Bicultural individuals and intercultural effectiveness

Abstract

Biculturals – people who have internalised more than one cultural profile – are an under explored result of globalisation. This new and growing demographic presents some important challenges and opportunities for international management. Our study explores the idea that biculturalism fosters cultural general skills that can be useful in today's multinational organisations. Results indicate that biculturals have more pronounced skills related to intercultural effectiveness than monoculturals, including a higher level cognitive skill called cultural metacognition that directly influences intercultural effectiveness. We also explore the idea that those bicultural individuals who experience conflict in their cultural identity development have higher levels of these skills. We discuss implications of these findings for international management.