A Study of the Impact of the International Student Cultural Festival on the Local Integration of International Students Visiting China: The Mediating Effect of Embodied Experience ()
1. Introduction
The study of the mobility paradigm of population migration, which has emerged in recent years, has received great attention from the academic community ( Ruane, 2017 ; Vesci, 2019 ). The study of the mobility paradigm covers the motives, processes, outcomes and impacts of population migration flows, as well as the changes in different social environments and policy contexts. It can provide theoretical guidance for the study of local integration of international students coming to China. Academics have introduced research variables such as festival activity participation and embodied sexual experience in the research of the migratory mobility paradigm ( Andrews, 2007 ). In terms of festival participation and local integration, the topic focuses on the significance and value of festival participation for local integration ( Merleau-Ponty, 2001 ); in terms of embodied experience and festival participation, it mainly concentrates on the research on the role mechanism of causality ( Wilson, 2002 ); in terms of the research on the triad of festival participation, embodied experience, and local integration, it pays attention to the way in which festival participation, as a carrier of economic, social, and cultural significance, can improve the interactive relationship between consumers and producers ( Edensor, 2000 ; Gibbs, 2006 ; Andrews, 2005 ). Through the literature study, it is concluded that although there have been domestic and international studies focusing on the relationship between festival participation, embodied experience and local integration, they have not bothered to construct a theoretical relationship model to verify it. Therefore, this study proposes a theoretical model of the three through the empirical part; in addition, most of the studies on embodied experience are qualitative, lacking the evidence of combining quantitative methods; it is necessary to choose a mixed research method to prove the scientificity and diversity of the study. Based on this, this study takes international students enrolled in Guangdong’s higher education institutions as the target population, draws on existing relevant literature, and utilizes data analysis of questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews to conduct a series of empirical studies focusing on the impact of embodied experience and festival participation on the local integration of international students visiting China. Based on the embodied theory and local integration theory, the collected information of the respondents was analyzed with the help of statistical analysis software SPSS and statistical methods such as descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis, so as to provide data on the impact of festival participation on the local integration of international students from the perspective of embodied perspective. Specific studies are as follows: 1) To explore the difference of the impact of population attribute variables on related variables such as personhood, local integration and festival participation; 2) To explore the differences and correlations of related variables such as personhood, local integration and festival activity participation; 3) To explore the mediating effect of embodied experience on the participation of festival activities affecting the local integration of overseas students; 4) To construct a theoretical model of the relationship among embodiment, local integration and festival activity participation.
2. Theoretical Modeling and Research Assumptions
This section analyzes the relationship between embodied experience, festival activity participation and local integration, the relationship between festival activity and embodied experience, and the mediating effect of embodied experience on festival activity’s influence on local integration. On the basis of the theoretical model, the hypothesis of this paper is put forward to construct the scale of three variables, namely, the participation of festival activities, embodied experience and place integration.
2.1. Theoretical Modeling
South China University of Technology (SCUT) organizes the International Students’ Cultural Festival every year, which is attended by hundreds of international students from dozens of countries such as the United States, Germany, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, etc. The festival includes traditional songs and dances, special food, handicrafts, and national costumes. The International Students’ Cultural Festival not only provides a stage for international students from different countries to show their culture and creativity, but also provides a window for international students visiting China to learn about China and integrate into Chinese society, and promotes cultural exchanges between Chinese and foreign students at the same time. Based on the combing of existing literature, this paper researches the topic of “the impact of international student cultural festivals on the local integration of international students visiting China”, and identifies three variables: participation in festivals, embodied experience, and local integration, among which participation in festivals has a positive impact on local integration, festivals have a positive impact on embodied experience, and embodied experience has a positive impact on local integration. Embodied experience had a positive effect on local integration. Embodied experience has a mediating effect on the influence of festival activities on local integration. The theoretical model is shown in Figure 1.
2.2. Measured Variable
2.2.1. Festival Participation Scale
According to Ritchie (1984) , “festival” refers to a series of special social events or ceremonies that take place at a specific time and place to celebrate or commemorate certain historical or cultural events, refers to a specific tourism experience that is associated with the culture, history, traditions, or religious beliefs of a place and is usually held at a specific time and place to attract tourists to come and see or participate. According to Yu et al. (2005) , “festival” refers to a cultural phenomenon, which is a series of cultural activities held by people at a specific time and place, aiming to express people’s emotions and values, as well as to pass on and promote a certain cultural tradition. According to Dai et al. (2007) , “festival” refers to a kind of cultural activity, which is a series of celebrations, commemorations, prayers, entertainment, and other activities held by people at a specific time and place, aiming to express people’s cultural identity and social awareness. According to Wang (2009) , “festival” refers to a cultural phenomenon, which is a series of cultural activities held by people at a specific time and place, aiming at celebrating or commemorating a historical, cultural or religious event, as well as passing on and promoting a cultural tradition. “Perception” is a term belonging to the domain of cognitive psychology, which can be divided into sensory and perceptual processes.
In this paper, based on the relevant literature, the festival participation variable is divided into two latent variables: cultural influence perception and participation and event participation.
1) Cultural impact perception and participation included five measurement questions (“It was well organized and enjoyed it”; “It fully embodied Chinese culture”; “I met new friends and recommended others to participate in it”; “Promoted international student exchange”; “Promoted diversity of cultural activities for international students”).
2) Activity participation included five measurement questions (“Having been directly involved in the planning, management, or service of international student cultural festivals”; “International students should have the right to be directly involved in the planning of cultural festivals”; “No any festival can give me an experience similar to that of the cultural festival”; “The impact of the cultural
festival should be more widely spread among international students”; and “Organizers should welcome participants warmly and be able to initiate excellent performances by participants”).
2.2.2. Embodied Experience Scale
Embodiment theory suggests that human cognition is not just an activity of the brain, but is also related to bodily sensations, movements, and interactions with the environment. The body is the basis of cognition, and human thought, emotion, and behavior emerge from bodily perception and action. Embodiment theory emphasizes the interaction between the body and the environment and suggests that human cognition is built from the interaction between the body and the environment. For example, when learning a new skill, humans need to acquire experience and knowledge through body movements and sensations. In everyday life, human attitudes, emotions, values, and consciousness are expressed and realized through bodily feelings and movements. The significance of the embodiment theory is that it reminds people not to regard cognition only as an activity of the brain, but to regard the interaction between the body and the environment as the source of cognition. This theory has important implications for human learning, movement, and communication.
