International mobility and friendship relationships: Do they contribute to the development of a sense of global citizenship?

The growing changes that have taken place globally over the last decades have revealed how humanity is strongly interconnected and how responsible actions and cooperation between “citizens of the world” are needed to face emerging challenges. The principal aim of this study was to test a model of a process leading from international friendship relationships and mobility experiences through awareness about global issues and interdependency to a sense of global citizenship. Sense of global citizenship has been conceptualized as encompassing identification as a global citizen, sense of global community, and sense of global social responsibility. Data were collected from a sample of 216 Italian students through a self-report questionnaire. Results showed that international friendship relationships (but not international mobility experiences) were associated with global awareness. In turn, global awareness was related to global citizenship identification, sense of global community, and sense of global social responsibility. Our theory-based structural equation model highlighted a complex process leading from international friendship relationships through awareness about global issues and interdependency to a sense of global citizenship.