When difference creates dissonance: understanding the 'engine' of intercultural learning in study abroad. Issue 3 (4th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mitchell, Lynne; Paras, Andrea
• Is Part Of: Intercultural education. Volume 29:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 321
• Page End: 339
• Publication Date: 2018-05-04
• Subjects: Intercultural competence -- cognitive dissonance -- study abroad -- transformative learning theory -- reflexivity; Ethnic relations -- Periodicals; Social policy -- Periodicals; Pluralism (Social sciences) -- Periodicals; Minorities -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; 370.11705
• DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2018.1436361
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1467-5986

Abstract

Abstract: Why do some study abroad students improve their intercultural skills, while others revert to less sophisticated ways of making sense of cultural difference? Both intercultural competence theory and transformative learning theory attempt to explain why student intercultural learning occurs, but they only provide partial answers. Building on our previous study assessing intercultural competence in a 2015 field school in India, this article applies the concept of cognitive dissonance to explain the process behind intercultural learning. In the context of study abroad, students experience cognitive dissonance when they encounter cultural differences or similarities that confound previously held expectations about culture. Adapting Maertz, Hassan, and Magnusson's cognitive dissonance resolution framework, we employ qualitative analysis of students' written reflections to show how the resolution of cognitive dissonance could act as the 'engine' of intercultural learning.