Cultural Intelligence and Life Satisfaction: An Empirical Study among International Students in India
Author(s)
Minakshi Rana* (ICSSR, Doctoral Fellow, School of Business Studies, Central University of Jammu, Samba, Jammu and Kashmir, India), Shahid Mushtaq (Assistant Professor, School of Business Studies, Central University of Jammu, Samba, Jammu and Kashmir, India) and Jaya Bhasin(Dean, School of Business Studies, Central University of Jammu, Samba, Jammu and Kashmir, India) *Corresponding author's Email
Citation
Rana, Minakshi; Mushtaq, Shahid and Bhasin, Jaya (2019), “Cultural Intelligence and Life Satisfaction: An Empirical Study among International Students in India”, MERC Global’s International Journal of Management, Vol. 7, Special Issue 1, pp. 91-101.
Article history
Submitted: March 05, 2019, Revision received: March 30, 2019, Accepted: April 10, 2019
The concept of cultural intelligence is a subject of ongoing research, which explains why some individuals work more efficiently in a culturally different environment than others. The term cultural intelligence has been formally introduced by Earley and Ang in 2003 and has received significant attention from numerous researchers worldwide. Researchers have made their significant contribution in this area through working on the conceptualization of cultural intelligence concept, its scale validation and by examining the concept of cultural intelligence in different theoretical grounds. Previous research on cross-cultural perspective has mostly focused on the behaviour of sojourners in western countries. Very few studies have been found related to cultural intelligence and life satisfaction among international students. The present study has filled the gap by examining the relationship between cultural intelligence and life satisfaction. The present study examined the international students studying in northern parts of India to examine the impact of cultural intelligence on life satisfaction of international students. The study is evaluative in nature as it has examined the relationship between cultural intelligence and life satisfaction. The study has hypothesised the direct relationship between cross-cultural intelligence and life satisfaction among international students. A sample of 247 international students from 25 different countries has filled the questionnaire. The study has used exploratory factor analysis in order to explore and validate the constructs in the Indian context. The study further has used linear regression to test the hypotheses. The results of the study have revealed that cultural intelligence is a significant predictor of life satisfaction among international students. These results have practical implications for university administration and for educational policymakers for improvement in life satisfaction and cultural intelligence among international students.
Keywords
Cross-cultural intelligence, Cultural synergy, Cross-cultural management, International students, Life satisfaction, Policy.
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