1 Introduction
Intercultural competence is defined as the ability to interact efficiently and appropriately in intercultural situations. Nowadays, it is important for German students to compete on the international labor market (Thomas, 2005b). Furthermore, the ability to reach one’s own goals in one’s cultural system (referred to as social competence) is similarly important (Kanning, 2019). As a consequence, schools and universities put an increasing amount of effort into intercultural and social education of pupils and students. With Erasmus+ four million students have already had the opportunity to study abroad and therefore to acquire intercultural competence (Erasmus +, 2017). Similarly, schools follow the trend to offer stays abroad as part of their curricula. Yet, even though schools and universities show motivation to send pupils and students abroad, research on the relationship of pupils’ and students’ social and intercultural competence (Genkova et al., 2021) as well as on the differences between those two groups in terms of competence development is still scarce. Previous research demonstrated that pupils and students differ in both their identity and intercultural competence (Dziedziewicz et al., 2014; Mersch & Fricke, 2008).
Following a business psychological approach, it has to be noted that no company would allow the conduct of educational measures without testing the status quo of and the actual need for those measures thoroughly (Kanning, 2019). However, research examining intercultural and social competences for both students and pupils are hard to find. Even the interrelations between the competences remain scrutinized insufficiently. Therefore, the study at hand analyzes the interrelations between educational progress, pupils’ and students’ social and intercultural competence, and social identity. To do so, approaches of mainstream psychology (social competence, demographic variables) as well as concepts of intercultural psychology (intercultural competence, intercultural aspects of social identity, tolerance) will be taken into consideration.
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2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Social Competence
Irrespective of the increasingly important role of social competence in modern working life, the definition of social competence is still ambiguous (Kanning & Heilen, 2016). The term competence is associated with the potential to act successfully in a certain situation, thus achieving one’s goals (Greif, 1997). Erpenbeck and Rosenstiel (2003) describe comprehensively that competent behavior is comprised of a high degree of self-organization and learning processes in order to achieve short- and long-term goals in various situations. Additionally, Westera (2001) emphasizes the crucial role of problem solving skills, for example, to solve problems of social interaction (how can I convince someone to help me?) as well as problems of self-organization and learning processes (how do I learn the best after being rejected?). Considering that interpersonal communication is often challenging, especially when trying to influence someone, the ability to deal with conflicts and the willingness to cooperate are core elements of social competence (Asendorpf & Neyer, 2012). Thus, a person is socially competent if he/she is able to pursue one’s own goals in a social situation without worsening the relationship with the interaction partner. Social competence describes the optimal compromise between self-realization and social compatibility. It becomes clear that social competence is an important competence to have for pupils and students who interact and communicate on a daily basis with others.
Besides the general ability to interact, interpersonal interaction is determined by several factors. Particularly when it comes to the contact between people from different social and cultural groups. Intergroup interactions are often challenging and emotionally loaded, as group membership roots in the social identity of a person (Genkova, 2019).
2.2 Social Identity
The concept of social identity has been described comprehensively in this book [see Sect. 2], thus the following will only summarize aspects essential to the study at hand. The Social Identity Theory (SIT)/ Social Categorization Theory-approach is one of the core concepts of social psychology and analyses the self-concept in relation to group membership and group processes (Hogg, 2016).
People show strong tendencies to categorize themselves and others based on the subjective perception of attributes such as skin color, heritage or favorite ice-cream. The thus formed social groups are associated with the idea of stereotyped group members. These individuals carry characteristics that define the membership to the respective group. Obviously, each individual also perceives itself as a member of several groups: for example, fans of a certain football club, their family or Germans (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). According to the concept of interpersonal-intergroup continuum, perception of oneself and others can vary between two extremes: interpersonal and intergroup. On the interpersonal level, the interaction between two or more people refers to the persons’ individual traits and their unique relationship to each other. In contrast, perception on the intergroup level assesses the behavior of two or more people as being solely based on their group membership. Consequently, individuals are expected to act as representatives of their group (Turner, 1999). In sum, the SIT states that people divide themselves and others into groups. The individual derives his/her social identity and defines him/herself based on the group membership (van Dick, 2001). In addition, people strive to have a positively connotated social identity. It is important for most individuals that the ingroup is rated as better compared to relevant outgroups in terms of meaningful traits and attributes.
