Do Erasmus students develop a European identity? How social interactions change the way citizens think about Europe

It might be expected that citizens who interact more frequently with people from other EU countries would be more likely to develop a European identity. But how do these kinds of social interactions affect identity in practice? Presenting research on the views of exchange students who have participated in the Erasmus programme, Florian Stoeckel writes that Erasmus students do tend to exhibit a stronger European identity once they return to their native country, but that this effect depends on the type of interaction they experience when abroad.