Based on the relevant literature, this paper categorizes embodied experiences into three latent variables:
1) embodied experiences include (“Participating in the cultural festival was a new experience for me”; “The cultural festival made me relaxed, pleasant and enjoyable”; “I have had previous experience of participating in related festivals; “I have had experience as a presenter at cultural festivals”; well compared to other events, I was very satisfied with this experience at cultural festivals”).
2) Physical stimuli included (“I felt different sensory stimuli during my participation in the festival”; “The meals in the environment tasted delicious”; “The music at the festival was soothing and relaxing”; “The stage and event staff at the festival were dressed up in new costumes”; “I had more physical strength and energy when I attended.”)
3) Embodied contexts include (“The variety of interactive activities at the festival”; “The interaction with people around me was enjoyable”; “The atmosphere at the festival was strong.” “The festival has a clear theme and is characterized by folk culture”; “The design and layout of the festival is very beautiful”).
2.2.3. Local Integration Scale
This paper focuses on the shortcomings of existing research on the integration of foreign immigrant groups, i.e., it ignores the association of foreign immigrant groups with place and space. Therefore, spatial integration, social integration, and emotional integration are chosen in this study to construct the structure of place integration of foreign tourist labor migrants. From a pragmatic perspective, this study explores the issue of human place experience and focuses on the relationship between people and places. For the place integration of foreign student visitors, the primary consideration is the social integration of the individual. The concept of spatial integration presents more diversified interactions and structures at the level of “people-place relations”, emphasizing instability and continuous change. Therefore, this study adds the dimension of spatial integration to the basic structure of local integration, taking into account the relationship between people, places, and spaces.
1) Spatial integration measurement scale
This paper focuses on the spatial integration of international students visiting China, which is defined as the integration manifested in different types of spatial dimensions, including living space, study space, and leisure space. In this study, we measured the spatial integration of study and living spaces of international students visiting China by including four measurement items.
2) Social Integration Measurement Scale
The measurement of social integration of international students visiting China contains 4 measurement items, which are often talking about oneself with people in the host city, often participating in various social activities, abiding by local rules and regulations, and feeling that one is already a local.
3) Emotional integration measurement scale
Emotional integration, to a certain extent, presents the psychological and behavioral level changes caused by the interaction process between visiting international students and locals. For the measurement of the emotional integration component of the visiting international students, there are four measurement items (“I want to stay here all the time”; “I like it here and would like to be a part of it”; “When I am here, I feel a sense of security “; “I have gotten what I wanted so far”).
2.3. Research Hypothesis
2.3.1. Differences in the Impact of Demographic Attribute Variables on Festival Participation, Embodied Experience, and Place Integration
Much of the research literature deals with the analysis of differences in the impact of demographic variables such as age, education, income, and occupation on festival participation, embodied experience, and social integration. Wang Bei and Jin Caiyu (2019) found that temple service quality, temple product quality, and temple atmosphere had a significant positive effect on visitor satisfaction, while there was a significant difference in the effect of demographic variables such as age, gender, education, and income of visitors on their satisfaction. Xu Shujie, Min Xiaoying and Wang Yini (2016) found that personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education, income, etc.), family characteristics (e.g., family size, family income, etc.), social characteristics (e.g., social network, social support, etc.), and psychological characteristics (e.g., personal preferences, personal values, etc.) all have a significant difference in the impact of participation in traditional festival tourism activities.
Liu Qian and Li Yang (2021) explored the differences in embodied experience in VR modality reconstruction among subjects of different ages and found that there was a significant difference in the influence of age on embodied experience, with young people being more likely to have embodied experience than older people, while middle-aged people were at an intermediate level. Zhang Ni, Liu Qingtang and Lu Guoqing (2020) found that there is a significant difference in the influence of demographic variables such as gender, age, and education of teachers and students on their attitudes and use of embodied language. Zhang Xian, Wei Hua and Ding Qian (2019) found that there is a significant difference in the influence of age and family background on college students’ online game addiction,
Guo Qing and Chen Yunfan (2017) found that the influence of years of education and income, which represent individual ability, on social integration is not significant, while the influence of employment status on social integration has significant differences. Wang Shengjin and Xu Shicun (2013) found that whether or not one can have a residence permit or a temporary residence permit, whether or not one is entitled to employee medical insurance, children’s local schooling and payment of sponsorship fees, and the arrangement of the time and intensity of work affect the flowers perception of integration with significant variability. Based on this, the following research hypotheses are proposed:
H1: There are significant differences in the effects of demographic attributes on festival participation, embodied experience, and local integration among visiting international students.
H1a: Significant differences in the effect of gender on embodied experience among international students visiting China.
H1b: Significant differences in the effect of age on embodied experience among international students visiting China.
H1c: There is a significant difference in the effect of nationality on embodied sexual experience among international students visiting China.
H1d: There is a significant difference in the effect of time of arrival on embodied sexual experience among international students visiting China.
H1e: There is a significant difference in the effect of the number of international student cultural exchanges on the embodied experience of international students visiting China.
H1f: There is a significant difference in the effect of gender on participation in festivals among international students visiting China.
H1g: There is a significant difference in the effect of age on participation in festivals among visiting international students.
H1h: There is a significant difference in the effect of nationality on participation in the festival among visiting international students.
H1i: There is a significant difference in the effect of time of arrival on participation in festivals.
H1j: There is a significant difference in the effect of the number of international students’ cultural exchanges on the participation of visiting Chinese students in festivals.
H1k: There is a significant difference in the effect of gender on the social integration of visiting international students.
H1l: There is a significant difference in the effect of age on the social integration of visiting international students.
H1m: There is a significant difference in the effect of nationality on the social integration of international students visiting China.
H1n: There is a significant difference in the effect of time of arrival on the social integration of international students visiting China.
H1o: There is a significant difference in the effect of the number of international students participating in international student cultural exchanges on social integration.
