Domain and Development of Cultural Intelligence

The potential for defining a reliable measure of a cross-cultural facet of intelligence has enormous implications for explaining and predicting the increasingly prevalent cross-cultural interactions that occur in business settings. In this article, the author presents a definition of cultural intelligence (CQ) that explicitly introduces the concept of mindfulness as a key component that links knowledge with behavioral capability. It builds on previous definitions by grounding the conceptualization in the cognitive domain and differentiating CQ as a capability that includes skilled behavior. However, alternatives to previous conceptualizations with regard to the constituent elements and their relationship to each other are presented with a view toward a tighter specification of the construct. Also, a developmental stage model of CQ is outlined. Implications for the assessment of CQ are discussed.