The issue of national identity is one of the most important governance especially in societies composed of various ethnicities and cultures. The aim of the present research is to examine the impact of intercultural communication on the strengthening/weakening of national identity. The theoretical framework of this study is based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, which helps in understanding cultural differences.
This research employs a quantitative-survey method to investigate the relationship between intercultural communication and national identity among the youth in the cities of Kabul and Bamyan. To conduct the study, a researcher-made questionnaire with 53 items was designed, divided into three sections: intercultural communication, national identity, and ethnic identity. This questionnaire was made available online to the sampled population.
The sample size was determined to be 384 individuals using Morgan’s table and Cochran’s formula. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Frequency tests were used to describe demographic information, regression tests were used to determine the relationships between variables, and t-tests were employed to compare the mean scores of the variables.
The findings of the research indicate that there is a significant and direct relationship between intercultural communication and national identity, meaning that with an increase of one unit in the intercultural communication score, the national identity score increases by 0.437%. Furthermore, a significant and inverse relationship was found between intercultural communication and ethnic identity. Additionally, there is a significant and direct relationship between ethnic identity and national identity.