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2.3 Intercultural Competence
Comparable to social competence, intercultural competence has multiple theoretical approaches. Intercultural competence cannot be summarized as a single domain of competence, but is composed of a variety of different qualifications and skills. The definition of intercultural competence roots in an understanding of culture, as it plays an important role in relation to cultural circumstances and groups.
According to Thomas (2005a), each individual strives for an orientation system in his/her environment. The own culture can provide this guidance. Culture offers people a sense of purpose, which can be transferred to many things and objects. This process happens mostly unconsciously and is influenced by the norms and values of the culture. The individual orientation system develops over the entire course of one’s lifetime. This development is called “enculturation” or “inclusion into culture” and causes the acquisition of relevant behavioral, perceptional, thinking and evaluation patterns enabling the individual to effectively navigate through the social environment. However, since the development of those patterns is subject to a learning process, the patterns are not static but can be adapted to change within different environments and during lifetime.
In order to obtain intercultural competence, intercultural learning is necessary. Thomas (2005b) explains the three core obstacles needed to be overcome in intercultural contact situations. The demands of the own cultural orientation, the demands of the unfamiliar cultural orientation and the demands of the intercultural orientation. According to Thomas (2005b) the characteristics of the foreign group and the ingroup have to be balanced. Therefore, intercultural competence is defined as the ability to assess the underlying cultural assumptions and influences in one’s own and foreign perceptions, feelings and actions. Further, intercultural competence includes knowledge about the foreign orientation system and the consequences of one’s actions in this system. In addition, an intercultural competent person has understanding and respect for foreign thinking and behavioral patterns. This way, the interaction of two intercultural competent individuals should lead to cooperative behavior (Thomas 2005b; Hatzer & Layes, 2005). Thus, intercultural competent behavior is reflected in the sum of performance, personal adaptation and intercultural interactions of people in multicultural settings. Analogous to the Big Five personality factors, van der Zee and van Oudenhoven (2001) identified five personality traits that constitute intercultural competence in various settings: cultural empathy, openness, initiative, emotional stability, and flexibility. Cultural empathy is the ability to understand the thinking, behavior and feelings of culturally diverse people. Openness expresses an open and unprejudiced attitude towards cultural differences and new experiences. Initiative describes the active approach and shaping of social situations. Emotional stability is the ability to remain calm under new and stressful conditions. Flexibility means to interpret new situations as a positive challenge and wanting to adapt accordingly (van der Zee et al., 2013). Therefore, the process of learning intercultural competence is considered complex and can only be accomplished over an enduring period. Dziedziewicz, Gajda and Karowski (2014) showed that intercultural competence of children increased over time. However, they did not take sex as a potential predictor into account even though differences between men and women have been known for decades (Geary, 2010). Considering this, the study at hand considers both sex and age and raises the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1a: There are relations between participants’ age and sex and the social and intercultural competences.
In literature, there is a broad consensus that intercultural competence can only be obtained by getting into contact with other cultures (Genkova, 2019). Thus, experience is considered more important than age. Considering the high number of international students (Statista, 2019), the authors assume that studying at a university implies a strong increase in intercultural contact and therefore presume a higher intercultural competence for students than for pupils.
Hypothesis 1b: Students have higher intercultural competence than pupils.
Some educational institutions emphasize on their websites the facilitation of their students’ social competence via teamwork. During teamwork, team members have to cooperate, take responsibility and handle conflicts that can emerge during group work. Working in a team constitutes a complex social situation, which requires constant change between competition and cooperation. The two most important components of social competence, assertiveness and adaptation, are vital for successful teamwork. Yet, empirical evidence confirming the facilitation of social competence via teamwork and practical tasks is still lacking and up to now only theoretically supported (Kauffeld & Grote, 2000). A possible explanation amongst others is that teamwork is situation-dependent and difficult to assess (Bungard, 1995). Stürzl (1992) assumes a higher learning ability in groups, since group members organize themselves to conciliate different needs of the individuals (social learning process). In general, students at universities of applied sciences are more practical orientated compared to students at universities. They benefit from practical semesters and smaller class sizes, whereas universities lectures are often held with more than 100 students (Mersch & Fricke, 2008).
However, in a study by Kauffeld and Grote (2000) around 190 employees of 19 corporations discussed the potential of group work for facilitating social competence. No significant differences in social competence between employees who worked in a team, and those who did not, were obtained.
