What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence

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 s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Miroslav Jurásek, Petr Wawrosz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-10-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/11/569
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850266529256439808
author Miroslav Jurásek
Petr Wawrosz
author_facet Miroslav Jurásek
Petr Wawrosz
author_sort Miroslav Jurásek
collection DOAJ
description 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.
format Article
id doaj-art-fe68cd8f211c448aa7d0a4a42b9f152b
institution OA Journals
issn 2076-0760
language English
publishDate 2024-10-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Social Sciences
spelling doaj-art-fe68cd8f211c448aa7d0a4a42b9f152b2025-08-20T01:54:08ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602024-10-01131156910.3390/socsci13110569What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural IntelligenceMiroslav Jurásek0Petr Wawrosz1Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economic Theories, Czech University of Life Science, 16500 Prague, Czech RepublicFaculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economic Theories, Czech University of Life Science, 16500 Prague, Czech RepublicThe 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/11/569cultural intelligence (CQ)intercultural/cross-cultural friendshipCQ theoriesantecedents of CQ
spellingShingle Miroslav Jurásek
Petr Wawrosz
What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence
Social Sciences
cultural intelligence (CQ)
intercultural/cross-cultural friendship
CQ theories
antecedents of CQ
title What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence
title_full What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence
title_fullStr What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence
title_full_unstemmed What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence
title_short What Does ‘Having Close Friends from Abroad’ Mean for the Intercultural Competencies: A New View on the Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence
title_sort what does having close friends from abroad mean for the intercultural competencies a new view on the antecedents of cultural intelligence
topic cultural intelligence (CQ)
intercultural/cross-cultural friendship
CQ theories
antecedents of CQ
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/11/569
work_keys_str_mv AT miroslavjurasek whatdoeshavingclosefriendsfromabroadmeanfortheinterculturalcompetenciesanewviewontheantecedentsofculturalintelligence
AT petrwawrosz whatdoeshavingclosefriendsfromabroadmeanfortheinterculturalcompetenciesanewviewontheantecedentsofculturalintelligence