MINDFULNESS AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

This study investigates the effect of mindfulness on intercultural communication. Previous research suggest that mindfulness is related to emotional stability, which in turn predicts intercultural communication effectiveness. Furthermore, there is reason to hypothesize that mindfulness is linked to ethnocentrism which also relates to intercultural communication effectiveness. Based on previous evidence, two models are suggested to describe the relations between mindfulness and intercultural communication effectiveness. The study sample consisted of 748 Russian students 18–25 years who were presented texts about an imaginary situation of intercultural communication with a Chinese student. Participants first completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (Carlson & Brown, 2005). Afterwards, they filled out the Ethnocentrism Scale (based on the Generalized Ethnocentrism Scale (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997) and Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (Grigg & Manderson, 2016)). Then they answered the Emotional Stability in Intercultural Communication Scale (modified from the Neuroticism Scale from the Eysenck Personality Inventory (John et al., 2008) and the Measure of Dispositional Hardiness (Maddi, 1997)). Subsequently, participants were asked questions about gender, age, experience living abroad, and experience of participation in international projects. Participants were then presented text about an imaginary situation of intercultural communication with a Chinese student of their same sex. Finally, participants filled out the Perceived Intercultural Communication Effectiveness Scale (PICE) adapted from Gudykunst’s Perceived Effectiveness of Communication Measure (Gudykunst & Nishida, 2001) and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Scholz et al., 2002) about their imaginary situation of intercultural communication with a Chinese student. We also added control variables such as gender, age, experience of living abroad, and experience of participation in international projects. This work was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project number 19-013-00892 «Integrative socio-psychological model of assessment and prediction of the effectiveness of intercultural interaction».