2.3.2. Impact of Festival Participation on Local Integration
Ignatow (2009) argues that the impact of culture on social bonding can be shown when culture is operationalized as embodied cognitive patterns operating in habitus and group discourse. In addition, traditional religious and moral cultures may have stronger links to cultural and social bonding than modernist cultures. Zhou Shangyi, Wu Liping and Zhang Ruihong (2015) argued that festival participation can promote a sense of identity among people, and they argued that festival participation can promote communication and interaction among people and enhance a sense of social belonging. Yan Ahui, Zhao Yuzong and Zhang Fangyun (2017) argued that festival event participation can promote communication and interaction among urban residents and enhance the sense of urban identity. Luo Zhipeng (2019) argues that festival participation can promote communication and integration between different regions and ethnic groups, and enhance the sense of identity between different regions and ethnic groups. All of these kinds of literature show that festival participation has a positive impact on social integration and can promote communication and interaction among people and enhance the sense of identity. Based on this, the following research hypothesis is proposed:
H2: Festival event participation has a positive impact on the local integration of international students visiting China
H2a: Festival participation has a positive effect on the spatial integration of international students visiting China
H2b: Festival participation has a positive effect on the social integration of international students visiting China.
H2c: There is a positive effect of festival participation on the emotional integration of international students visiting China.
2.3.3. The Impact of Festival Participation on Embodied Sexual Experience
Festival participation implicitly influences people’s embodied cognition through its unique psychological atmosphere. Scholars believe that the adjustment of individual psychology and behavior in a specific cultural context is driven and self-motivated ( Xiang, Liu, Qiao et al., 2023 ) and that the psychological atmosphere of festival participation is based on and beyond specific spatial and temporal nodes, a multifaceted, integrated and hierarchical pattern, and a human-centered concept ( Li, 2013 ). In this psychological atmosphere, the pathway of embodied cognition is mainly reached through experiencing others and texts, experiencing the environment, and experiencing firsthand. Embodied cognition in the psychological atmosphere of festival participation shows characteristics such as living, cyclical, and normative. Sun Yan (2022) explored how embodiment technology can empower the innovative communication of traditional cultural programs from the concept of “body”. Embodiment is deconstructed into two dimensions: the body of senses and the body of technology. As the body of senses, physical behavior is the prerequisite for triggering emotional experience, and the body can perceive the outside world as well as transmit the emotional experience internalized in the body to the outside world; as the body of technology, embodied communication technology realizes the body’s “absent presence”, and uses pictorial symbols of the body to perceive the traditional culture in the virtual scene, and generates a real emotional experience. The body as the body of technology, through realizing the “absent presence” of the body, uses pictorial body symbols to perceive traditional culture in the virtual scene and produce real emotional experiences. Based on this, this paper proposes the following research hypotheses:
H3: Participation in festivals has a positive effect on the embodied experience of international students visiting China.
H3a: Participation in festivals has a positive effect on the embodied experience of international students visiting China.
H3b: Festivals’ participation has a positive effect on the physical stimulation of international students visiting China.
H3c: There is a positive effect of festival participation on the embodied situations of international students visiting China.
2.3.4. Impact of Embodied Experience on Local Integration
Li Xin (2015) argued that the integration of urban communities can be promoted by enhancing the embodied experience of urban spaces. Xue Xue and Chen Xinye (2020) found that embodied experiences can promote people’s sense of identity and belonging to a place, thus promoting place integration. He Bo (2018) found that by providing tourism products and services with embodied sexuality experiences, more tourists can be attracted, and the inheritance and development of urban culture can be promoted. All of these kinds of literature show that embodied experience has a positive impact on place integration and can promote people’s sense of identity and belonging to the place. Based on this, the following research hypotheses are proposed:
Embodied sexual experience has a positive effect on place integration.
H4a: Embodied experience has a positive effect on spatial integration
H4b: Embodied stimulation has a positive effect on spatial integration
H4d: Embodied situations have a positive effect on spatial integration
H4e: Embodied experience has a positive effect on social integration
H4f: Physical stimulation has a positive effect on social integration
H4g: Embodied situations have a positive effect on social integration
H4h: embodied experience has a positive effect on emotional integration
H4i: Physical stimulation has a positive effect on emotional integration
H4j: embodied situations have a positive effect on emotional integration
2.3.5. The Mediating Effect of Embodied Experience on Festival Participation Affecting Local Integration
Maister, Sebanz and Knoblich (2013) stated that festival participation involves many different cognitive processes, including social cognition, emotional empathy, intention sharing, and movement coordination. Of these, emotional empathy and movement coordination, among others, have a mediating effect on festival event participation affecting social cognition and intention sharing.
Ferri, Campione, Dalla Volta et al. (2011) argued that both social requests and social environment are important factors of social behavior and they can influence the characteristics of an individual’s behavior and actions. Characteristics of an individual’s behaviors and actions will also have a mediating effect on social activities affecting social integration. Chen Sirong, Lin Shiyun, Ma Xie Jinxuan et al. (2018) pointed out that embodied experience, as an important dimension of people’s experience, can enhance people’s emotional engagement and cognitive engagement, which in turn increases people’s satisfaction and loyalty. Liu Bin, Yang Zhao, Liu Yongting et al. (2023) stated that embodied experience can enhance people’s engagement and experience feelings. All of these kinds of literature agree that embodied experience has a mediating role in social integration. Based on this, the following research hypotheses are proposed:
H5: There is a mediating effect of embodied experience on festival participation affecting the local integration of visiting international students.
H5a: There is a mediating effect of embodied experience on festival event participation affecting visiting international students’ spatial integration.
H5b: There is a mediating effect of embodied stimulation on festival event participation affecting the spatial integration of visiting international students.
H5d: The mediating effect of embodied context on festival participation on spatial integration of international students visiting China.
H5e: Embodied experience has a positive effect on local integration.
H5f: Physical stimulation has a positive effect on local integration.
H5g: The embodied situation has a positive effect on place integration.
H5ha: Embodied experience has a mediating effect on festival participation affecting the emotional integration of visiting international students in China.
H5i: There is a mediating effect of physical stimulation on festival participation affecting the emotional integration of international students visiting China.
