What is cross-cultural competence?
Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate and behave effectively and appropriately across cultural contexts through respect, openness, knowledge, interpretation, and adaptive skills.
Reflect on the attitudes, knowledge, interpretation, and adaptive behavior you bring to intercultural interactions.
Answer as you are today
Choose the answer that best describes your recent behaviour at work. No email required.
What does cross-cultural competence mean?
Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate and behave effectively and appropriately across cultural contexts through respect, openness, knowledge, interpretation, and adaptive skills.
Why it matters at work
Knowing facts about a group is not competence and can reinforce stereotypes. Effective interaction requires curiosity about the person and context, awareness of one’s own assumptions, and a willingness to adapt and repair.
What this assessment measures
Respect & self-awareness
Approaching difference with openness while recognising one’s own cultural assumptions and position.
Knowledge & interpretation
Seeking context and testing interpretations instead of assigning meaning too quickly.
Interaction & adaptation
Adjusting communication and working practices while preserving dignity and shared goals.
How to interpret your score
Your overall result is normalised to a 0–100 scale. Use it to choose a practice area, not to compare your worth with somebody else.
Build your cross-cultural competence foundation
Your answers identify situations where a small, observable routine could make this capability more dependable.
A developing cross-cultural competence pattern
You show this capability in some conditions. Focus on the dimension that becomes least reliable under pressure.
A strong cross-cultural competence pattern
Your answers suggest a reliable pattern. Keep testing it against difficult situations and evidence from other people.
Designed for reflection, not diagnosis
The ten behaviour-based statements cover 3 practical dimensions. Responses run from “Never” to “Almost always”; negatively worded items are reverse-scored. Overall and dimension results are converted to a 0–100 scale. The assessment is educational and has not been psychometrically validated.
Read the full assessment methodology and editorial standards.
Research that informed this page
Darla K. Deardorff (2006), “Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization”, Journal of Studies in International Education.