Furthermore, boundaries between universities of applied sciences and universities have become more and more fluid due to the Bologna reform of 2010. Universities began to introduce practical semesters and in turn, universities of applied sciences started to emphasize research (Mersch & Fricke, 2008). Therefore, no difference between types of universities is presumed.
Hypothesis 1c: There is no significant difference between the types of universities (i.e., universities of applied sciences and universities) regarding social competence.
There are parallels in the concepts of social and intercultural competences. In a cross-sectional study no relationships between intercultural competence and social competence were found. However, the different sub-dimensions of social competence were not taken into account (Genkova et al., 2021). The degree of social orientation, which is characterized by the ability to take the perception of others, might be related to the dimension of cultural empathy. Cultural empathy describes an important aspect of intercultural competence and is expressed by the ability to identify thoughts, feelings and schemes of people from other cultures. Furthermore, willingness for contact or high levels of extraversion are crucial components of social and intercultural competence. In the field of social competence, extraversion counts as part of the scale offensiveness. Individuals high in offensiveness approach their fellow people. Within an unfamiliar cultural environment, they make contact and are ready to enter conflicts while prepared to solve them (Kauffeld & Grote, 2000). Emotionally stable people are less guided by emotions and keep calm even in stressful and unfamiliar situations. Furthermore, they are flexible and can adapt their behavior to new situations. Unfamiliar cultural circumstances require a high degree of emotional stability and flexibility (van der Zee et al., 2013). Therefore, it can be expected that individuals with a high level of self-control also show a strong emotional stability and flexibility.
It becomes apparent that characteristics of social competence and intercultural competence are closely related. Hence, it is of high interest to examine the nature of the relationship (e.g., negative or positive, strength) between both constructs. Furthermore, the predictive power of social competence on intercultural competence is of interest. Based on this theoretical background, the following hypothesis is derived:
Hypothesis 2: Social competence predicts intercultural competence.
Since group members internalize convictions and values of the group through socialization, it is widely assumed that the group is also involved in the development of prejudices. Group membership does not necessarily predict the internalization of group specific prejudices, since each group member undergoes an individual personal development. However, prejudices against an outgroup can be used to enhance the individual sense of belonging and to strengthen self-esteem and social identity, respectively (Orth et al., 1996). The perception of and identification with one’s own group seems to be an important factor for the level of intercultural competence. Thereby, national identity is of special importance for intercultural interaction processes. National identity describes the identification with one’s nation and the belonging to a certain country, respectively (Orth et al., 1996). Recent research showed that pupils with a migration background were more rejected at school by their national classmates than pupils without a migration background. But classes with more than 66 % pupils with a migration background showed equal acceptance and rejection for immigrants and non-immigrants. It was concluded that the social context in a class has a greater influence on rejection and acceptance than the immigrants’ status. After a period of three years, the rejection was not existent anymore. Furthermore, pupils with a migration background were more accepted when they integrated themselves into the host culture (Asendorpf & Motti-Stefanidi, 2017). As national identification goes hand in hand with a stronger rejection of outgroup members (Asendorpf & Motti-Stefanidi, 2017), we assume national identification to relate weaker with levels of intercultural competence and stronger with expressions of intolerance towards the outgroup.
Hypothesis 3a: High identification with the national ingroup is negatively related to intercultural competence.
Hypothesis 3b: High identification with the national ingroup is positively related with intolerance towards other cultures.
Hypothesis 3c: Individuals with positive attitude values towards the outgroup have high values in openness towards other cultures (open-mindedness).
Further the willingness to interact with individuals from another culture is important in intercultural situations (Sam & Berry, 2011). The questions of whether an individual wants to maintain their own cultural background and whether he/she wants to interact with individuals from other cultures define an individual’s acculturation strategy (Berry, 1980 referring to Sam & Berry, 2011). As a result, four acculturation strategies can be distinguished: assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization. Assimilation describes the strategy that an individual does not tend to maintain the own culture but wants to interact with other cultures. This may lead to a complete take-over of another culture’s values and norms. Separation implies that an individual does not want to get in contact with other cultures but maintains his or her own culture’s norms and values. Usually, this strategy does not lead to appropriate behavior when interacting with foreign cultures. Individuals who prefer to maintain their own norms and values but are also willing to interact with other cultures can adapt and act appropriately. This strategy is called integration and is considered the most effective and common strategy to deal with other cultures. Marginalization describes individuals who do not want to maintain their own culture nor have contact with a foreign culture. This strategy can have its roots in forced loss of culture or discrimination. Needham et. al. (2017) showed that religious confession, household income, percentage of life spent in the USA and the level of English skills significantly predict the choice of acculturation strategy. Participants with no religious affiliation tended to pursue the assimilation rather than the separation strategy. A higher income led to the choice of the integration or assimilation rather than the separation strategy. Furthermore, poor English skills were more likely to lead to separation than to assimilation or integration.
