Commentary on “Redefining Interactions Across Cultures and Organizations”

Abstract

The authors make two basic points in their commentary, both stemming from the field of cross-cultural psychology. First, in their view, intelligence is a concept that is highly variable across cultures; its meaning, development, display, and assessment are all embedded in cultural contexts. Thus, they consider that a single concept such as cultural intelligence (CQ) is unlikely to be culturally appropriate in all sociocultural settings. Second, when groups and individuals of different cultural backgrounds come into contact, the process of acculturation is set in motion. In this situation, two differing meanings of intelligence are likely to engage each other, bringing some challenges to the intercultural interaction, often resulting in stress, and sometimes in conflict. Eventually, some forms of adaptation are achieved, with the emergence of some effective ways of acting in the intercultural situation. The authors believe that these two points need attention during the further development of the concept of CQ.