H5j: There is a mediating effect of the embodied situation on the participation in festivals and activities on the emotional integration of international students visiting China.
3. Measurement Scale Development
3.1. Questionnaire Survey on International Students’ Participation in Festivals, Personal Experience, and Local Integration in Guangzhou
The content of the questionnaire consisted of two main parts, the first part focused on the three variables of the scale i.e. festival event participation, embodied experience, and local integration. This part was asked using a five-point scale method with questions such as: strongly disagree, disagree, average, same electricity, and strongly agree. The second part was demographic characteristics. The questionnaire was asked using single-choice questions. When designing the questionnaire, we try to combine the actual language habits of the research subjects, delete the unclear expression and semantic repetition of the questionnaire, and initially form the local integration scale of this study. In this paper, a total of 230 questionnaires were put out, and 198 valid questionnaires were recovered, with a validity rate of 86.1%.
The demographic characteristics of the study respondents mainly include gender, age, nationality, time of coming to China, and the number of times they have participated in international students’ cultural exchanges (the following Table 1). In terms of the gender of the respondents, 61.11% of the respondents were male and 38.89% were female; in terms of the age of the respondents, most of the respondents were in the age groups of 19 to 22 and 23 to 27, accounting for 35.35% and 48.99% respectively; in terms of the nationalities of the respondents, 77.78% of the respondents were from Asia, 11.62% were from Europe and the remaining nearly 10% are from other continents; from the perspective of the respondents’ time in China, nearly 90% of them have been in China for less than 5 years, indicating that our research subjects have rich experience in China and their festival perception is clearer; from the perspective of the number of times respondents have participated in cultural exchanges with international students, 62.12% of them have had the experience of cultural exchanges for 1 - 2 times, and 22.73% have had the experience of cultural exchanges for 3 to 5 times of cultural exchange experience.
3.2. Local Integration Scale
3.2.1. Local Integration Scale Composition and Data Acquisition
Through combing and discussing the literature, this paper constructs the structure
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Table 1. Basic information of respondents.
of place integration for international students visiting China and identifies a place integration scale consisting of three parts: spatial integration, social integration, and emotional integration.
3.2.2. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
The suitability of the data is determined by the KMO value and Bartlett’s Spherical Test before the exploratory analysis of the factors (Table 2). The KMO value is usually between 0 and 1, the closer the value is to 1, the higher the suitability of the data, and the value of this paper is 0.896. The Bartlett’s Spherical Test tests whether the data has a factorial structure or not, and if the P-value is less than 0.05, it indicates that the data has a factorial structure. The value of this paper is 0.021, which indicates that it meets the research needs.
Factors with eigenvalues higher than 1 were standardized and the number of factors was extracted for rotation. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS software and 12 test questions were retained and the following results were obtained:
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Table 2. Results of exploratory factor analysis of the place inclusion scale.
3.2.3. Reliability and Validity Tests
In this paper, we use an internal consistency method, Cronbach’s alpha. Cronbach’s alpha is a commonly used method of reliability analysis for assessing the internal consistency of a measurement instrument (e.g., a questionnaire). The method calculates the correlation between all measurement items and converts it into a score between 0 and 1, with higher scores indicating better internal consistency of the measurement instrument. By analyzing the overall reliability of 0.729, the 2 newly extracted factors are social integration 0.809 and emotional integration 0.769.
This paper focuses on the analysis of validity, including convergent validity and discriminant validity. In terms of convergent validity, this study used two indexes of combined reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) for evaluation, and the results showed that the combined reliability (CR) of the two dimensions of social integration and emotional integration were 0.877, 0.854, and the average variance extracted (AVE) were 0.652, 0.627, which reached the corresponding standards, indicating that the model has good convergent Validity. In terms of discriminant validity, the discriminant validity among factors is excellent, and the square root of AVE is larger than the value of the factor correlation coefficient.
3.3. Embodied Experience Scale
3.3.1. Scale Composition and Data Acquisition
This paper analyzes the process of scale development, which first requires conceptualization and literature combing, and then based on existing relevant scales. The embodied experience measurement scale consists of three parts: the embodied experience measurement scale, the physical stimulation measurement scale, and the embodied situation measurement scale.
3.3.2. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
The suitability of the data is determined by the KMO value and Bartlett’s Spherical Test before the exploratory analysis of the factors. The KMO value is usually between 0 and 1, the closer the value is to 1, the higher the suitability of the data, and the value of this paper is 0.931. The Bartlett’s Spherical Test tests whether the data has a factorial structure or not, and if the P-value is less than 0.05, it indicates that the data has a factorial structure. The value of this paper is 0, which indicates that it meets the research needs.
Factors with eigenvalues higher than 1 were standardized and the number of factors was extracted for rotation. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS software and 15 test questions were retained and the following results were obtained (Table 3).
3.3.3. Reliability and Validity Tests
In this paper, we use an internal consistency method, Cronbach’s alpha. Cronbach’s alpha is a commonly used method of reliability analysis for assessing the internal consistency of a measurement instrument (e.g., a questionnaire). The method calculates the correlation between all measurement items and converts it into a score between 0 and 1, with higher scores indicating better internal
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Table 3. Results of exploratory factor analysis of the embodied experience factor measurement scale.
consistency of the measurement instrument. By analyzing the overall reliability of 0.729, the 2 newly extracted factors are social integration 0.806 and emotional integration 0.936.
This paper focuses on analyzing the validity, including convergent validity and discriminant validity. Convergent validity is evaluated by the combination reliability and average variance extraction, and the results of data analysis in this part show that the combination reliability of embodied experience and embodied situation are 0.852 and 0.828 respectively, and the average variance extraction is 0.618 and 0.624 respectively, which meet the corresponding standards, which indicates that the model has good convergent validity and its discriminant validity is excellent.
3.4. Festival Participation Scale
3.4.1. Scale Composition and Data Acquisition
This section describes the methodology of scale development based on existing well-established and relevant scales for the Festival Event Participation Measurement Scale, which consists of two separate components, Cultural Influence Perception and Participation and Event Participation.
