Relacionamentos amorosos e integração sociocultural de estudantes internacionais da UFES.

Abstract

Recently, globalization and technological advances have facilitated contact and communication between people from different cultures and nations, also contributing to the internationalization of higher education. The present work investigated the romantic relationships of international students and their possible role in their social and cultural integration to the destination country, a topic that has not yet been largely investigated. Ten international undergraduate or postgraduate students at UFES, who had been involved in romantic relationships in the last two years participated in the research. Data were collected through an episodic narrative semi-structured interview and recorded in audio simultaneously with the participant's consent, being the subject of thematic analysis, used to organize, analyze and interpret the transcripts of the interviews. The results were organized into three thematic groups: (a) romantic or loving relationships; (b) friendly relationships, and (c) factors that facilitate and hinder socio-cultural insertion. Love relationships included the following themes: initiation, attraction and development factors; positive points and difficulties in the romantic relationship; loving relationship, socio-cultural insertion and adaptation to Brazil; cultural differences regarding sex and romantic relationships; changes in attitudes, beliefs and expectations about romantic relationships; relationship and internet; and, distance relationship. Friendship relationships included the themes: friendship and romantic relationship; difficulty making friends and romantic relationships and relationships with family members of the partner. Among the factors that facilitate and hinder socio-cultural insertion, the following themes were found: individual characteristics, cultural differences: language; interpersonal relationships and other difficulties. The data obtained were compared with the literature. The themes identified during the data analysis revealed that the international students' love relationships can be seen as both positive and negative aspects for their socio-cultural insertion. The richness of the data obtained through the interviews made evident a diversity of realities and dynamics of the loving relationships of the students participating in the study, from the nationality of the partner to the type of relationship (distance or not), including themes related to their social insertion and cultural