Study 2 ( n = 200, Romanians), contact with the ethnic minority Hungarians positively predicted endorsement of their social change motivations via intergroup trust, perspective-taking, and intergroup anxiety, while ingroup identification negatively predicted endorsement of Hungarian ethnic minority’s collective action tendencies via perspective-taking and anxiety. In Study 3 ( n = 240, Israeli Jews), intergroup contact positively predicted, while ingroup identification negatively predicted, endorsement of disadvantaged Israeli Palestinian citizens’ social change motivations via perspective-taking, anxiety, and trust. Across three studies, results show that intergroup contact led the advantaged groups to attitudinally support social change motivations of the disadvantaged outgroups through increased trust, perspective-taking, and reduced anxiety, whereas ingroup identification weakened their intention to support social change motivations via perspective-taking and intergroup anxiety in Study 2, and via intergroup trust, perspective-taking, and intergroup anxiety in Study 3.

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Visitors from Other Cultures: Views of Muslim Overseas Students in Britain

International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding ◽

10.18415/ijmmu.v5i5.379 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. 108

Author(s):

Thomas Hawes ◽

Sarah Thomas

Keyword(s):

International Students ◽

Cultural Exchange ◽

Muslim Students ◽

Overseas Students ◽

The Media ◽

To Come ◽

Local Students ◽

The Uk ◽

Bidirectional Exchange ◽

British Culture

The UK is currently the second most popular destination for international students worldwide yet there is very public uncertainty as to whether Muslim students should be encouraged to come here. There has been much discussion in the media but, apparently, no one has thought of consulting these students themselves, with the result that there is relatively little available research on students from the Islamic world as a whole. What are their common motivations for studying in UK? What if anything do they admire in British culture and what do they find difficult here? Our general conclusion is that our participants make sense of their sojourn in UK as a learning and growing experience, ultimately empowering. For Britain these students and their families are a particularly lucrative source of income, but their presence could be made (even) more beneficial if our universities are prepared to invest extra time and money in engaging with them. We need a shift to a bidirectional exchange model where overseas and local students can all benefit. Muslim groups on campus should be helped to raise their profile to counter feelings of rejection and dispel the potential impression that the Islamic community is secretive or unwelcoming. We believe that such cultural exchange can only be positive and this study has shown that there is probably more goodwill than many imagine.

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Reducing Prejudice Through Narratives

Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications ◽

10.1027/1864-1105/a000249 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 185-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Emily Moyer-Gusé ◽

Katherine R. Dale ◽

Michelle Ortiz

Keyword(s):

Intergroup Relations ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Contact Hypothesis ◽

Muslim Americans ◽

Intergroup Anxiety ◽

Intergroup Interactions

Abstract. Recent extensions to the contact hypothesis reveal that different forms of contact, such as mediated intergroup contact, can reduce intergroup anxiety and improve attitudes toward the outgroup. This study draws on existing research to further consider the role of identification with an ingroup character within a narrative depicting intergroup contact between Muslim and non-Muslim Americans. Results reveal that identification with the non-Muslim (ingroup) model facilitated liking the Muslim (outgroup) model, which reduced prejudice toward Muslims more generally. Identification with the ingroup model also increased conversational self-efficacy and reduced anxiety about future intergroup interactions – both important aspects of improving intergroup relations.

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Processing of Social Identity Threats

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000133 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 44 (6) ◽

pp. 361-372 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Natascha de Hoog

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Social Identification ◽

Negative Group ◽

Identity Threat ◽

Neutral Group ◽

Threat Perceptions ◽

Social Identity Threat ◽

Identity Threats ◽

Group Information ◽

Source Study

The underlying process of reactions to social identity threat was examined from a defense motivation perspective. Two studies measured respondents’ social identification, after which they read threatening group information. Study 1 compared positive and negative group information, attributed to an ingroup or outgroup source. Study 2 compared negative and neutral group information to general negative information. It was expected that negative group information would induce defense motivation, which reveals itself in biased information processing and in turn affects the evaluation of the information. High identifiers should pay more attention to, have higher threat perceptions of, more defensive thoughts of, and more negative evaluations of negative group information than positive or neutral group information. Findings generally supported these predictions.

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Specifying the Contact Hypothesis in a Minority-Minority Context

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000152 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 221 (4) ◽

pp. 223-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tuuli Anna Mähönen ◽

Katriina Ihalainen ◽

Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti

Keyword(s):

Mediating Effect ◽

Survey Study ◽

Ethnic Identification ◽

Contact Hypothesis ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Intergroup Anxiety ◽

Intergroup Interactions ◽

Identity Processes ◽

Minority Adolescents ◽

Basic Tenet

This survey study focused on the attitudes of Russian-speaking minority youth (N = 132) toward other immigrant groups living in Finland. Along with testing the basic tenet of the contact hypothesis in a minority-minority context, the mediating effect of intergroup anxiety and the moderating effect of perceived social norms on the contact-attitude association were specified by taking into account the identity processes involved in intergroup interactions. The results indicated, first, that the experience of intergroup anxiety evoked by a negative intergroup encounter was reflected in negative outgroup attitudes only among the weakly identified. Second, negative contact experiences of minority adolescents were found not to be reflected in negative attitudes when their ethnic identification was attenuated, and when they perceived positive norms regarding intergroup attitudes.

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I Want to Be Like You

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000090 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 115-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Christina Matschke ◽

Kai Sassenberg

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Identity Development ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Active Role ◽

Social Identification ◽

Social Self ◽

Approach And Avoidance ◽

Internal Motivation ◽

Avoidance Strategies ◽

Social Identity Development

Entering a new group provides the potential of forming a new social identity. Starting from self-regulation models, we propose that goals (e.g., internal motivation to enter the group), strategies (e.g., approach and avoidance strategies), and events (e.g., the group’s response) affect the development of the social self. In two studies we manipulated the group’s response (acceptance vs. rejection) and assessed internal motivation as well as approach and avoidance strategies. It was expected, and we found, that when newcomers are accepted, their use of approach strategies (but not avoidance strategies) facilitates social identification. In line with self-completion theory, for highly internally motivated individuals approach strategies facilitated social identification even upon rejection. The results underline the active role of newcomers in their social identity development.

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Helping International Students in a Post 9-11 World

PsycCRITIQUES ◽

10.1037/a0010460 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 53 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Rodney G. Loper

Keyword(s):

International Students

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