3.4.2. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
The suitability of the data is determined by the KMO value and Bartlett’s Spherical Test before the exploratory analysis of the factors. The KMO value is usually between 0 and 1, the closer the value is to 1, the higher the suitability of the data, and the value of this paper is 0.913. The Bartlett’s Spherical Test tests whether the data has a factorial structure or not, and if the P-value is less than 0.05, it indicates that the data has a factorial structure. The value of 0 in this paper indicates that it meets the needs of the study.
In this study, the dimensionality reduction technique was used to extract the factors by finding the common factors of the observed variables with eigenvalues greater than 1. Subsequently, the maximum variance method was used to carry out the direct rotation, eight measurement items were finally filtered out, and one factor was summarized and named “participation in festivals and events”. The cumulative variance explained contribution rate was 62.377%, indicating that the effect of the common factor explanation was satisfactory (Table 4).
3.4.3. Reliability and Validity Tests
This paper presents the results of a reliability analysis of data from a scale. The results of the study show that the overall reliability (Cronbach’s coefficient) of the scale is 0.91, which satisfies the limits of factor extraction and indicates good internal consistency of this part of the questionnaire.
This study also used the indicators of combined reliability (CR) and average variance extraction (AVE) for the evaluation of model convergent validity. Judging by the relevant criteria, the results of the data analysis in this part show that both the reliability (CR) and the average variance extracted (AVE) meet the
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Table 4. Results of exploratory factor analysis of the festival event participation measurement scale.
corresponding criteria, indicating that the model has good convergent validity.
4. The Impact of the Festival Atmosphere of Embodied Experience on Local Integration
4.1. Build the Initial Model
4.1.1. Set the Model
According to exploratory factor analysis, this paper makes the following modifications to the previous assumptions:
H1: The demographic attributes of international students visiting China have significant differences in the impact of festival activity participation, embodied experience, and local integration
H1a: The gender of international students visiting China has significant differences in the impact of embodied sexual experience
H1b: The age of international students visiting China has significant differences in the impact of embodied experience
H1c: There are significant differences in the impact of the nationality of foreign students visiting China on embodied experience
H1d: There are significant differences in the impact of the time of visiting China on the embodied experience of foreign students visiting China
H1e: There are significant differences in the impact of the number of times foreign students visiting China participate in international student cultural exchanges on embodied experience
H1f: The gender of international students visiting China has significant differences in the impact of festival activities
H1g: There are significant differences in the influence of the age of foreign students visiting China on their participation in festival activities
H1h: The nationality of international students visiting China has significant differences in the influence of festival activities
H1i: There are significant differences in the impact of the time of foreign students visiting China on the participation in festival activities
H1j: There is a significant difference in the impact of the number of international students who visit China to participate in international student cultural exchanges on the participation in festival activities
H1k: There are significant differences in the impact of gender on the social integration of international students visiting China
H1l: There are significant differences in the influence of the age of foreign students visiting China on social integration
H1m: There are significant differences in the impact of the nationality of foreign students visiting China on social integration
H1n: There are significant differences in the impact of the time of foreign students visiting China on social integration
H1o: There are significant differences in the impact of the number of times foreign students visiting China participate in international student cultural exchanges on social integration
H2: Participation in festivals and events has a positive impact on the local integration of foreign students visiting China
H2a: Participation in festivals and events has a positive impact on the social integration of foreign students visiting China
H2b: Participation in festivals and activities has a positive impact on the emotional integration of foreign students visiting China
H3: Participation in festival activities has a positive impact on the embodied experience of foreign students visiting China
H3a: Participation in festival activities has a positive impact on the embodied experience of foreign students visiting China
H3b: Participation in festivals and events has a positive impact on the embodied situation of international students visiting China
H4: Embodied experience has a positive impact on place integration
H4a: Embodied experience has a positive impact on social integration
H4b: The embodied situation has a positive impact on social integration
H4c: Embodied experience has a positive impact on emotional integration
H4d: Embodied situation has a positive impact on emotional integration
H5: Embodied experience has a mediating effect on the influence of participation in festivals and events on the local integration of foreign students visiting China
H5a: Embodied experience has a mediating effect on the influence of participation in festival activities on the social integration of international students
H5b: Embodied context has a mediating effect on the influence of participation in festival activities on the social integration of international students
H5c: Embodied experience has a mediating effect on the impact of participation in festival activities on the emotional integration of international students
H5d: Embodied context has a mediating effect on the impact of participation in festival activities on the emotional integration of international students
According to the previous assumptions and the preset theoretical model, the initial theoretical model constructed in this paper is shown in Figure 2.
It can be seen from Figure 2 that there is one latent variable in this model: participation in festivals and activities. This latent variable is measured by 8 derived observation variables (i.e., 8 questionnaire items). At the same time, there are four endogenous latent variables in the model: embodied experience, embodied situation, emotional integration, and social integration. A total of 24 endogenous observation variables (24 questionnaire questions) are included to measure them.
4.1.2. Differential Assessment of the Impact of Population Attributes on Research Variables
This paper uses the multivariate analysis of variance method in SPSS software to analyze the differences in the impact of the demographic attributes of foreign students visiting China on embodied experience, festival activity participation, and social integration variables.
1) Differential assessment of gender impact
From the evaluation results, it can be seen that the significant differences in gender on embodied experience, participation in festivals and activities, and social integration are all greater than 0.05, and none of them pass the significance test, indicating that the differences in the impact of gender on the three variables are not significant (Table 5).
2) Differential assessment of the influence of age
From the evaluation results, it can be seen that the significant differences in age on embodied experience, event participation, and social integration are all greater than 0.05, and none of them pass the significance test, indicating that the differences in the impact of age on the three variables are not significant (Table 6).
3) Differential assessment of the impact of nationality
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Figure 2. The initial theoretical model of the festival atmosphere of embodied experience on local integration.
The results of different evaluations of the impact of the nationality of foreign students visiting China on the three variables are shown in Table 7.
From the evaluation results, it can be seen that the significant difference of nationality in embodied experience, participation in festival activities, and social integration is greater than 0.05, and none of them passed the significance test, indicating that the difference of nationality in these three variables is also not significant.
4) Differential assessment of the impact of time spent in China
The evaluation results of the impact of the time of foreign students visiting China on the three variables are shown in Table 8.
