Emotional Well-Being and Assessment in Multicultural Educational Contexts: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emotional well-being is crucial for understanding human development, particularly within educational settings increasingly being shaped by cultural, social, and linguistic diversity. Emotions such as anxiety, motivation, stress, and belonging significantly influence students’ cognitive engagement, social integration, and academic success across their lifespan.

However, dominant models of educational assessment often overlook these affective components, particularly in contexts marked by systemic inequality or intercultural tension.

This Topic seeks original research articles and systematic reviews that adopt interdisciplinary perspectives to investigate emotional well-being in education. We particularly welcome contributions that integrate insights from psychology, education, and health, aiming to understand and support learners’ emotional development at individual, family, community, and institutional levels.

We encourage the submission of papers that address sociocultural variability, propose innovative methodological approaches, and offer practical implications for educational policy and practice. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The development and validation of instruments for emotional assessment in educational settings;
• Socioculturally sensitive frameworks for understanding emotional well-being;
• Emotional regulation and adaptation in intercultural learning environments;
• The integration of emotional data into pedagogical and institutional decision making;
• Longitudinal and mixed-methods studies of emotional development across the educational lifecycle;
• Ethical and methodological challenges in assessing emotional well-being in diverse populations;
• Teacher education, institutional strategies, and systemic approaches to supporting emotional health.

This Topic hopes to foster a comprehensive and culturally responsive understanding of emotional well-being in education, promoting inclusive and equitable learning experiences throughout life.

Dr. Enrique Riquelme
Prof. Dr. Daniel Quilaqueo
Prof. Dr. Héctor Torres
Dr. Ignacio Montero
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Adolescents adolescents	0.8	1.8	2021	44.3 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Behavioral Sciences behavsci	2.5	3.1	2011	32 Days	CHF 2200	Submit
Education Sciences education	2.6	5.5	2011	26.5 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Social Sciences socsci	1.7	3.1	2012	33.1 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Societies societies	1.6	3.0	2011	29.9 Days	CHF 1600	Submit
Youth youth	1.5	-	2021	38.4 Days	CHF 1200	Submit

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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All Behavioral Sciences Education Sciences Societies Youth Adolescents Social Sciences

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14 pages, 211 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Developing Intercultural Competence Through Short-Term Academic Exchange: Emotional Regulation and Identity Formation in a Multicultural Co-Living Context

by Nadia Dimitrova Lilova-Zhelyazkova and Milena Ivova Ilieva

Societies 2026, 16(3), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc16030085 - 7 Mar 2026

Viewed by 400

Abstract

Intercultural Competence (IC) has gained prominence as a strategic priority in higher education; however, the socio-emotional mechanisms through which it develops in structured short-term academic mobility remain underexplored. This qualitative study addresses this gap by examining the intercultural learning experiences of undergraduate, graduate, [...] Read more.

Intercultural Competence (IC) has gained prominence as a strategic priority in higher education; however, the socio-emotional mechanisms through which it develops in structured short-term academic mobility remain underexplored. This qualitative study addresses this gap by examining the intercultural learning experiences of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students from Trakia University, Bulgaria, who participated in a two-week winter academic program in Zhuhai, China, hosted by the Beijing Institute of Technology. Employing a triangulated qualitative design that combines semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and content analysis of institutional discourse, the study foregrounds emotional regulation as a central process underpinning intercultural competence development. The findings indicate that navigating culturally unfamiliar situations and “disorienting dilemmas” within a multicultural co-living environment facilitated stable behavioral adaptations, including active listening, reflective pausing, empathy, and tolerance. These adaptations supported emotional well-being by reducing uncertainty and fostering a sense of belonging and psychological safety within the multicultural learning community. Repeated emotional engagement with cultural difference enabled participants to internalize values of openness and mutual respect, contributing to the formation of intercultural attitudes that extended beyond the immediate learning context. These processes functioned as a feedback loop through which intercultural competence became integrated into participants’ emerging personal and professional identities. The study demonstrates that even short-term academic exchanges, when pedagogically structured and emotionally immersive, can foster meaningful intercultural learning, leadership readiness, and professional orientation. By highlighting emotional regulation as a pathway to emotional well-being (belonging and psychological safety) and to identity integration, the findings contribute to broader social science discussions on student well-being and identity formation in transnational higher education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Emotional Well-Being and Assessment in Multicultural Educational Contexts: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives)

18 pages, 733 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Adaptation and Validation of the Socio-Educational and Cultural Ambivalence Scale in the Mapuche School Context

by Enrique Riquelme Mella, Flavio Muñoz-Troncoso, Héctor Torres, Gloria Mora-Guerrero and Daniel Quilaqueo

Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16020272 - 13 Feb 2026

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Abstract

This study aimed to adapt and psychometrically validate the Socio-Educational and Cultural Ambivalence Scale (EASC) in the context of Chilean intercultural education, considering teachers, students, and parents/caregivers. Socio-educational ambivalence is defined as the coexistence of contradictory beliefs, emotions, and practices in the relationship [...] Read more.

This study aimed to adapt and psychometrically validate the Socio-Educational and Cultural Ambivalence Scale (EASC) in the context of Chilean intercultural education, considering teachers, students, and parents/caregivers. Socio-educational ambivalence is defined as the coexistence of contradictory beliefs, emotions, and practices in the relationship between dominant school knowledge and Mapuche educational knowledge. Using a sequential mixed qualitative–quantitative design, we conceptually reviewed the original instrument and administered the adapted version to a sample of 739 participants (266 teachers, 286 students, and 183 parents/caregivers) from the regions of Biobío, La Araucanía, and Los Lagos. We proposed two six-factor scales: one shared by adults (teachers and parents/caregivers) and another with the same structure but fewer indicators for students. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed good model fit for both teachers and parents/caregivers (χ² = 1100.85, df = 311, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.075; SRMR = 0.058; CFI = 0.934; TLI = 0.926) and students (χ² = 378.546, df = 146, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.074; SRMR = 0.033; CFI = 0.978; TLI = 0.974). Composite reliability coefficients were ω = 0.702–0.974 for adults and ω = 0.749–0.948 for students. The results support factorial validity, internal consistency, and scalar invariance for the adult category of the instrument (teachers and parents/caregivers), confirming its usefulness for assessing epistemic and cultural tensions in intercultural educational contexts. The EASC contributes to the development of tools that foster a more plural, reflective, and context-sensitive understanding of education in Indigenous territories. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Emotional Well-Being and Assessment in Multicultural Educational Contexts: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives)

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