In a study by Berry (2005), data was collected from 13 different countries and it was demonstrated that the acculturation strategy “integration” was overall favored, whereas marginalization was less popular. Similarly, the majority of German participants chose the strategies of integration and assimilation, whereas separation and marginalization were chosen less. In the same study, national identification has been shown to be related to the acculturation strategy. People with strong national identification preferred a separation strategy (Smokova, 2013). Hence, we expect to obtain comparable results regarding the acculturation strategy.
Hypothesis 4: Individuals high in identification with the national ingroup prefer the acculturation strategy “separation”.
3 Method and Sample
The present study followed a correlative cross-sectional design. A total of 310 students between 19 and 34 years (M = 23.58, SD = 2.86) completed an online survey along with 234 pupils between 16 and 19 years (M = 16.40, SD = 1.09), who filled in a paper-and-pencil questionnaire under the supervision of instructed teachers. Participants gave their consent to the scientific use of their anonymized data. They were informed that they could cancel their participation at any time without negative consequences. No incentives were offered.
3.1 Measurement Instruments
Overall, the questionnaire comprised 167 items. Time for completion ranged between 30 and 45 min. The scales only available in English were translated into German by Genkova et al. (2012) with the back-translation technique.
Students and pupils were given the same survey. Only the questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics were adapted to the groups accordingly. The following sections explain the reliability and the content of the single scales in detail.
3.1.1 Social Competence
The shortened version of the Inventory for Measuring Social Competence (ISK-K) by Kanning (2009) was used to measure social competence. The inventory serves as a multi-dimensional self-evaluation tool which measures the construct social competence in its entirety. Self-evaluation of participants was rated on 33 items with a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = “does not apply” to 4 = “totally applies”. The inventory contains four sub-dimensions: social orientation (10 items), offensiveness (8 items), self-control (8 items), and reflexibility (7 items).
3.1.2 National Identity
To assess national identity three sub-scales were merged: identification with Germany, attitudes towards non-Germans and superordinate identification with Europe (Waldzus et al., 2005; Waldzus & Mummendey, 2019). The three scales comprised 18 statements on a 9-point Likert scale (-4 = “does not apply at all” to + 4 = “totally applies”). The first scale contains 6 items (e. g., “I identify myself with the Germans”). The second scale followed the leading question „What do you think about people that differ from you?“ and tested the attitude towards the outgroup and citizens of other European countries. The scale consists of 7 items on four sub-scales: sympathy towards the outgroup, interest in intergroup contact, positive behavioral intentions towards the outgroup, and tolerance. The third scale contained 5 items and the leading question was “How do you perceive the European Union (EU)?” which referred to Europe as a superordinate category of social identification. Identification with the ingroup and superordinate identification with Europe, observed reliabilities between Cronbach’s α = .86. and α = .88. The internal consistency of the scale for testing attitudes towards non-Germans was at Cronbach’s α = .92 (Waldzus & Mummendey, 2019). The used scales are therefore considered reliable.
3.1.3 Acculturation Strategies
The scale to asses Acculturation Strategies was originally developed and validated by van Dick et al. (1997). Their survey was based on the acculturation model by Berry and Sam (1997). The results of Berry et al. (2010) confirm the model.
By assessing the scale, respective acculturation strategies of the individual can be identified, depending on his/her orientation towards the minority and the majority culture. Via two leading dichotomous questions (yes verus no), the acculturation strategy was assessed: Item 1 = “Do you see it as valuable, when people with a migration background have ties to the Germans and their culture?”; Item 2 = “Do you see it as valuable that people with a migration background want to keep their own cultural identity?” Depending on the answers about identity preservation and desired contact, the acculturation strategy of the participant was derived.
3.1.4 Tolerance
For the thorough investigation of participants’ tolerance towards people from other cultures (the outgroup), a shortened scale by Strobl and Kuehnel (2000) was administered. The scale measures the tolerance towards people with migration backgrounds. Strobl and Kuehnel (2000) developed the scale as an assessment tool for a school survey of the Criminological Research Institution Lower Saxony. The scale comprises 9 items (e.g., “Who does not adapt to Germany, should leave the country”; “People, which disseminate xenophobic paroles, harm everybody in the end”), answered on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = “does not apply at all” to 5 = “totally applies”.
