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Cultural Intelligence Trajectories in New International Students: Implications for the Development of Cross-Cultural Competence

Kenneth T. Wang, Puncky Paul Heppner, Lei Wang, and Fengkan Zhu

University of Missouri

Despite considerable research, a major challenge today is to define and assess the development of cross-cultural competence. The aim of this study is to better understand the role of cultural competence in the adjustment of international students studying in the United States. We examined distinct trajectories of cultural intelligence (CQ) over time, as well as several environmental/situational predictors of CQ and related psy- chological outcomes. The sample consisted of 221 Chinese international students studying in the United States. CQ was measured through a self-reported Cultural Intelligence Scale over 4 time points (prearrival, first month, second month, and third month). Four distinct groups of CQ trajectories emerged over these 4 time periods: (a) consistently high CQ scores (High CQ; 72%), (b) decreasing CQ scores (Decreasing CQ; 13%), (c) increasing CQ scores (Increasing CQ; 8%), and (d) a sharp decrease in CQ scores over the first 2 months which later rebounded at the third month (Rebound- ing CQ; 7%). Factors that significantly predicted the CQ trajectories were connected- ness with mainstream society, anxiety, perceived language discrimination, and mar- ginally coping through family support. Moreover, CQ trajectories were more associated with positive psychological outcome indicators (i.e., positive affect and satisfaction with life) than with negative affect. Practical implications and future directions were also discussed.

Keywords: Chinese international students, cultural intelligence, subjective well-being, growth mixture modeling, longitudinal

The past two decades have witnessed enor- mous rapid change around the world such that people in different countries are becoming in- creasingly interdependent (Friedman, 2006). Con- sequently, the ability to successfully interact with people from different cultures around the globe is becoming more important (Heppner, Wang, Hep- pner, & Wang, 2012). Not surprisingly, there have been repeated calls in psychology (Mar- sella & Pedersen, 2004) to prepare the next generations to work more effectively with indi- viduals from other countries. In short, the need

to develop cross-cultural competencies is not only abundantly clear but also urgent.

However, the exact nature of this multifac- eted construct is unclear (see Heppner, Leong, & Chiao, 2008; Lonner & Hayes, 2004). A wide range of terms have been used to reflect similar as well as different constructs related to cross- cultural competence, such as intercultural sen- sitivity (Hammer, Bennett, & Wisemer, 2003), multicultural competency (Dunn, Smith, & Montoya, 2006), ethnocultural empathy (Wang et al., 2003), cultural intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003), intercultural competence (Lonner & Hayes, 2004), intercultural adjustment (Ma- tsumoto, LeRoux, Bernhard, & Gray, 2004), intercultural proficiency (Clarke, Flaherty, Wright, & McMillen, 2009), and cross-national competence (Heppner et al., 2012). The major challenge remains to define and assess cross- cultural competence.

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) has been identified as an important facet of self-reported cross-

This article was published Online First November 17, 2014.

Kenneth T. Wang, Puncky Paul Heppner, Lei Wang, and Fengkan Zhu, Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri.

Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to Kenneth T. Wang, Department of Clinical Psy- chology, Fuller Theological Seminary, 180 North Oakland Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101. E-mail: [email protected]

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International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation © 2014 American Psychological Association 2015, Vol. 4, No. 1, 51– 65 2157-3883/15/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ipp0000027

51

cultural competence (Leung, Ang, & Tan, 2014; Matsumoto & Hwang, 2013), and has been as- sessed by the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS: Ang et al., 2007). CQ emphasizes one’s ac- quired abilities or competencies to function in a different cultural setting or to interact with cul- turally diverse others (Ang et al., 2007). More specifically, CQ has been conceptualized with four dimensions: metacognitive intelligence, cognitive intelligence, motivational intelli- gence, and behavioral intelligence, which focus on one’s cross-cultural strategies, knowledge, drive, and action, respectively (Ang et al., 2007). CQ has been found to predict better psychological (e.g., well-being, adjustment, sat- isfaction), behavioral (development of social networks, intercultural cooperation), and per- formance (task and contextual performance, leadership) outcomes (see Leung et al., 2014 for a review). As expected, CQ is malleable and can be developed through cross-cultural experi- ences, training, experiential learning (Leung et al., 2014), and internal processing (Bhawuk, Sakuda, & Munusamy, 2008).

