Intercultural Sensitivity and Attitude towards Refugees in Young Indian Adults

Background: Refugees are individuals who are forced to leave their home countries due to a well-founded fear of persecution, conflict or widespread violence. Amongst the South Asian nations, India has a longstanding history of hosting refugees who have been persecuted in their home states, which rendered their livelihood and chances of survival obsolete. Aims: This study sought to examine whether intercultural sensitivity predicts a positive attitude towards refugees amongst young adults in India, which can have implications for the overall well-being of the refugees. Settings and Design: This cross-sectional, correlational study’s sample comprised 329 young adults from different states of India. Methods: The study used two tools: the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS; Chen and Starosta, 1996) and the Attitudes towards Refugees Scale (Keles et al ., 2016). Statistical Analysis Used: The data were analysed using MANOVA and Bivariate Regression in SPSS version 26.0. Results and Conclusions: We found a high level of intercultural sensitivity and a moderately positive attitude towards refugees amongst young adults in India. Further, a significant positive correlation between intercultural sensitivity and attitude towards refugees ( r = 0.561, P < 0.01) was found, and intercultural sensitivity also emerged as a significant predictor of positive attitude towards refugees, with an R 2 = 0.25. The findings of the present study are discussed within the realm of a larger socio-political context.