3.1.5 Intercultural Competence
The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; van der Zee & van Oudenhoven, 2001) is a valid multi-dimensional instrument for the elicitation of intercultural competence. The questionnaire serves the purpose of describing peoples’ behavior in unfamiliar cultural settings. Furthermore, the questionnaire can be used to predict successful actions in an international context. The MPQ is a self-evaluation questionnaire with 91 items and comprises five dimensions: cultural empathy (18 items), open-mindedness (18 items), emotional stability (20 items), social initiative (17 items), and flexibility (18 items). The responses were given on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = “does not apply at all” to 5 = “totally applies”. A multitude of studies demonstrates internal consistency, reliability, and validity of the MPQ (van der Zee & van Oudenhoven, 2001; Leone et al., 2003).
From a survey with 210 students the following Cronbach’s alphas (α) were obtained: cultural empathy (α = .81), open-mindedness (α = .86), emotional stability (α = .91), social initiative (α = .90), and flexibility (α = .80) (van der Zee & van Oudenhoven, 2001). Data is available on request.
3.2 Sample
Regarding the distribution of sex, approximately 60 % of participants were female and 40 % were male. However, the pupil subsample was more evenly distributed with 46 % female pupils and 54 % male pupils, whereas for the student subsample more females were recruited (67 % female students and 33 % male students). The pupil subsample was recruited from six “Gymnasien” (similar to grammar schools) in Germany. Most students came from universities of applied sciences (51 %) and universities (45 %). The remaining students were registered at dual educational system schools or vocational schools (4 %). Furthermore, 93 % of the participants stated Germany as their home country, whereby 7 % had a migration background (among others, students from Czech Republic, Serbia, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Poland, Russia, Greece, and Ukraine). 85.6 % of the students and 63 % of the pupils preferred the acculturation strategy integration. The strategy separation was preferred by 13.6 % of the students and 26 % of the pupils, while the remaining participants preferred the assimilation strategy and no one preferred marginalization.
4 Results
To test if age is related to social and intercultural competences (Hypothesis 1a), bivariate correlation according to Spearman were applied. In Tab. 1 means, standard deviations and correlations of age with social and intercultural competence are shown. Results showed that the sub-dimensions social orientation (r = .162, p < .05), reflexibility (r = .171, p < .001), cultural empathy (r = .259, p < .001), and open-mindedness (r = .261, p < .001) correlated positively with age. Furthermore, social competence (r = .187, p < .001) and intercultural competence (r = .172, p < .001) were positively related to age.
Tab. 1
Mean, standard deviations and Spearman-Correlations of age with facets of social and intercultural competence
Variable | M | SD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.Age | 19.64 | 4.14 | – | - | - | - | - | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2. Social Orientation | 2.87 | 0.45 | .162** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
3. Offensiveness | 2.71 | 0.47 | −.014 | .064 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
4. Reflexibility | 2.69 | 0.55 | .055 | .090 | .411** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
5. Social Competence (ISK-total) | 2.79 | 0.27 | .187** | .548** | .680** | .592** | .372** | – | – | – | – | – | – |
6. Cultural Empathy | 1.52 | 0.50 | .259** | .529** | .193** | −.064 | .496** | .451** | – | – | – | – | – |
7. Open-Mindedness | 3.49 | 0.49 | .261** | .344** | .351** | .99 | .343** | .476** | .572** | – | – | – | – |
8. Social Initiative | 3.47 | 0.58 | .119 | .105 | .658** | .243** | .115 | .471** | .298** | .408** | – | – | – |
9. Flexibility | 3.12 | 0.47 | −.022 | −.047 | .143** | .135** | −.121 | −59 | −.005 | .250** | .250** | – | – |
10. Emotional Stability | 3.08 | 0.56 | −.067 | −.027 | .493** | .616** | −.323** | .376** | −.099 | .178** | .409** | .291** | – |
11. Intercultural Competence (MPQ-total) | 3.39 | 0.34 | .172** | .283** | .592** | .326** | .146** | .583** | .537** | .753** | .747** | .524** | .553** |
Differences between men and women were tested via t-test for independent samples. Results revealed that male and female participants differed from each other regarding all facets of social competence (i.e., social orientation, offensiveness, self-control, and reflexibility). Women showed higher expressions of social orientation (t(242) = 4.94, p < .001) and reflexibility (t(242) = 2.65, p = .009). Men showed higher levels of offensiveness (t(242) = −5.02, p < .001) and self-control (t(242) = −2.09, p = .038). Regarding intercultural competence, women showed higher expressions of cultural empathy (t(242) = 4.20, p < .001) while men on average scored higher on emotional stability (t(242) = −5.54, p < .001). Following Cohen (1988) a medium effect-size was detected for social orientation (d = 0.65), self-control (d = 0.66), cultural empathy (d = 0.55), and emotional stability (d = 0.73), while a small effect-size was found for offensiveness (d = 0.27) and reflexibility (d = 0.35).