In short, the existing research indicates that CQ is a useful dimension of cross-cultural com- petence. However, several questions remain. For example, there has been a lack of investi- gation into whether environmental factors (e.g., perceived discrimination, social support) and situational coping (e.g., coping strategies) affect CQ and cross-cultural competence (Ng, Van Dyne, & Ang, 2012). Likewise, CQ researchers have also indicated a need to better understand the development and growth of CQ over time (Ng et al., 2012). In this study, we examined distinct trajectories of self-reported CQ over time, as well as several environmental/situa- tional predictors of CQ and related psycholog- ical outcomes.

International students are a large and growing population immersed in a multitude of ever- changing cross-cultural transitions. Although many factors (e.g., stress, social support, lan- guage proficiency, personality) have been found to predict international students’ psychological adjustment (see Zhang & Goodson, 2011, for a review), there has been an absence of studies examining the role of cross-cultural competence among them. Moreover, very little CQ research has utilized international students. For example, we were able to locate only three published, empirical CQ studies with international student

samples (Lin, Chen, & Song, 2012; Ward, Fi- scher, Zaid Lamb, & Hall, 2008; Ward, Wilson, & Fischer, 2011). Ward et al. (2008) found that the CQS (Ang et al., 2007) had very acceptable psychometric properties for international stu- dents. Two other later studies utilized the CQS to predict international students’ psychological adjustment with mixed results. Ward et al. (2011) found motivational CQ to be associated with both fewer psychological symptoms and sociocultural adaptation problems for interna- tional students studying in New Zealand. Fur- thermore, motivational CQ was a significant predictor of psychological symptoms; however, the overall amount of variance explained by all four CQ dimensions in the regression analysis was not significant. Conversely, Lin et al. (2012) found CQ to be a positive predictor of international students’ cross-cultural adjustment in Taiwan after controlling for age, gender, lan- guage proficiency, and past international expe- riences. There is a clear need to continue to study how CQ can be applied to the cross- cultural journey of international students, a group understudied in both the CQ literature as well as within cross-cultural competency liter- ature in general.

The research literature on international stu- dent psychological adjustment has been criti- cized for studying international students as a whole, a group that consists of individuals from over 200 different countries with varying lan- guages, cultures, and worldviews (Institute of International Education, 2012). Chinese inter- national students in particular are a group in need of more attention on U.S. campuses. In- ternational students who share a Chinese cul- tural heritage (including students from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) are the largest single group of international students and constitute over a quarter of the total inter- national students in the United States (Institute of International Education, 2012). Moreover, Chinese international students are a rapidly growing population, having doubled over the past five years (Institute of International Educa- tion, 2012). It is also important to note that there is a relatively large cultural distance (i.e., a gap between two cultural groups) between Asian countries and the United States, which has also been identified as a factor affecting international students’ cultural transition in the United States (Redmond, 2000). Thus, in order to deal with

52 WANG, HEPPNER, WANG, AND ZHU

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the heterogeneity challenge across the vast array of international students, the overall number and rapid growth of Chinese international stu- dents studying in the United States, and their cultural distance, this study examined the role of cross-cultural competence in the cultural transition and adjustment process of Chinese students in particular.

