Experiential CQ Education: An empirical process specification.

Increased multi-cultural contact has become a global reality that commercial organizations, universities and managers are almost certainly required to navigate. Cultural intelligence (CQ) has emerged as a promising platform to inter-cultural contact realities. Modern cross-cultural training has embraced CQ and a few general CQ education approaches have recently emerged. However, given these general approaches, relatively little work has empirically investigated specific processes by which increased CQ capacity can most effectively be achieved via these educational and developmental efforts. This study fills that gap by specifying a process in which experiential contact with members of a different cultural group can contribute to the development of an individual’s ability to effectively function in culturally diverse contexts. The hypothesized model, grounded in contact theory and experiential learning research, proposes that contact type influences the development of cultural intelligence (CQ) by means of disconfirmation and an increase in stereotype awareness and alteration. The process was tested in a theoretically-based CQ education program with management students and professionals. The results, based on structural equation modeling, confirmed the important roles of disconfirmation, stereotype awareness, and stereotype alteration in a process for CQ development. Managers and educators understanding this process are better equipped to craft effective CQ development, training, and education efforts.