Summary:

Psychological distance, as one of the non-tariff export barriers, is a relatively new concept in
business literature and has not been studied much. One of the antecedents of psychological
distance - international experience, has not been diseussed a lot in the international business
literature as weU. This research on the perception of psychological distance by Russian
students at the University of Nordland and their international experience explores the nature
of two concepts, studies these concepts from the theoretical and empirical perspectives and
gives a detail ed explanation of what international experience is for Russian students at the
University of Nordland.
University of Nordland in Bodø, Norway has a dose cooperation with universities in many
countries. Russia is one of those countries, which Norway is in dose cooperation with, not
only in terms of education. Neighboring countries has a shared border and collaborate in a
number of industries. Therefore, it is important to study Russian-Norwegian cooperation.
This study provides evidence of psychological distance on the individual level and uses
explorative approach and semi-structured interviews for coUecting and analyzing data.
Russian students from Saint-Petersburg and Arkhangelsk have been interviewed on the
subject of international experience, perception of psychological distance and other
constituents of it.