Studies that examined international students’ adjustment over time are sparse in the current literature, and those that include a prearrival time point are even fewer (see Zhang & Good- son, 2011). Clearly, there is a need for more longitudinal studies on the development of cross-cultural competencies and acculturative adjustment process of international students. Recently, Wang et al. (2012) conducted a lon- gitudinal study examining psychological dis- tress trajectories of new Chinese international students before and during the first three semes- ters of their studies. They found four groups with distinct trajectories: (a) high levels of psy- chological distress across four time points (Consistently Distressed; 10%), (b) decreased psychological distress from prearrival to first semester (Relieved; 14%), (c) a sharp peak in psychological distress at the second and third semester (Culture-shocked; 11%), and (d) con- sistently low psychological distress scores (Well-adjusted; 65%). Various prearrival and postarrival factors predicted these trajectory groups. That is, having higher self-esteem, positive problem-solving appraisal, and lower maladaptive perfectionism prior to studying in the United States predicted better adjust- ment trajectories. In addition, having a bal- anced array of social support across various sources (i.e., peers from home country, other international students, and U.S. students) dur- ing the first semester of studying in the United States was associated with a better cross- cultural transition. Although these longitudinal findings provided important new information, Wang et al. highlighted the need to examine ac- culturative adjustment over time with other indi- cators beyond psychological distress and to use varying lengths of time periods in assessing the longitudinal adjustment process.

The Current Study

This study examines the role of cross- cultural competence in the adjustment of Chi-

nese international students studying in the United States. This study extends both the CQ literature as well as the cross-cultural adjust- ment literature of international students. CQ is an important construct not only because it has not been frequently examined with inter- national students, but more importantly it also focuses directly on cultural competence. Fo- cusing on the first semester in the United States would provide much-needed informa- tion about the development of cultural com- petence during this initial transition stage. In order to further address the heterogeneity challenge a person-centered approach of grouping individuals based on their profile types of CQ trajectories was utilized within a single cultural group. Thus, the primary focus of this study was to determine whether there are different trajectories of cross-cultural competence (as measured by CQ) within Chi- nese international students during the initial cross-cultural transition in the United States.

We also examined both predictors of these different CQ trajectories and also compared stu- dents with different CQ trajectories on psycho- logical well-being outcome variables. In order to address previous concerns, we incorporated both individual and environmental predictors of CQ using Heppner et al.’s (2012) Cross- National Cultural Competence (CNCC) model as a conceptual framework for this study. The CNCC model theorized that (a) personality, at- titudes, and coping; (b) immersion experiences; and (c) processing of cross-national experiences are all factors that can affect one’s level of cultural competence, specifically cross-cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. In this study, we specifically focused on the first two catego- ries. We examined variables related to (a) per- sonality, attitudes, and coping, such as individ- ual attitudes and behaviors (i.e., self-efficacy and anxiety) and situation-specific coping (i.e., collectivistic coping strategies). In addition, we examined variables related to the immersion experiences that might impact the initial devel- opment of cultural competence as well as psy- chological adjustment, such as social factors (i.e., social connectedness with mainstream so- ciety and social connectedness with ethnic com- munity) and societal attitudes (i.e., perceived language discrimination). Three subjective well-being indicators (i.e., negative affect, pos- itive affect, and satisfaction with life) were uti-

53CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE TRAJECTORIES

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lized to provide a broad assessment of psycho- logical adjustment, specifically positive and negative as well as emotional and cognitive aspects.

In sum, to better understand the role of cross- cultural competency during initial transitions, we used the CNCC as a theoretical framework to assess factors that predicted CQ trajectories and, subsequently, psychological outcomes as- sociated with the CQ trajectories across four time points (prearrival, 1st month, 2nd month, and 3rd month). The main aims of this study were to extend the cross-cultural competency literature by (a) identifying different profile types of CQ trajectories in Chinese international students during the cross-cultural transition pro- cess; (b) examining factors predicting the CQ trajectories (positive and negative changes); and (c) comparing Chinese international students of different CQ trajectories on adjustment out- comes.

Method

Participants

To examine the initial cross-national transi- tion phenomenon in this study, we selected Chi- nese students who had not previously studied in the United States and had not previously visited the United States for longer than one month. A total of 221 Chinese international students met these criteria and participated in at least one postarrival time point of this study. Sixty per- cent of the participants were women and 40% men. Their mean age was 21.7 years (SD � 2.7) and their average TOEFL iBT score was 94.1 (SD � 9.2), which is considered high as the minimal score for admission required by most universities ranges from 60 to 80. A majority of the students (94%) indicated they were origi- nally from Mainland China with the remaining 5% from Taiwan and 1% from Hong Kong and Singapore. The majority were graduate students (62%) and single (70%). Participants were studying in various states across the United States, with Pennsylvania (20%), New York (17%), Missouri (15%), Iowa (10%), and Cali- fornia (9%) among the top five locations. The most frequently studied disciplines were engi- neering (30%), business (16%), science (10%), and the humanities and social sciences (7%). Most participants (86%) reported that they had

never been in the United States before taking the Time 1 survey.

