Psychological Foundations of Xenophilia: Understanding and Measuring the Motivational Functions of Exploratory Cross-Cultural Contact.

Two multipart studies (total N = 1,638) were conducted to introduce and test a functional perspective on exploratory cross-cultural contact. Studies 1a and 1b addressed the lack of standardized measures and developed a psychometrically valid inventory of six individual motivational functions: knowledge and understanding, value expression, professional advancement, social development, personal-, and group-image concerns. Studies 2a and 2b produced experimental evidence that different environments offer differing "fulfillment opportunities" such that the motivating potential of a distinct contact function results from a function by environment fit. First, participants were more persuaded by and wanted to visit a cultural center more when it matched their motivational functions (Study 2a). Second, participants showed a preference to choose an intercultural interaction partner with a higher potential over a partner with a lower potential to fulfill their primary cross-cultural contact motivation (Study 2b, preregistered). Theoretical and practical implications of this perspective are discussed.