From the evaluation results, it can be seen that the significance of the difference in the impact of time in China on embodied experience is 0.048, which is less than 0.05, passing the significance test. The difference in the impact of festival activity participation and social integration is greater than 0.05, which does not pass the significance test, indicating that the time of coming to China has a significant impact on the difference in the impact of embodied experience, but has no significant impact on festival activity participation and social integration.
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Table 5. Difference in the effects of gender on the three variables of international students visiting China.
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Table 6. Differences in the influence of the age of international students visiting China on the three variables.
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Table 7. Differences in the effects of the nationality of international students visiting China on the three variables.
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Table 8. Differences in the impact of the time of foreign students visiting China on the three variables.
5) Differential evaluation of the impact of the number of times of participation in international student cultural exchanges
Table 9 shows the results of different evaluations of the impact of the number of international students participating in cultural exchanges with international students visiting China on the three variables.
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Table 9. Differences in the impact of the number of times foreign students visiting China participate in international student cultural exchanges on the three variables.
From the evaluation results, it can be seen that the number of times of participation in international student cultural exchanges has a significant difference of less than 0.05 in the impact of embodied experience, participation in festivals and activities, and social integration, all of which have passed the significance test, indicating that the number of times of participation in international student cultural exchanges There are significant differences in the impact on embodied experience, participation in festivals and activities, and social integration.
From the above evaluation results, it can be concluded that the hypothesis of H1 has been partially verified, among which, the assumptions of H1d, H1e, H1j, H1o have been verified, H1a, H1b, H1c, H1f, H1g, H1h, H1i, H1k, H1l, H1m, H1, H1n are not verified.
4.1.3. Direct Action Model Evaluation
1) Participation in festival activities affects local integration
According to the theoretical model in Figure 2, it can be seen that the impact of festival activity participation on local integration has the following paths: festival activity participation → emotional integration, festival activity participation → social integration, festival activity participation → embodied experience → emotional Integration, participation in festival activities → embodied experience → social integration, participation in festival activities → embodied situation → emotional integration, participation in festival activities → embodied situation → social integration. Among them, embodied experience and embodied situation play a mediating effect in the process of participation in festival activities affecting social integration. The following article analyzes the structural equation model of the direct impact of festival participation on local integration. The structural model is shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.
In this paper, the AMOS tool was used to construct and analyze the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The evaluation results are shown in Table 10. In terms of absolute fitness, the RMSEA value of the partial mediation model established in this study is 0.054, which is lower than the fitting standard of 0.08; in terms of parsimony fitness, the X2/df value is 3.25, slightly higher than the fitting standard of
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Figure 3. Participation in festival activities affects local integration into the structural equation model.
Note: *** stands for p < 0.001; ** stands for p < 0.01; * stands for p < 0.05.
3 Standard; in terms of value-added fitness, the AGFI value is 0.926, the NFI value is 0.937, and the CFI value is 0.901, all of which are higher than the fitness standard of 0.9. Therefore, the structural equation model established in this paper is quite reasonable.
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Figure 4. Structural equation model of event participation affects the embodied experience.
Based on the assumptions proposed in this paper and the model constructed, combined with Table 6, it can be seen that the p coefficients of participation in festival activities on social integration and emotional integration are 0.73 (T value 11.33, p < 0.05) and 0.25 (T value 3.83, p < 0.05, these test data show that participation in festivals and activities has a significant positive impact on social integration and emotional integration. Therefore, hypotheses H2, H2a, and H2b are verified.
2) Participation in festivals affects the embodied experience
In this paper, the AMOS tool was used to construct and analyze the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results after evaluation are shown in Table 11. In terms of absolute fitness, the RMSEA value of the partial mediation model established in this study is 0.071, which is lower than the fitting standard of 0.08; in terms of parsimony fitness, the X2/df value is 3.05, slightly higher than the fitting standard of 3 Standard; in terms of value-added fitness, the AGFI value is 0.907, the NFI value is 0.97, and the CFI value is 0.911, all of which are higher than the fitness standard of 0.9. Therefore, the structural equation model established in this paper is quite reasonable.
Based on the assumptions proposed in this paper and the model constructed, combined with Table 7, it can be seen that the p coefficients of embodied experience on social integration and emotional integration are 0.31 (T value 3.51, p < 0.05) and 0.63 (T value 5.38 p < 0.05, these test data show that embodied experience has a significant positive impact on social integration and emotional integration. Therefore, hypotheses H3, H3a, and H3b are verified.
3) Embodied experience affects local integration
In this paper, the AMOS tool was used to construct and analyze the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results after evaluation are shown in Table 12. In terms of absolute fitness, the RMSEA value of the partial mediation model established in this study is 0.063, which is lower than the fitting standard of 0.08; in terms of parsimony fitness, the X2/df value is 3.16, which is slightly higher than the fitting standard of 3 Standard; in terms of value-added fitness, the AGFI value is 0.931, the NFI value is 0.921, and the CFI value is 0.942, all of which are higher than the fitness standard of 0.9. Therefore, the structural equation model established in this paper is quite reasonable.
Note: *** stands for p < 0.001; ** stands for p < 0.01; * stands for p < 0.05.
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Figure 5. Embodied experience influences local integration into structural equation modeling.
Note: *** stands for p < 0.001; ** stands for p < 0.01; * stands for p < 0.05.
Based on the assumptions proposed in this paper and the model constructed, combined with Table 12, it can be seen that the p coefficients of embodied experience on social integration and emotional integration are 0.41 (T value 4.982, p < 0.05) and 0.539 (T value 5.454, p < 0.05, these test data show that embodied
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Figure 6. Embodied context influences place inclusion structural equation modeling.
experience has a significant positive impact on social integration and emotional integration, so hypotheses H4a and H4b are verified.
4) Embodied context influences local integration
In this paper, the AMOS tool was used to construct and analyze the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The evaluation results are shown in Table 13. In terms of absolute fitness, the RMSEA value of the partial mediation model established in this study is 0.072, which is lower than the fitting standard of 0.08; in terms of parsimony fitness, the X2/df value is 3.35, slightly higher than the fitting standard of 3 Standard; in terms of value-added fitness, the AGFI value is 0.922, the NFI value is 0.943, and the CFI value is 0.965, all of which are higher than the fitness standard of 0.9. Therefore, the structural equation model established in this paper is quite reasonable.
