Testing a method for generating intergroup felt understanding through structured communication

Abstract

Social connection and integration between international students and ‘home’ students is a major challenge that has implications for student experience and wellbeing, among other things. Following growing evidence of the importance of felt understanding in improving relations between groups on the one hand, and predicting better wellbeing on the other, we tested a structured communication procedure aimed at fostering felt understanding in intergroup communication between international students and UK students (total N = 175). Online communication between international and UK students was structured to involve a ‘reflecting back’ step in which participants not only disclose to others, but then share back what they understood from an interaction partner’s disclosure. Then, participants responded to three sets of measures: intergroup relational outcomes (e.g., intergroup anxiety), identification and process variables (e.g., life meaning), and wellbeing (e.g., life satisfaction). Results showed that ‘reflecting back’ (vs. control condition) effectively generated intergroup felt understanding, which in turn predicted better intergroup relational outcomes and wellbeing. The findings contribute to the integration of perceived responsiveness in interpersonal relationships and intergroup contact literature.