Perception of Emotions and Cultural Distance Among International Students in Russia
Research Article
How to Cite
Berrios Callejas S.A. Perception of Emotions and Cultural Distance Among International Students in Russia. DEMIS. Demographic Research. 2021. Vol. 1. No. 2. P. 194-201. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/demis.2021.1.2.15
Abstract
The accurate perception of culture-specific emotions of the people living in the host country, may be the most significant, and yet the most underestimated challenge for the international students in the process of adjusting to a new culture. The latest report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) about Russia, confirmed that, in the year 2020, around 353,000 international students are currently studying in the Russian Federation. The studies of van de Vijver in 2007 and 2009 have confirmed that the foreign students from former Soviet republics or former USSR countries (students from post-soviet states, not including Russia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan) have lower degrees of perceived cultural distance with Russian culture, this can be explained by the fact that the students from former Soviet republics can speak Russian language fluently, and share religion and traditions with Russian culture. Consequently, the group of students from former USSR countries adapt better to Russia in comparation to the rest of international students. The results of our study in 2020, revealed that the perception of Russian culture-specific emotions among international students studying in the Russian Federation, is significantly predicted by the similarity between the culture of the international students living in Russia and the culture of Russian society. Moreover, our study confirmed that the group of students from former Soviet republics, or former USSR countries, perceived more similarities with Russian national culture; therefore, this result is consistent with the findings of the aforementioned studies of van de Vijver in 2007 and 2009. Thus, we can consider that the accurate recognition of Russian culture-specific emotions and the perceived similarities to Russian cultural standards, may be very significant for the international students studying in the Russian Federation, especially for their process of adjusting to Russian culture. Nevertheless, further research on this topic is needed.
Keywords:
cultural distance, international students in Russia, perceived cultural distance, perception of emotions, Russian, Russian culture
References
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Berrios Callejas S. A. Perception of culture-specific emotions: Measurement and predictors. Master’s Thesis. National Research University Higher School of Economics. Moscow, 2020. 57 p. [Electronic source] Access mode: https://www.hse.ru/en/edu/vkr/366978262.
Ekman P., Friesen W. V. A New Pan-Cultural Facial Expression of Emotion. Motivation and Emotion. 1986. Vol. 10, No. 2. Pp. 159–168. DOI: 10.1007/BF00992253.
Ekman P., Friesen W. V. Constants Across Cultures in the Face and Emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1971. Vol. 17, No. 2. Pp. 124–129. DOI: 10.1037/h0030377.
Ekman P., Friesen W. V. The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotica. 1969. No. 1. Pp. 49–98. DOI: 10.1515/semi.1969.1.1.49.
Fang X., Sauter D. A., van Kleef G. A. Seeing Mixed Emotions: The Specificity of Emotion Perception from Static and Dynamic Facial Expressions Across Cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2018. Vol. 49, No. 1. Pp. 130–148. DOI: 10.1177/0022022117736270.
Fernández I., Carrera P., Sánchez F., Páez D., Candia L. Differences between cultures in emotional verbal and non-verbal reactions. Psichothema. 2000. No. 12. Pp. 83–92.
Galchenko I., van de Vijver F. The role of perceived cultural distance in the acculturation of exchange students in Russia. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 2007. Vol. 31, No. 2. Pp. 181–197. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2006.03.004.
Gavrila M., Brandt D. The Impact of Cultural Distance on the Success and Stability of International Cooperation Forms: Student Organizations. IFAC Proceedings Volumes. 2013. Vol. 46, Issue 8. Pp. 89–94. DOI: 10.3182/20130606-3-XK-4037.00023.
Gendron M., Roberson D., van der Vyver J. M., Barrett L. F. Perceptions of emotion from facial expressions are not culturally universal: evidence from a remote culture. Emotion. 2014. Vol. 14, No. 2. Pp. 251–62. DOI: 10.1037/a0036052.
Ghemawat P. Distance still matters: The hard reality of global expansion. Harvard Business Review. 2001. Vol. 79, No. 8. Pp. 137–147.
Hofstede G. Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture. 2011. Vol. 2, No. 1. DOI: 10.9707/2307-0919.1014.
Jack R. E., Garrod O. G. B., Yu H., Caldara R., Schyns P. G. Facial expressions of emotion are not culturally universal. PNAS. 2012. Vol. 109, No. 19. Pp. 7241–7244. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1200155109.
Liu H., Li X., Cardenas D., Yang Y. Perceived cultural distance and international destination choice: The role of destination familiarity, geographic distance, and cultural motivation. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management. 2018. Vol. 9. Pp. 300–309. DOI: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2018.03.002.
Matsumoto D. Cultural similarities and differences in display rules. Motivation and Emotion. 1990. Vol. 14. Pp. 195–214. DOI: 10.1007/BF00995569.
Matsumoto D., Hwang H. S. Culture, display rules, and emotion judgments. In K. D. Keith (Ed.) The encyclopedia of cross-cultural psychology. Wiley Editors, 2013. DOI: 10.1002/9781118339893.wbeccp513.
Matsumoto D., Willingham B. The Origin of Universal Human Emotions. San Francisco: San Francisco State University, 2009. 15 p. [Electronic source] Access mode: http://davidmatsumoto.com/content/NG%20Spain%20Article_2_.pdf.
Matsumoto D., Yoo S. H., Fontaine J. Mapping expressive differences around the world the relationship between emotional display rules and individualism versus collectivism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2008. Vol. 39, No. 1. Pp. 55–74. DOI: 10.1177/0022022107311854.
Melkonian M., Areepattamannil S., Menano L. et al. Examining acculturation orientations and perceived cultural distance among immigrant adolescents in Portugal: links to performance in reading, mathematics, and science. Social Psychology of Education. 2019. Vol. 22. Pp. 969–989. DOI: 10.1007/ s11218-019-09506-5.
Sheldon K. M., Titova L., Gordeeva T. O., Osin E. N., Lyubomirsky S., Bogomaz S. Russians Inhibit the Expression of Happiness to Strangers: Testing a Display Rule Model. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2017. Vol. 48, No. 5. Pp. 718–733. DOI: 10.1177/0022022117699883.
Suanet I., van de Vijver F. J. R. Perceived cultural distance and acculturation among exchange students in Russia. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. 2009. Vol. 19, No. 3. Pp. 182–197. DOI:10.1002/casp.989.
Winkelman M. Cultural shock and adaptation. Journal of Counseling & Development. 1994. Vol. 73, No. 6. Pp. 121–126. DOI:10.1002/j.1556-6676.1994.tb01723.x.
Article
Received: 23.01.2021
Accepted: 21.05.2021
Citation Formats
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APA
Berrios Callejas, S. A. (2021). Perception of Emotions and Cultural Distance Among International Students in Russia. DEMIS. Demographic Research, 1(2), 194-201. https://doi.org/10.19181/demis.2021.1.2.15
Section
Adaptation and Integration of Migrants
