Authentic Communication as a Strategic Communication Tool for Social and Cultural Integration among Immigrants in Sweden

Abstract: Strategic communication as an integrating discipline addresses social phenomenon as migration. When people relocate, they experience physical and mental stress, and seek guidance, questioning their sense of belonging. Authentic communication based on feminist values aims to build long-lasting relations and reach social inclusion by conducting more sensitive communication. This thesis explores the strategic use of authentic communication. This study argues that authentic communication based on care, trust, and commitment is aimed to increase the sense of belong among its participants, thus becomes a strategic communication tool for social integration. The qualitative study includes 10 interviews with Arab female immigrant communicators in Sweden to understand their authenticity and authentic practices through investigating their self-awareness, values, beliefs, and their communication strategies. The study is situated within the Feminism focus on understanding women's lives, and concerns to increase their visibility. The Authentic Leadership theory in this research discusses the importance of understanding identity and expressing personal experience to build one’s authenticity where this experience can be transported. The results showed that sharing authentic experience became guidance for both communicators and the audience to rediscover their identities. It also revealed that integrating norms of both home and host societies into communicators’ lives motivated them for a deeper self-reflection. The results showed that staying true to themselves and transparent to the audience assisted communicators to define cultural confusions and eliminate them.