Note: *** stands for p < 0.001; ** stands for p < 0.01; * stands for p < 0.05.
Based on the assumptions proposed in this paper and the model constructed, combined with Table 13, it can be seen that the p coefficients of embodied situations on social integration and emotional integration are 0.63 (T value 10.611, p < 0.05) and 0.34 (T value 6.582, p < 0.05, these test data show that embodied experience has a significant positive impact on social integration and emotional integration, so hypotheses H4, H4c, H4d are verified.
4.2. Test of Mediating Effect
This paper draws on Wen Zhonglin’s research and uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the mediation effect. First, establish the relationship between the independent variable X and the dependent variable Y (Y= α_3X + α) and test the significance of the coefficient. Then, add the intermediary variable M, establish the equation M== α_3X + b and test the significance of the coefficient. In the case of controlling the mediator variable M (Y = Βx + = α_3M + c), if the relationship between the independent variable X and the dependent variable Y changes from significant to weak but still significant, it is a partial mediation relationship; if the mediation After the variable M is controlled, the relationship between the independent variable X and the dependent variable Y changes from significant to insignificant, which is a complete mediation relationship. In this paper, the classic mediation test method is used to establish a direct effect model, a partial mediation model, and a complete mediation model. Among them, the full mediation model shows that the five dimensions of event participation fully affect place integration through the role of embodied experience, and Figure 7 and Figure 8 show the mediating influence path.
Finally, in the analysis that follows (Figure 9), we will use these three models to discuss in detail the assumptions raised in this study.
Table 14 shows the test results of the structural equation model.
It can be seen from Table 14 that the results of both the partial mediation model and the full mediation model show that both embodied experience and embodied situation have a significant impact on the social integration and emotional integration of festival activity participation. Therefore, embodied experience has a significant impact on local integration and emotional integration in festival activities, and hypotheses H5, H5a, H5b, H5c, and H5d are verified.
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Figure 7. Mediating Effect Model of Participation in Festival Activities Affecting Local Integration with Embodied Experience.
5. Analysis and Discussion
5.1. Research Hypothesis Verification Results
First of all, this paper conducts an empirical analysis of the impact of participation in festival activities on local integration by foreign students visiting China. The results show that participation in festival activities has a significant positive impact on the social integration and emotional integration of foreign students visiting China. Participation in activities has a significant positive impact on the local integration of foreign students visiting China.
Secondly, the empirical analysis of the impact of participation in festival activities
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Figure 8. The mediating effect model of the influence of embodied experience on festival activities and place integration.
on the embodied experience of foreign students visiting China shows that participation in festival activities has a significant positive impact on the embodied experience and embodied situations of foreign students visiting China. Therefore, festival activity Participation has a significant positive impact on the embodied experience of international students visiting China.
Thirdly, the embodied experience of foreign students visiting China to participate in festivals and activities has a significant positive impact on social integration and emotional integration, so the embodied experience of international students visiting China has a significant positive impact on their local integration. The embodied situation of foreign students visiting China participating in festival activities has a significant positive impact on social integration and
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Figure 9. The process of testing mediator variables.
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Table 14. Mediating effect model test results.
Note: *** stands for p < 0.001; ** stands for p < 0.01; * stands for p < 0.05.
emotional integration, so the embodied situation of foreign students visiting China participating in festival activities has a significant positive impact on local integration.
Finally, both the embodied experience and the embodied situation of international students visiting China have a mediating effect in the process of participation in festival activities affecting local integration, so the embodied experience of international students visiting China has a mediating effect in the process of participating in festival activities affecting local integration. All the hypotheses in this paper have been verified (Table 15).
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Table 15. Summary of hypothesis verification situations.
5.2. Analysis and Summary of the Impact of Participation in Festival Activities on Local Integration
5.2.1. The Impact of Participation in Festivals and Events on Local Integration
Festival participants can enhance their cognitive identity, emotional identity, and intentional identity to the place, thereby improving their sense of belonging and happiness to the place. Participation in festivals and events is an important part of the cultures of all nations, and they also play a very important role in Chinese society. For international students, participating in festivals and activities can help them better integrate into Chinese society.
One is to enhance cultural identity. Participating in festivals and events can help international students better understand Chinese culture and feel the charm of Chinese culture. This helps international students better integrate into Chinese society and enhance their sense of cultural identity. Some international students said that they participated in an international student cultural festival and were attracted by Chinese dance art. Now they are learning Chinese folk dance with local people.
The second is to promote social communication. Participation in festivals and events can allow international students to meet more Chinese friends and expand their social circle. This helps international students better integrate into Chinese society and promotes their communication and interaction with local people. Some international students said that through participating in the International Student Cultural Festival, they met several Chinese friends, and they often communicated together.
The third is to improve language skills. Participating in festivals and activities can allow international students to get more in touch with Chinese and improve their language skills. This helps international students better integrate into Chinese society and communicate better with local people. Some international students said that by participating in the International Student Cultural Festival, they had the opportunity to practice speaking Chinese and improved their ability to communicate with local people in Chinese.
The fourth is to enhance the emotional experience. Participation in festivals and events Participation can allow international students to experience Chinese culture and traditions first-hand, thereby enhancing their emotional experience. This kind of emotional experience can help international students better understand Chinese people’s way of thinking and behavior, to better integrate into Chinese society. Some international students said that during the process of participating in the International Student Cultural Festival, they felt the tradition of Chinese hospitality.
In short, participating in festivals and activities can help international students better integrate into Chinese culture and society, thereby promoting their social integration and emotional integration.
5.2.2. The Impact of Participation in Festivals and Events on the Embodied Experience of International Students
Participation in festival activities refers to a series of traditional cultural activities organized by social groups or individuals at a specific time and place. For example, China has traditional festival activities such as Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Lantern Festival. These festivals occupy an important position in the culture of various countries. For the Chinese, participating in festivals is not only a kind of cultural heritage but also a kind of identity and emotional bond. Participation in festivals and events is an important part of Chinese culture, which has a certain impact on the physical experience of international students. The mechanism of this effect can be explained from the following aspects:
One is cultural identity. Participation in festivals and events can enable international students to better understand Chinese culture and enhance their sense of cultural identity. In a foreign country, the lack of cultural identity will lead to loneliness and anxiety for international students, and participation in festivals and activities can help them better adapt to the new cultural environment and alleviate these negative emotions. Some international students said that they learned Chinese cooking skills at the International Student Cultural Festival, which added a lot of fun to their spare time.