Instruments

All the scales used in this study either had pre-established Chinese versions or were trans- lated from English to Chinese by our research team using the three-step back-translation method suggested by Brislin (1980). The steps of our translation process involved (a) two sep- arate initial translations by two bilingual psy- chology graduate students; (b) the two versions compared, modified, and combined into one version by a bilingual Ph.D. psychologist; (c) the combined version back-translated by an- other bilingual psychology graduate student; (d) the original and back-translated versions compared and examined by an independent na- tive English speaker; and finally, (e) discrepan- cies between the two versions examined, and modified until consensus was reached. The sur- vey was presented in Traditional Chinese for students from Taiwan and Hong Kong, and Simplified Chinese for those from Mainland China and Singapore.

Cultural Intelligence Scale. The CQS (Ang et al., 2007) is a 20-item self-report measure designed to assess cultural intelli- gence, which is defined as “an individual’s capacity to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings” (Earley & Ang, 2003, p. 337). The CQS consists of four di- mensions. Metacognitive Intelligence (four items) refers to the process of acquiring and understanding knowledge relevant in cross- cultural settings; a sample item is, “I am conscious of the cultural knowledge I apply to cross-cultural interactions.” Cognitive Intelli- gence (six items) refers to the knowledge of other cultures; a sample item is, “I know the rules for expressing nonverbal behaviors in other cultures.” Motivational Intelligence (five items) refers to the desire and energy to focus on a certain goal or situation in cross- cultural settings; a sample item is, “I enjoy interacting with people from different cul- tures.” Behavioral Intelligence (five items) refers to the outward manifestations or ac- tions that individuals are capable of demon- strating in cross-cultural situations; a sample item is, “I alter my facial expressions when a cross-cultural interaction requires it.” Each

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CQS item is rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Higher scores represent higher cultural intelligence. Among a sample of international students studying in New Zealand, alpha coefficients were—.80 (Meta- cognitive), .82 (Cognitive), .78 (Behavioral), and .76 (Motivational; Ward, Wilson, & Fi- scher, 2011). CQS (Chinese version) alpha coefficients for college students in China ranged from .86 to .93 (Wang, Tang, & Meng, 2008). The four-factor structure of the Chi- nese CQS has been supported through confir- matory factor analysis (Wang, Tang, & Meng, 2008). In this study, alpha coefficients across four time points ranged from: (a) .91 to .96 for the CQ composite score, (b) .87 to .94 for CQ-Metacognitive, (c) .87 to .92 for CQ- Cognitive, (d) .82 to .91 for CQ-Behavioral, and (e) .84 to .90 for CQ-Motivational. The composite score representing overall CQ was used in this study.

Social Self-Efficacy. The Social Self- Efficacy (SSE) is a subscale of the Self-Efficacy Scale (Sherer et al., 1982), designed to assess beliefs on performing in social settings. The SSE consists of six items and is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 � disagree strongly; 5 � agree strongly). Higher scores indicate higher levels of perceived social competence. A sam- ple item is, “It is difficult for me to make new friends.” Alpha coefficients for the SSE (Chi- nese version) ranged from .74 to .77 for samples of Chinese college students (Fan, Meng, Gao, Lopez, & Liu, 2010). The SSE scores have been significantly correlated with measures of ego strength, interpersonal competency, and self- esteem (Sherer et al., 1982; Watson & Nesdale, 2012). In this sample the alpha coefficient was .65.

