Structure and identity of the European and the Mediterranean space: Cypriot students' perspective

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was firstly to describe how university students in a teacher education program perceive the structure of the European Union region as well as of three Mediterranean sub-regions (European, African, Asian) and secondly to examine students' attitude towards Mediterranean people. The data for the study were collected through a self-developed questionnaire from freshman, sophomore and junior students. Students' responses to 17 statements relative to the features of the above regions were factor analyzed through a principal components analysis. The results indicated that the European Union region was defined by three factors (Economic and Political Affairs, Cultural Production, Geomorphology) while each of the three Mediterranean sub-regions was defined by four factors (Economic and Political Affairs, Peoples' Mental States, Geomorphology, Cultural Production). Concerning students' attitude towards Mediterranean people it emerged that the respondents were more positive towards European Mediterranean people than towards people coming from the remaining two Mediterranean regions. When the comparison referred to African and Asian Mediterranean, the analysis favored African Mediterranean people.