To test if pupils and students show different expressions of intercultural and social competence (Hypothesis 1b), we conducted t-tests. Results revealed that students showed significantly higher levels of social orientation (t(241.9) = −3.87, p < .001; d = 0.49), reflexibility (t(242) = −3.52, p = .001, d = 0.45), cultural empathy (t(242) = −4.96, p < .001, d = 0.64), and open-mindedness (t(242) = −5.12, p < .001, d = 0.66).
To examine whether social competence vary between the types of universities (Hypothesis 1c), students were divided into two groups: those with expressions of the competence above or underneath the medians. Students from dual educational systems and vocational schools (N = 4) were added to students from universities of applied sciences. A Chi-square test revealed a relationship between type of university and flexibility (χ2 (3) = 7.95, p = .047, r = .233). Students from universities of applied sciences showed significantly higher means of flexibility (44 % of students from universities compared to 63 % of students from universities of applied sciences). No other sub-dimension was related to the type of university.
We further conducted multiple regression analyses to test if social competence predicts intercultural competence (Hypothesis 2). The four subscales of social competence (i.e., social orientation, offensiveness, self-control, and reflexibility) served as the independent variables (predictors). The facets of intercultural competence (i.e., cultural empathy, open-mindedness, emotional stability, social Initiative, and flexibility) depicted the dependent variables. Conditions for the conduction of multiple regression analysis (Homoskedasticity, normal distribution of residuals) were met sufficiently. Tab. 2 shows the results of the multiple regression analyses. The last line contains the determination coefficient R2 and R2corr. Results showed that the subscales of social competence significantly predicted the sub-dimension cultural empathy (F(4, 239) = 54.77, p < .001). The explained variance reached R2corr = .47. Open-mindedness was significantly predicted by social competence with F(4, 239) = 23.25, p < .001, R2 = .28. Social initiative was predicted only by offensiveness (F(4, 239) = 54.43, p < .001), explaining variance R2 = .48. Regarding flexibility, offensiveness and reflexibility (F(4, 239) = 3.61, p = .007, R2 = .06) showed to be significant predictors. Emotional stability was significantly predicted (F(4, 239) = 63.81, p < .001) by social competence with R2 = .52.
Tab. 2
Linear Regression Coefficients (unstandardized) of the four ISK-K dimensions predicting facets of intercultural competence
Cultural Empathy | Open-Mindedness | Social Initiative | Flexibility | Emotional Stability | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social Orientation | 0.459** | 0.259** | 0.085 | 0.230 | −0.044 |
Offensiveness | 0.199* | 0.318** | 0.667** | 0.144* | 0.355** |
Self-Control | −0.830 | 0.028 | 0.009 | 0.075 | 0.417** |
Reflexibility | 0.365** | 0.244** | 0.070 | −0.144 | −0.236** |
R2 | .478 | .280 | .477 | .057 | .516 |
R2ad | .470 | .268 | .468 | .041 | .508 |
Overall, it can be assumed that the higher the manifestation of social competence, the higher the tendency to have intercultural competence. With the exception reflexibility that negatively influences emotional stability and flexibility. In sum, Hypothesis 2 was confirmed.
Conducting a correlation analysis, a negative relationship between national identity and intercultural competence (Hypothesis 3a) was not confirmed (see Tab. 3). Overall, the results show that people, who strongly identify with the ingroup can show high levels of intercultural competence after all.
