Resumen de Social Representations: International Students In Portugal Perceptions Of The Host Country Depending On Their Country Of Origin

Maria Helena Padrão, Inês Guerra Santos, Sandra Marnoto, Reinaldo Padrao, Clementina Oliveira

• This study intends to be an extension of another, already published in 2012 titled "ERASMUS students in Portugal: The perception and the impact of international crisis." However, even if both studies remain in the domain of social representations, what we propose is a comparative analysis of how international students in Portugal look at the host country depending on being, or not being, from Latin countries. In methodological terms, we decided to construct a questionnaire that was subjected to statistical analysis. We present some comments on the evolution of the Portuguese economy, before and after the crisis, and on the importance of EU policies to improve the perception of European values among students.