Conceptual and Measurement Issues

Abstract

Motivated in part by the globalization of the workplace, the concept of cultural intelligence has become enormously popular. It sought to answer the question of why individuals who were intelligent, had good social skills and were emotionally mature did not function effectively across cultures. However, since its introduction issues have been raised about both the conceptualization of the construct and its measurement. Issues with the construct of cultural intelligence include: the fundamental question of whether or not such a cultural general construct can exist? is cultural intelligence conceptually distinct from cross-cultural competence, global mindset, multicultural personality or a host of other related concepts? if cultural intelligence is distinct, what elements comprise the concept and how are these multiple facets related to each other and to the overall construct? In this chapter, we discuss conceptual distinctions between the two competing models of cultural intelligence. We also discuss issues related to the two instruments developed from the two competing models. The most popular measure, the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) has been subjected to a number of independent validation studies and received critical reviews. While the Short Form Cultural Intelligence Scale (SFCQ) is conceptually distinct and has been subjected to a rigorous validation process, it has not been independently validated.