Tab. 3
Means, standard deviations and Spearman-Correlations of the variables intolerance/Xenophobia and facet of intercultural competence in terms of attitudes towards the outgroup
Variable | M | SD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Cultural Empathy | 1.52 | 0.50 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2. Open -Mindedness | 3.49 | 0.49 | .572** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
3. Social Initiative | 3.47 | 0.58 | .298** | .408** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
4. Flexibility | 3.12 | 0.47 | −.005 | .250** | .250** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
5. Emotional Stability | 3.08 | 0.56 | −.099 | .178** | .409** | .250** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
6. Intercultural Competence (MPQ-total) | 3.39 | 0.34 | .537** | .743** | .747** | .524 | .553** | – | – | – | – | – | – |
7. Intolerance | 1.5 | 0.49 | −.164** | −.325** | −.017 | −.089 | −.40 | −.210** | – | – | – | – | – |
8. Tolerance | 6 | 1.84 | .189** | .204** | −.060 | −.001 | −.022 | .089 | −.441** | – | – | – | – |
9. Identification with ingroup | 1 | 0.00 | .092 | −.092 | .018 | −.080 | .068 | −.003 | .247** | −.092 | – | – | – |
10. Attitudes towards outgroup | 1.5 | 0.50 | .201** | .358** | −.009 | .039 | .005 | .182** | −.525** | .752** | −.295** | – | – |
11. Sympathy towards outgroup | 1.44 | 0.50 | .143** | .269** | .019 | .061 | .006 | .143** | −.496** | .592** | −.248** | .848** | – |
12. Interest for Intercultural Contact | 1.35 | 0.48 | .135** | .303** | −.036 | .023 | .017 | .135** | −.365** | .452** | −.182** | .760** | .708** |
13. Positive Behavioral Intentions | 1.49 | 0.50 | .194** | .338** | .048 | .005 | .035 | .194** | −.384** | .428** | −.343** | .807** | .523** |
For the sub-dimensions of identification with the ingroup a significant positive correlation (r = .247, p < .001) with the dimension of intolerance towards people with migration background emerged (Hypothesis 3b). Further, intolerance correlated negatively with the total-scale of intercultural competence (r = −.210, p < .001). These results are contrary to the insight that no negative correlation between identification with the ingroup and intercultural competence was found.
By testing for relations between national identity and intercultural competence, it was investigated to what extent attitudes towards the outgroup, such as intolerance towards people with migration background correlate with facets of intercultural competence. Tab. 3 shows the results of bivariate correlations of the variables intolerance and facets of attitudes towards the outgroup with the dimensions of intercultural competence. The correlation coefficient signals highly significant but weak positive relationships between the dimensions of cultural empathy and open-mindedness and facets of attitudes towards the outgroup, such as sympathy towards the outgroup, interest for intergroup contact and positive behavioral intentions. Open-mindedness was positively related to attitudes towards the outgroup (r = .358, p < .001) along with positive behavioral intentions towards the outgroup (r = .338, p < .001). Thus, Hypothesis 3c was confirmed.
To examine Hypothesis 4, we conducted a Chi-square test. It showed the choice of acculturation strategy had no relation with the level of ingroup identification, but with the tolerance. People who were very tolerant chose the acculturation strategy integration more often. In contrast, people with low levels of tolerance rather chose the acculturation strategy separation or marginalization.
5 Discussion
The current study aimed to examine the relations between pupils’ and students’ social competence, national identity, and intercultural competence. Results showed that older participants (students), compared to younger participants (pupils), reported higher levels of social orientation, such as taking others’ perspectives, willingness to compromises, as well as reflexibility of direct and indirect self-evaluation. Furthermore, students showed a more open attitude towards the outgroup (open-mindedness) compared to pupils. Female participants expressed significant higher levels of social orientation and cultural empathy. Male students showed more capabilities to pursue their interests, were more engaged in social contact with others (offensiveness) and were more emotionally stable (emotional stability). Social competence seems to be a good predictor for intercultural competence. In this context, it can be assumed that people who show prosocial behavior succeed in taking the perspective of others and show a more open attitude towards the feelings, thoughts and lifestyles of groups from other cultures. These assumptions expand findings of our previous study on the relationship of intercultural and social competence (Genkova et al. 2021). Individuals who are capable to perceive and reflect the impact of their actions seem to be better at assimilating with unfamiliar cultures. They seek contact with locals and are more active in social situations.
