Intercultural mirrors of the self

How international college students perceive and respond to their looking glass self

Authors

  • Tra Anh Vo Le Denison University, United States
  • Laura Russell Denison University, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32674/4dd77530

Keywords:

resilience, looking glass-self, meaning making model, symbolic interaction, qualitative interviews

Abstract

Intercultural environments present a host of differences for international college students to navigate. Drawing upon Cooley’s (1922) looking-glass self theory and Park and Folkman’s (1997) meaning-making model, this study examines how international students make sense of perceived incongruencies between their long-held global meanings and meanings emerging from their immediate social interactions. Qualitative interviews with Vietnamese college students studying in the U.S. revealed their use of varied meaning-making techniques to resist, assimilate, and accommodate the meanings they conceived through negotiating discrepancies between their global and situational understandings. This research can support educators and administrators who work with international students to develop meaning-making processes that enable them to cope, if not thrive, through their encounters with difference. Furthermore, future researchers may extend this work by conducting longitudinal studies that examine international students’ meaning-making efforts and resilience over time.

Author Biographies

  • Tra Anh Vo Le, Denison University, United States

    TRA ANH VO LE, whose hometown is in Vietnam, is an undergraduate student studying at Denison University and who is double majoring in communication and economics. Vole_t1@denison.edu

  • Laura Russell, Denison University, United States

    LAURA D. RUSSELL is an Associate Professor of Communication at Denison University whose research interests focus on interpersonal and intercultural communication informed by phenomenological inquiry. russelll@denison.edu

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Published

2026-08-02

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 17 (2026): Journal of International Students

Section

Research Articles (English, regular edition)

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Tra Anh Vo Le, Laura Russell

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

How to Cite

Le, T. A. V. ., & Russell, L. . (2026). Intercultural mirrors of the self: How international college students perceive and respond to their looking glass self. Journal of International Students, 16(17), 159-176. https://doi.org/10.32674/4dd77530