Search Results (14)

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between Cultural Intelligence (CI) and Intercultural Sensitivity (IS) and to test the mediating role of Internationalisation in Higher Education (IHE). A correlational survey design was employed with full-time academics in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (N = 391). Standardised instruments were administered: the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS), the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), and the Internationalisation Perception Scale for Academics (IPSA). Construct validity and reliability were verified via confirmatory factor analysis, and the structural model was estimated using structural equation modelling (SEM) in SPSS–AMOS. The analysis revealed that CI exerts a positive and statistically significant effect on IS. CI was also found to be positively associated with IHE, and IHE demonstrated a positive and significant effect on IS. Mediation testing indicated that IHE functions as a significant partial mediator of the CI–IS relationship. Robustness checks with control variables showed that academic rank and faculty type have small but significant positive associations with IS. Overall, the findings suggest that the development of CI among academic staff directly enhances intercultural responsiveness and, additionally, strengthens IS through engagement with internationalisation processes. The results provide practical guidance for universities seeking socially sustainable internationalisation, indicating that institution-level strategies that embed intercultural learning and support academics’ international engagement may amplify the translation of CI into demonstrable intercultural sensitivity. Full article

The Cultural STEM Night (CSN) initiative was developed to address the persistent lack of culturally relevant STEM teaching materials, which often contributes to student disengagement—particularly among underrepresented populations. This study examined the impact of the CSN program on enhancing STEM affinity and cultural intelligence (CQ) among American and Korean teacher candidates. Over six weeks, participants engaged in synchronous workshops, virtual cultural exchanges, and collaborative STEM lesson design integrating Korean cultural contexts. Quantitative analysis of pre- and post-program surveys using the STEM Affinity Test and Cultural Intelligence Scale revealed statistically significant improvements across all subdomains of STEM affinity (identity, interest, self-concept, value, and attitudes) and in most dimensions of CQ (metacognitive, cognitive, and behavioral). However, motivational CQ did not show significant gains, likely due to limited student interaction time during the event. Qualitative data from written reflections and focus group discussions supported these findings, indicating increased instructional adaptability, cultural awareness, and confidence in designing inclusive STEM lessons. These results demonstrate the transformative potential of interdisciplinary, culturally immersive programs in teacher education. The CSN model, supported by digital collaboration tools, offers a scalable and effective approach to preparing educators for diverse classrooms. Findings underscore the importance of integrating culturally responsive teaching into STEM education to promote equity, engagement, and global competence. Full article

The study analyzes the impact of intercultural friendship on cultural intelligence (CQ), which is defined as an individual’s ability to operate effectively in a new intercultural environment. Two hypotheses were tested using an online questionnaire completed in the autumn of 2022 by 358 university students from a private university in Prague, Czech Republic. The participants represented 26 countries, with the majority being Czech nationals. The hypotheses were as follows: (1) overall cultural intelligence, and (2) all its components (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral) would be higher or lower depending on whether individuals had close social ties, operationalized by the binary variable “intercultural friendship”. The first hypothesis was confirmed. However, the second hypothesis was only supported for the motivational and cognitive facets of CQ. Our results indicate that CQ is fundamentally a relational construct, developing primarily through contact with members of other cultures. Contextual factors, such as language skills, travel to foreign countries, residence abroad, and the frequency of intercultural contacts, create situational prerequisites for establishing closer intercultural relationships. However, they do not contribute directly to the development of intercultural skills but rather do so indirectly through these relationships. Full article

A growing amount of research is being conducted on cultural intelligence (CQ), which is the ability to adjust and adapt successfully to a variety of surroundings. CQ is a vital quality for people in diversified societies, as are seen today. However, it is still unclear how an individual can develop or strengthen CQ because previous studies have shown that variables such as foreign experience and personality are not exclusively sufficient as CQ antecedents. If CQ can be treated health-scientifically, as the CQ developers argue, diet and exercise that are effective in keeping the body and brain healthy may also correlate with CQ. It is of great significance to clarify the relationship between lifestyle and CQ by applying recent previous research showing the relationship between CQ and both the brain and intelligence, as well as between lifestyle and both the brain and intelligence. Using data derived from 142 Japanese businesspersons, the results of structural equation modeling indicate that lifestyles (dietary balance and walking frequency) are significantly associated with CQ after controlling for personalities (curiosity and grit) and international experiences (length of studying and working abroad), which have been used as predictors of CQ in previous studies. Furthermore, the moderation test showed that the effect of dietary balance on increasing CQ is greater for people with less overseas experience, indicating that dietary balance compensates for lack of overseas experience in the effect of maintaining the level of CQ. These suggest the effectiveness of a health-scientific approach to the influencing factors of CQ. This study is the first to show that CQ is influenced by lifestyle such as walking and dieting, in addition to personality and overseas experience, and will contribute to the future development of health science and cross-cultural research. Full article

