Cultural Intelligence: Extending the Nomological Network

This dissertation consists of three independent studies, which study the nomological network of cultural intelligence (CI)—a relatively new construct within the fields of cross-cultural psychology and organizational psychology. Since the introduction of this construct, CI now has a generally accepted model comprised of four codependent subfactors. In addition, the focus of preliminary research within the field is on understanding the new construct’s correlates and outcomes. Thus, the goals for this dissertation were (a) to provide an additional evaluation of the factor structure of CI and (b) to examine further the correlates and outcomes that should theoretically be included in its nomological network. Specifically the model tests involved a one-factor, three-factor, and four-factor structure. The examined correlates of CI included the Big Five personality traits, core self-evaluation, social self-efficacy, self-monitoring, emotional intelligence, and cross-cultural experience. The examined outcomes also included overall performance, contextual performance, and cultural adaption in relation to CI. Thus, this dissertation has a series of 20 proposed and statistically evaluated hypotheses. The first study in this dissertation contained the summary of the extant CI literature via meta-analytic techniques. The outcomes of focus were significantly relevant to CI, while the CI correlates had more inconclusive results. The second and third studies contained original data collected from a sample of students and adult workers, respectively. In general, the results between these two studies were parallel. The four-factor structure of CI emerged as the best fit to the data, and several correlates and outcomes indicated significant relation to CI. In addition, the tested incremental validity of CI showed significant results emerging in both studies. Lastly, several exploratory analyses indicated the role of CI as a mediator between relevant antecedent and the outcome of cultural adaption, while the data supported the mediator role of CI. The final chapter includes a thorough discussion of practical implications as well as limitation to the research design.

Romantic relationships and adjustment in early adulthood: The role of cross-sex experience in the context of social norms and support

Attachment and interpersonal theory suggest a sequential pattern of relationships beginning in the earliest stage of development and progressing to social and eventually romantic relationships. Theoretically, cross-sex experiences have an important role in the progression of interpersonal relationships. Despite the prevalence of these theories about the nature of romantic relationship development, the linkage of cross-sex experience (CSE) to romantic relationships has not been established. Indeed, it is an intuitive assumption, especially within Western society and these theories do not consider socio-cultural factors that may influence CSE and relationship satisfaction. This study addresses the varying contextual factors that may contribute to relationship satisfaction and adjustment, aside from CSE, and is divided into two parts. Study 1, addresses CSE, relationship satisfaction, and adjustment in a unique population, ultra-Orthodox Jews. Among this population, social or romantic CSE is limited and sexes are effectively segregated. Study 2, expanded the study to a larger sample of U.S. college students, to assess the linkage of CSE to romantic relationship satisfaction in a more typical Western population. It included social norm and support variables to address the contextual nature of relationship development and satisfaction. Results demonstrated clear differences in the relation between CSE and relationship satisfaction in the two samples. In the first sample CSE was unrelated to relationship satisfaction; nevertheless, relationship satisfaction was associated with adjustment as it is for more typical populations with greater CSE. These results suggested the importance of specifying how social norms and social support relate to CSE, relationship satisfaction and adjustment. The results from the second sample were consistent with the theoretical framework upon which the social/romantic literature is based. CSE was directly connected to relationship satisfaction. As anticipated, CSE, relationship satisfaction, and adjustment also varied as a function of social norms and support. These findings further validate the influence of socio-cultural factors on relationship satisfaction and adjustment. This study contributes to the romantic relationship literature and broadens our understanding of the complex nature of interpersonal and romantic relationships.^

The Relationship between Job Structure, Burnout, and Coping Methods among Public School county Bus Drivers, Bus Aides, Mechanics, and Clerical Workers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the structure of jobs and burnout, and to assess to what extent, if any this relationship was moderated by individual coping methods. This study was supported by the Karasek's (1998) Job Demand-Control-Support theory of work stress as well as Maslach and Leiter's (1993) theory of burnout. Coping was examined as a moderator based on the conceptualization of Lazarus and Folkman (1984). Two overall overarching questions framed this study: (a) what is the relationship between job structure, as operationalized by job title, and burnout across different occupations in support services in a large municipal school district? and (b) To what extent do individual differences in coping methods moderate this relationship? This study was a cross-sectional study of county public school bus drivers, bus aides, mechanics, and clerical workers (N = 253) at three bus depot locations within the same district using validated survey instruments for data collection. Hypotheses were tested using simultaneous regression analyses. Findings indicated that there were statistically significant and relevant relationships among the variables of interest; job demands, job control, burnout, and ways of coping. There was a relationship between job title and physical job demands. There was no evidence to support a relationship between job title and psychological demands. Furthermore, there was a relationship between physical demands, emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment; key indicators of burnout. Results showed significant correlations between individual ways of coping as a moderator between job structure, operationalized by job title, and individual employee burnout adding empirical evidence to the occupational stress literature. Based on the findings, there are implications for theory, research, and practice. For theory and research, the findings suggest the importance of incorporating transactional models in the study of occupational stress. In the area of practice, the findings highlight the importance of enriching jobs, increasing job control, and providing individual-level training related to stress reduction.