Abstract

CASTRO SOLANO, Alejandro. Assessment of cultural competence: Validation of the inventory ICC. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2012, vol.29, n.1. ISSN 1668-7027.

The global dimension of the contemporary world has led to an increase of the migration and contact between people of different nations and cultural backgrounds. While globalization has facilitated contact it also generated unrest among the various actors as a result of the conflict between systems of values, beliefs and customs. Different groups of migrants must face the daily challenge of trying to understand the language spoken by members of the host culture, interact with different people in a context of prevailing values, traditions and customs other than their own. International students, expatriates leaders, diplomats, soldiers serving on peacekeeping missions must adapt effectively to the host culture and succeed in their assigned task. Migrant populations are called temporary residents (sojourners) because they are people who migrate to a different cultural context for a relatively long time (6 months to 5 years) to perform a certain task bringing into play the skills of socio-cultural adaptation, which is defined as cultural competence. These skills are central to the effective performance of temporary residents who have to perform tasks in a different setting other than their own. There are a number of psychological instruments that predict the effective adaptation of the sojourners to a culturally diverse environment, evaluating specific traits that predict success or the global competence itself in a direct way. This study is part of the evaluation of cultural competence related to more stable traits linked to personality traits. This study aimed to design and validate a Spanish-language inventory (Inventory of Cultural Competence, ICC) to assess the dimensions of intercultural contact relevant to socio-cultural and psychological adaptation of temporary residents (sojourners). It was based in a previous inventory: IAC (Inventory of Cultural Adaptation, Castro Solano, 2011) consisting of three dimensions. The final version of the ICC consisted of five dimensions (three belonged to the IAC: Openness to New Experiences, Autonomy and Independence, Acceptance of Cultural Diversity and two were included in this study: Emotional Instability and Relationships). 334 subjects participated of this study (150 male and 184 female) who had an average of 33.86 years (SD = 13.84). All of them were residents of the City of Buenos Aires (n = 228, 68%) and the suburbs (n = 106, 32%). The results support the conclusion that the ICC has satisfactory psychometric properties (reliability and validity). We could verify evidences of internal validity. The ICC was composed of five dimensions. Of the eight original scales proposed for the ICC analysis only five could be retained in the final analysis. Regarding external validity, the ICC has evidence of convergent validity with the BFI (Big Five Inventory), with the CAO (Questionnaire Openness to Others) and the SWLS (Satisfaction With Life Scale). The results suggested that in the background underlies a unique dimension related to the degree of interest and willingness to get in contact with groups of different cultural backgrounds, called for some authors multicultural strength (Fowers & Davidov, 2006). Bennett and Bennett (2004) called this competence cultural sensitivity (cultural mindset) and it was considered the awareness that your values are different from the host cultural group. This representational domain includes attitudes such as curiosity about diversity and tolerance of ambiguity.

Keywords : Cultural adaptation; Migrants; Inventory; Cultural competences; Intercultural relations.

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