Drawing upon person-environment fit, specifically demands–abilities fit, this paper examines the impact of hospitality employees’ cultural intelligence (CQ) on their voice behavior and job satisfaction. Data were collected from domestic contact employees working for restaurants in three major cities in the United States. The results of the PLS-SEM model show that CQ has a positive effect on employees’ voice behavior through self-efficacy. Further, CQ has a positive effect on job satisfaction through a sequential mediation of self-efficacy and voice. This study contributes to the CQ and voice literature, utilizing CQ as a person’s ability to meet job requirements. This study also has important practical implications for hospitality practitioners who depend on employee voice for the success of organizations in today’s ever-changing global environment. Full article

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the importance of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) in management performance through measurable performance assessment. In an empirical study, “Cultural Intelligence and Management Competencies”, managers provided a self-assessment and their subordinates also reported on their performance. Correlation analysis of the results of this study was used to examine the relationship between managers’ CQ and their Management Competencies. Among the factors examined (CQ, gender, origin, age, work experience, position and education), the level of CQ of managers correlates significantly with their management competencies. Our findings indicate that managers with higher CQ are more effective in their leadership roles, and we conclude that the CQ of leaders contributes to a more positive perception of leadership performance in teams that are characterized by significant cultural diversity. Full article

If an individual who lives abroad feels satisfied, they are able to develop their ability to function in the new culture. The satisfaction with life abroad depends on cultural intelligence (CQ): people with higher CQ easily adapt to a new culture. Our article seeks to understand the relationship between CQ and satisfaction with life abroad using two new variables—culture shock and cultural identity. The direct and indirect relationships between all variables have been investigated using a sample of 194 predominantly international students studying at Czech universities and the PLS SEM statistical technique. The results have shown that CQ is a positive predictor of dependent variable satisfaction with life abroad. When two mediators—cultural identity and culture shock—were added, we found out that the CQ is a positive predictor of the former and a negative predictor of the latter. The analysis of multiple mediations has further confirmed the indirect influence of culture shock (but not cultural identity) on the direct relationship between cultural intelligence and satisfaction with life. Full article

The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) has resulted in several improvements in diverse aspects of the organizational structures, including the introduction of virtual teams (VTs). Organizations rely on VTs since they bring a lot of benefits, such as the enhancement of organizational performance. However, effective VTs cannot exist without the proper implementation of decision-making processes. There is a lack of scientific research that attempts to understand the factors affecting decision-making processes in VTs. Studies in this area have only been conducted in the United States and Europe. However, such research has not been conducted in the Middle East, where specific scientific solutions are still required to improve the performance of VTs. Therefore, this study is conducted in the Middle East to gain scientific knowledge on this region’s specificity. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the factors that affect VT decision-making processes. An online survey was used to collect data (Google forms) from companies in the IT industry in UAE, which are engaged in VTs. A literature review, survey methods, and structural equation modeling were used. The results showed that culture intelligence (CQ), transformational leadership (TL), and task conflict have a positive effect on VT decision-making processes, and relationship conflict has a negative impact on VT decision-making processes, which provides the management teams with a guideline on what to concentrate on in the measuring and enhancement of the effectiveness of VT decision making. Full article

Background: There are more and more foreigners in Poland who become clients of the Polish healthcare system. They use, among others, emergency medical services provided by healthcare professionals: doctors, nurses, and paramedics. Skillful care for culturally different patients requires cultural competencies and cultural intelligence to ensure good quality of care and cultural safety. The study aimed to measure and assess the cultural competencies and cultural intelligence of medical professionals working in hospital emergency departments (HEDs) and hospital emergency rooms (HERs) in Małopolska, a region in southern Poland. Methods: The following questionnaires were used in the study: the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory (CCCI), the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS), and Questionnaire on Attitudes Towards Culturally Divergent People. In total, 709 medical professionals participated in the study, including 363 nurses, 223 paramedics, and 123 doctors. Results: Cultural intelligence—the overall score and the scores on the metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral subscales were significantly higher among HED and HER doctors. Cultural competencies—the overall score and the score on the cultural adaptation subscale were also significantly higher among HED and HER doctors. The CCCI and CQS scores were influenced by selected variables: taking care of and close interactions with representatives of other cultural circles; staying outside Poland for more than a month. Doctors were the group of medical professionals that were most tolerant and most positive towards people from other cultures. Conclusions: The research results confirm the positive impact of contact of medical professionals with people from other cultures on their cultural competencies and cultural intelligence. They indicate the need for training in acquiring cultural competencies and developing cultural intelligence, especially among nurses. They demonstrate the need to raise awareness among HED and HER medical professionals about issues in intercultural care and to increase diversity efforts, especially among nurses. Full article

