The internationalization of higher education has been driven by an increasingly globalized and interconnected world. One concept that embodies this internationalization process is global citizenship, which can be promoted through student mobility, internationalization-at-home, or other forms of intercultural learning. While global citizenship remains a broad and highly contested term, the increased interest of its role in higher education has inspired research in different fields. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of existing research approaches to studying global citizenship, and to formulate future research directions that may integrate these approaches into a holistic framework. By reviewing literature from different fields in the social sciences, we have identified three main research approaches: intercultural competence, social identification with a global community, and civic engagement. While each approach reflects an important dimension of global citizenship, they remain separate in the literature, complicating the understanding and application of global citizenship in higher education. Therefore, for each approach we present a general conceptualization and a brief overview of prior findings. We discuss how integrating these approaches can lead to a more holistic understanding of global citizenship and guide future avenues for research and practice in higher education.
Previous research largely supports the notion that mediated contact and engagement with minority characters can improve viewers’ real-life minority attitudes. However, it is unclear to what extent different forms of media engagement such as parasocial friendship and wishful identification are linked to attitudes, and whether deep-level similarities affect engagement with minority characters. Deep-level similarities refer to viewers’ perception of shared personality traits, attitudes, and social experiences with characters. In a cross-sectional survey, we examine (1) to what extent parasocial friendship and wishful identification with an LGBTQ character are each associated with viewers’ prejudicial attitudes toward the LGBTQ community, and (2) to what extent perceived deep-level similarities of an LGBTQ character are related to viewers’ parasocial friendship and wishful identification felt for the LGBTQ character. Based on a structural equation model using a sample of U.S. residents (n = 247), it may be concluded that the deep-level similarities of LGBTQ characters have both direct and indirect associations with LGTBQ prejudice, mediated by wishful identification.
MULTIFILE
In cross-cultural communication and adjunct disciplines such as cross-cultural management and international business, there is a negativity bias of seeing cultural differences as a source of potential issues. The emergence of Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) questions this problem-focused approach. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion from neuroscience’s perspectives in several ways. Firstly, it provides a neurological look at this bias. Secondly, it proposes that the problem-focused approach may (1) give us a biased outlook of cross-cultural encounters rather than a reality, (2) hinder creativity, (3) lead to the rebound effect, and (4) turn belief into reality. Finally, based on insight from neuroscience and adopting the POS lens with the connection between POS and creativity, it’s recommended that future research takes three directions: (1) Using similarity as the starting point; (2) strategize body language, context and theories; and (3) develop a multicultural mind. In essence, the paper contributes to existing knowledge of the field by employing an interdisciplinary approach, aiming to gain a more holistic view, provoke thoughts, and trigger future empirical studies.
