Validating a situational judgment test of intercultural competence for use with education professionals

ABSTRACT

Given the growing importance of intercultural competence (IC) as part of the know-how of (future) education professionals, the present study sought to develop a tool that would validly assess this competence in the target population. The proposed 9-item instrument, labeled the Brief Test of Intercultural judgment (BTIJ), adopts the format of a situational judgment test (SJT) and targets the ability to accurately interpret others’ behavior in the face of cultural differences, as an arguably essential aspect of IC. The test was developed based on Cushner and Brislin’s culture-universal assimilator and psychometrically scrutinized with a sample of 245 preservice teachers and education specialists. Item homogeneity surfaced as an issue, yet the test’s convergent-discriminant validity was largely confirmed by findings of small-to-moderate positive associations with verbal intelligence, knowledge of different cultures, and experience with foreign languages. Moreover, in a subsample of n=34 participants, the test was positively related (r=.43) to performance on a real-life task requiring intercultural communication in the educational context. The BTIJ is thus regarded as a promising tool for assessing IC in education professionals, bearing the common advantages and limitations of an SJT-type measure. Recommendations for further investigations and improvements of the instrument are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Culture assimilator
• education professionals
• intercultural competence
• situational judgment test

Acknowledgments

We would particularly like to thank Prof. Dr. Sunčica Macura of the Faculty of Education, University of Kragujevac for providing data on the criterion measure (participants’ performance in interviewing members of a minority culture) and generously supporting the organization of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data and study materials are available on request from the first author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Contract No. 451-03-68/2022-14/200140 with the Faculty of Education, University of Kragujevac and Contracts No. 451-03-9/2021-14/200163 and 451-03-68/2022-14/200163 with the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade).

Notes on contributors

Jelena Starčević

Jelena Starčević, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Kragujevac, lecturing in the field of educational psychology, intercultural and inclusive education. Her research focuses on teacher education, conceptualization and assessment of individual differences in intercultural interaction.

Ana Altaras Dimitrijević

Ana Altaras Dimitrijević, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade. Her teaching and research cover topics from educational and differential psychology, with a special focus on emotional intelligence, meaningful cognitive assessment, and giftedness. From 2010 onward, she has repeatedly served as expert consultant in state-initiated projects on gifted education and been actively engaged in implementing differentiated/individualized instruction in Serbian schools.

Zorana Jolić Marjanović

Zorana Jolić Marjanović, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade. Her recent research focuses on emotional intelligence, social competence and cognitive abilities, and different approaches to their assessment.