Furthermore, the results indicate that individuals who get in contact with others more easily (offensiveness) are also capable to stay calm in stressful situations (emotional stability). However, reflexibility seems not to be a part of social competence. Furthermore, the results imply that a positive attitude towards the outgroup and the strive to act appropriately towards others (positive behavioral intentions) are often characterized by the ability to be open (open-mindedness) and emphatic with others (cultural empathy). These results support the findings of Berger et al. (2019) who showed that Erasmus students with high levels of cultural competence and foreign language skills experienced higher psychological well-being and support from locals. Also, Bender et al. (2019) found a positive relationship between social support and adaptation.
However, there was no connection between intercultural competence and national identity, even though people who stronger identified with the ingroup showed higher values of intolerance towards other members of the outgroup. Intolerance correlated negatively with the combined construct of intercultural competence. Thus, we conclude that intercultural competence might be related to national identity if the individual additionally expresses high levels of intolerance. As national identity and intolerance are correlated to a mediocre degree, we assume that negative outgroup stereotypes and intolerance mediate the relationship between national identity and intercultural competence. Future research ought to examine the proposed relations.
The results imply with the facilitation of social competence, especially social orientation, offensiveness and self-control, intercultural competence can be fostered simultaneously. We suggest an intensive examination of those competence dimensions for suitable training possibilities. It is important that pupils and students learn to take the perspective of others and are encouraged to interact with people of other cultures. Considering pupils reports of fewer social competences compared to students, implementations of learning possibilities seem to be particularly relevant for schools. Furthermore, emotional regulation seems to represent an important trait that should be fostered through educational institutions. Previous studies described in this book demonstrate that students in the field of STEM studies, as well as young professionals, are often unaware of the relevance of intercultural competence. Consequently, they do not strive to learn and improve relevant skills until it is too late and they find themselves stuck in a problematic intercultural interaction situation. While students in the current study show significant higher expressions of intercultural competence than pupils, we assume that pupils not only have fewer experiences with intercultural situations (which is unlikely, as the number of people with migration background in Germany increases), but are also unaware of the importance of intercultural competence. This implies that teaching pupils about intercultural interaction and the need to gain competence would create much better starting conditions for pupils in the international world. Future studies should investigate this assumption.
The literature provides an overview of a variety of methods on the acquisition of social and intercultural competences (i.e., Kanning, 2009; Waldzus et al., 2005; Orth et al., 1996; van der Zee & van Oudenhoven, 2001) The most frequently mentioned method is the cooperative form, also called teamwork. This method can be beneficial for pupils and students to develop social competence because of a mutual understanding and empathy together with the willingness to help others (Huber, 1985). Students at universities and universities of applied sciences did not show significant differences regarding their social competences, although students at universities of applied sciences are believed to engage more in group work. Consequently, it would be desirable to examine training methods in the area of cooperative learning regarding their efficiency. Berger et al. (2019) showed that universities with foreign students should pay attention to adequate social support and care in order to ensure that students in the host country adapt successfully and do not experience emotional stress. They reasoned that high cultural and linguistic competences, as well as social support of the outgroup, made the adaption to the host country easier for international students. Similarly, Franco et al. (2019) showed a negative relation between social support of the host country and acculturative stress of international students in the USA. Considering teamwork as a potential predictor of social (and probably intercultural) competences of pupils and students, team interaction should be supported by actions, such as mentoring or coaching, in order to help young individuals. Supportive actions would encourage young individuals not only to develop strategies to interact by trial-and-error processes but to reflect upon team-situations, consider the potential of different perceptions and thus develop competence sustainably.
The current study provides insights on the interrelations of constructs that have been shown to play a vital role in modern working life and are thus addressed by universities and schools to an increasing degree. To derive implications for research and practice for pupils and students intercultural and social competence education, we conducted a cross-sectional study which does not allow to derive causal relationships but gives good advice on correlations and group differences. However, we cannot assume implications for people with migration background. Studies on the perception of people with migration background suggest that group differences play a more crucial role in the life of ethnic minorities than the majority is aware of (Genkova & Schreiber, 2019; Uslucan, 2017). Studies presented in this book emphasize that students and employees with migration background perceive faultlines as more relevant compared to individuals without migration background. In this context, future research ought to investigate the influence of work life on the development of social and intercultural competences. Moreover, the type of school and whether the manifestations differ in this respect should be looked into.
The present study gives first indications on relevant dimensions that should be considered when aiming to increase social and intercultural competence. Regarding educational systems, it is noteworthy that diversity-sensitive research is necessary to assesses and teach these crucial competences in the future.
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