The second is social interaction. Participation in festivals and events is a place for people to interact socially. Participating in events can allow international students to establish connections with local Chinese and expand their social circles. This kind of social interaction helps international students better understand the local culture and way of life and also helps them alleviate the cultural shock caused by cultural differences. An international student said that he made some friends at the International Student Cultural Festival, and everyone often helped each other, which also gave him a better understanding of the customs and habits of the local people.
The third is a bodily sensation. Participating in festivals and activities can allow international students to better feel the atmosphere and rhythm of Chinese culture. This physical experience can allow them to understand Chinese culture more deeply and enhance their sense of cultural experience. Some interviewees said that participating in the International Student Cultural Festival made him feel the enthusiasm and hospitality of the Chinese people, and also made him more willing to stay in this place.
The fourth is the establishment of emotional bonds. Participation in festivals and events is a very important part of Chinese culture. Participation in festivals and activities can help international students establish an emotional bond with Chinese culture. This emotional bond can help international students better understand and accept Chinese culture, to better adapt and integrate into the living and learning environment in China. Some interviewees said that the International Student Cultural Festival made him feel like a family atmosphere, and also increased his motivation to study.
In short, the mechanism of the impact of participation in festivals and activities on the embodied situation of international students is very complex, involving cultural identity, social network, emotional bonds, and other aspects. Participation in festivals and events can help international students better integrate into Chinese culture, enhance their sense of cultural identity and belonging, and alleviate the discomfort and loneliness caused by cultural differences.
5.2.3. The Impact of Embodied Experience on Place Integration
When people physically participate in local activities, they can more easily meet and communicate with residents, thereby establishing closer social ties. As an international student, embodied experience can affect how well they integrate into the society of the target country. Embodied experience refers to the knowledge and experience acquired by individuals through personal experience, including cultural, social, economic, and political knowledge. This kind of experience can affect the degree to which international students understand and accept the culture of the target country, thereby affecting their social integration. The mechanism of embodied experience affecting social integration can be explained from the following aspects:
First, differentiated cognition and adaptation, and the embodied experience of international students can affect their understanding and acceptance of the target country’s culture. If international students have sufficient cultural background knowledge and experience, it may be easier for them to adapt to the cultural differences of the target country and thus better integrate into society. Some interviewees said that participating in the International Student Cultural Festival, through talking with local people and participating in various art activities, gave them a deeper understanding of the local people, and he was more willing to deal with the local people.
The second is the ability of social interaction. The embodied experience of international students can affect their social and communication skills. If international students have sufficient social experience and skills, it may be easier for them to connect with local people and thus better integrate into society. Some interviewees said that participating in the International Student Cultural Festival and interacting with local people has taught them many communication skills and made more Chinese friends.
The third is the improvement of language ability. During the process of studying and living in the target country, international students will be exposed to the language and culture of the local people. By learning the local language, international students can better communicate with the locals, enhance their social skills, and thus better integrate into society. Some interviewees said that during the International Student Cultural Festival, they had more time to fully communicate with the locals, improved their Chinese conversation level, and gained more experience in dealing with the locals.
To sum up, the embodied experience of international students can affect their degree of integration into Chinese society. International students can learn Chinese culture and language, enhance their social skills, and better integrate into the local society.
When international students can integrate into the local culture and society, they can better adapt to the new environment, establish new interpersonal relationships, and better understand the local culture and values. This helps them better integrate into the local community and more easily participate in local social and cultural activities.
However, if international students cannot adapt to the local culture and society, they may feel lonely and excluded, which affects their emotional and mental health. In such cases, international students may choose to distance themselves from their countrymen groups rather than connect with locals, which hinders their integration.
Therefore, international students need to understand and adapt to the local culture and society. They can promote integration by participating in local cultural and social activities, learning the local language, and establishing connections with local people. At the same time, the local community can also take measures to provide support and assistance to international students and help them better integrate into the local community.
5.2.4. The Mediating Effect of Embodied Experience on Foreign Students’ Participation in Festivals and Activities Affecting Local Integration
Embodied experience refers to the perception and cognitive experience that people gain through the interaction between the body and the environment. This experience is based on the human sensory system and motor system, including the processing of sensory information such as touch, vision, hearing, smell, and taste, as well as the processing of motion information such as posture, movement, and balance of the human body. Embodied experience is one of the important ways for people to acquire knowledge and understand the world, and it is also an important basis for people to perceive and understand themselves. From the above analysis, it can be seen that through embodied experience, international students can increase their understanding of Chinese society and improve their language and social skills. It can also reduce feelings of loneliness and rejection. Participation in festivals and events can give international students a more fully embodied experience, which will undoubtedly increase their emotional integration and social integration, to better integrate into the local environment.
5.3. Research Implications
The research in this paper can expand the structural dimension and relationship model of embodied experience, event and place integration. On the basis of referring to relevant researches at home and abroad, this study will improve the measurement index system of international students’ festival participation, embodied experience and local integration, and test the validity of the three variable structures through data analysis, which will provide certain reference significance for the follow-up research on local integration of different subjects in China. At the same time, the relationship model between embodied experience, festival atmosphere and local integration is constructed to enrich the research model of the relationship between embodied experience, festival and local integration. It is of complementary significance to the practical case study based on the theory of embodiment and place integration. Through the relationship model of body-festival activity and local integration, this paper investigates and analyzes the relationship among international students’ physical experience, international students’ cultural festival and local integration, so as to dialogue the theory of embodied experience and supplement the real case. At the same time, the research on the relationship between the identity of international students, participation in festival activities and local integration will help to enhance the national and local attention to elite immigrant groups including international students, and provide new ideas for the government to formulate relevant policies, thus contributing to the sustainable development of local cultural integration.