Cultural intelligence (CQ) and psychological capital (PsyCap) are two critical characteristics that can be leveraged to develop dynamic hotel frontline employees capable of sustaining service excellence. While both the hotel industry and researchers have followed this trend, there are few studies in the research setting that delve into this relationship. This study examines the effects of cultural intelligence on service quality with psychological capital serving as a mediating variable. To confirm the proposed hypotheses, this study collects 300 questionnaires from four- and five-star hotels. For quantitative analysis, partial least squares structural equation modelling was used. The findings revealed that PsyCap is favorably associated with three components of CQ (metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral elements). Simultaneously, the CQ cognitive and behavioral elements were found to be positively related with service quality (SQ). These findings offer hotel managers practical guidance on how to evaluate critical internal resources and capabilities as a source to implementing and sustaining human resource practices. Full article

Cultural intelligence measures an individual’s ability to succeed in a culturally unknown environment. Self-efficacy expresses self-confidence in one’s own ability to handle a situation. The two concepts are closely linked, as confirmed by a number of previous studies. Using the multivariate method PLS-SEM, the predictive effect of CQ on self-efficacy is investigated; compared to previous studies, the relationship causality is reversed. A sample of 190 university students was also tested for how this relationship is moderated by two categorical variables: work experience abroad and gender. The results showed that cultural intelligence is a predictor of intercultural self-efficacy in communication. Its impact on the endogenous variable (self-efficacy) is rather weak, but significantly strengthened by work experience abroad. Gender has no effect on this relationship. Full article

Background: Since 2012, education standards in medical faculties in Poland have allowed medical universities to introduce content related to multiculturalism. On the one hand, this creates a necessity to introduce new strategies, forms, and techniques of education aimed at the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in terms of multiculturalism. On the other hand, there is a need to evaluate their effects. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the cultural competence and cultural intelligence of master’s degree nursing students before the commencement of and two months after cultural education training in the form of the intercultural communication workshops included in the study program. Methods: The following questionnaires were used in the study: the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory (CCCI) and the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS). Two consecutive classes (2019 and 2020) of master’s nursing students were tested twice (pre-test, post-test). The study was conducted at a leading medical university that educates nurses at a master’s level in Poland. In total, 130 master’s nursing students took part in this evaluative study: 64 individuals in 2019 (study 1) and 66 individuals in 2020 (study 2). Results: In comparison to the pre-test, the post-test showed that the surveyed students in both study 1 and study 2 obtained significantly higher overall results in terms of cultural intelligence (p = 0.001; p = 0.004, respectively) as well as in the behavioral (p = 0.001; p = 0.002) and cognitive (p = 0.001; p = 0.008, respectively) subscales. The cultural competence results were also higher overall, but the difference was insignificant. Conclusions: The study shows the efficiency of training/workshops in the development of culturally specific knowledge and cultural intervention skills. At the same time, it postulates the need to plan and organize cultural education programs in a form that aims to improve the development of culturally sensitive attitudes. Full article

As the business environment and its workforce’s composition have become more diversified, more attention has been paid to cultural intelligence or the ability to effectively function in such an environment. Various attempts have been made to measure and develop leaders and staff members’ cultural intelligence. The Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) is the most representative tool for measuring cultural intelligence worldwide and has been frequently used in South Korea. Although CQS validity has been verified for each country and cultural region, it has been used without psychometric verification in South Korea and simply translates the original scale into Korean. This study’s objective was to test CQS validity when employed with the employees of South Korean companies. It applied the Rasch measurement model to confirm the validity in various aspects. First, this study calculated an item adequacy index and performed point biserial correlation analysis. The results showed that all values were above the appropriateness threshold. A Likert scale response test was conducted to check actual validity. The results confirmed that the 7-point rating scale was valid, and the item–subject map proved that the CQS items reflected the respondents’ ability distribution relatively well. Rasch factor analysis for confirming the internal structure’s validity revealed that CQS showed a multidimensional factor structure. Lastly, this study checked differential functioning items by position to secure evidence of generalization validity. It was confirmed that it has an appropriate level of generalization-related validity. Full article

In culturally diverse career settings, some designers are performing more effectively than others. The competence and intelligence behind their performance are crucial to sustainable career development in the highly competitive and globalized design industry. We believe that cultural intelligence (or CQ as a shorthand label) is highly required in such cross-cultural design situations, and it could be trained and improved through design education. Therefore, to better prepare students in design colleges for sustainable career development, we extend and assess the CQ model in design education. We begin the study by determining the demographic differences of design students in terms of CQ, then clarify associations between CQ and competitive advantage. The results of variance analyses using both a t-test and ANOVA showed that education level had a significant effect on two dimensions of CQ (cognitive and motivational CQs), whereas gender, age, and design field did not have significant effects on any dimensions of CQ. Further, step-wise regression analyses demonstrated that three dimensions of CQ (motivational, metacognitive, and behavioral CQs) had significant impacts on competitive advantage. Based on these results, theoretical and practical implications, as well as suggestions for future studies, are further discussed. Full article