Intercultural Competence by International Experiences? An Investigation of the Impact of Educational Stays Abroad on Intercultural Competence and Its Facets

Intercultural competence (ICC) can be defined as a complex of abilities that are needed to interact with people from other cultures adequately and effectively. The goal of the present study was to investigate the development of ICC during international experiences. We conducted a quasi-experimental...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of cross-cultural psychology Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 488 - 514
Main Authors Wolff, Fabian, Borzikowsky, Christoph
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2018
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Competence
Cultural identity
Intercultural competence
Longitudinal Studies
Quasi-experimental methods
Selfappraisal
Germany
cultural identity reflection
intercultural competence
Test to Measure Intercultural Competence
intercultural sensitivity
onion model of intercultural competence
cross-cultural competence
developmental: social
stays abroad
cultural psychology
international experience
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Summary:Intercultural competence (ICC) can be defined as a complex of abilities that are needed to interact with people from other cultures adequately and effectively. The goal of the present study was to investigate the development of ICC during international experiences. We conducted a quasi-experimental longitudinal study with a sample of N = 273 individuals. Whereas 199 participants went abroad for at least 3 months, the remaining 74 participants stayed in Germany during the same period. ICC was operationalized with the short version of the Test to Measure Intercultural Competence, which measures six facets of ICC multi-methodically with a self-appraisal test and a situational judgment test. We calculated regression analyses within the framework of change score models, thereby yielding significant increases in global ICC after 3 months abroad. Analyzing the six facets of ICC, we found the greatest increase for Cultural Identity Reflection, which is defined as intensively and constantly reflecting upon one’s own cultural character. We discuss our results with regard to the conceptualization of ICC and the relevance of stays abroad.
ISSN:0022-0221
1552-5422
DOI:10.1177/0022022118754721