Social Connectedness in Mainstream Soci- ety and Social Connectedness in the Ethnic Community Scales. The Social Connected- ness in Mainstream Society (SCMN; five items) and Social Connectedness in the Eth- nic Community Scales (SCETH; five items) assess Chinese international students’ sense of connection, belonging, and closeness to U.S. society and Chinese communities, re- spectively (Yoon, Lee, & Goh, 2008). A sam- ple SCMN item is, “I feel a sense of belong- ing to U.S. society.” The SCETH includes items such as “I feel a sense of closeness with

Chinese/Taiwanese.” The 7-point scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with higher scores indicat- ing higher social connection to mainstream U.S. society and the Chinese community, re- spectively. Cronbach alphas were .89/.94 for the SCMN/SCETH (Chinese versions) among Chinese international students (Wei, Wang, Heppner, & Du, 2012). Associations with ac- culturation and enculturation have provided estimates of convergent and divergent valid- ity of the SCMN/SCETH (Yoon, Jung, Lee, & Felix-Mora, 2012). In this study alphas for the SCMN/SCETH were .89/.93.

Perceived Language Discrimination Scale. The Perceived Language Discrimination Scale (PLD) is a 7-item self-report measure designed to assess perceived language discrimination (Wei, Wang, & Ku, 2012). Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A sample item is, “My opinions or ideas are not taken seriously because of my English.” PLD alpha coefficients have ranged from .94 to .95 for international student samples (Wei et al., 2012). The one- factor structure of the PLD was supported by confirmatory factor analysis, and its validity was supported by its positive associations with depression and anxiety as well as its negative associations with self-esteem and life satisfac- tion (Wei et al., 2012). In this sample the alpha coefficient was .92.

Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales- Short Form. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-Short Form (DASS) is a widely used measure designed to assess the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress of interna- tional populations (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). Only the Anxiety (7 items) subscale was used in this study. A sample item of the Anxiety subscale is, “I was aware of dryness of my mouth.” Items are rated by participants on a 4-point scale, ranging from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time) based on their experiences during the week prior to when the measure was taken. Higher scores represent greater levels of anxiety. The alpha coeffi- cients were .81 for DASS-Anxiety among in- ternational students (Wei et al., 2012), and .92 with the Chinese DASS-Anxiety among Chi- nese students and residents (Chan et al., 2012). The validity of the anxiety subscale

55CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE TRAJECTORIES

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has been supported by its association with perceived language discrimination levels among international students (Wei et al., 2012). In this sample the alpha coefficient was .86.

Collectivistic Coping Styles. The Collec- tivistic Coping Styles (CCS) consists of 30 Likert-type scale items designed to assess sit- uation-specific coping styles of people who come from a collectivistic culture; in this study, participants responded to the CCS items with reference to experiencing a cross- cultural transition in the United States (Hep- pner et al., 2006). Each item was rated by respondents from 0 (never used this strategy/ not applicable) to 5 (a tremendous amount of help) based on the helpfulness of each coping activity they used in their cross-cultural tran- sition in the United States. The CCS consists of five factors: Acceptance, Reframing, and Striving (ARS; 11 items); Family Support (FS; six items); Religion–Spirituality (RS; four items); Avoidance and Detachment (AD; five items); and Private Emotional Outlets (PEO; four items). The CCS was originally developed in Chinese; alpha coefficients were .85 for ARS, .86 for FS, .90 for RS, .77 for AD, and .76 for PEO among a Taiwanese student sample (Heppner et al., 2006). The five-factor structure of the CCS was sup- ported through a confirmatory factor analysis, and its concurrent validity was supported by a significant association with the Problem Solv- ing Inventory (PSI) scores (Heppner et al., 2006). In this sample the alpha coefficients were .87 for ARS, .84 for FS, .92 for RS, .75 for AD, and .54 for PEO.

Positive and Negative Affect Scale. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) is a 20-item scale designed to assess one’s positive (PA; 10 items) and negative (NA; 10 items) affect (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Examples of PA included “interested,” “alert,” or “inspired,” while NA included “ir- ritable,” “distressed,” or “ashamed.” Items were rated from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely) by respondents on the basis of the extent to which they felt these emotions over the past week. Watson et al. (1988) reported satisfactory estimates of convergent and discriminant validity, adequate internal consistencies, and test–retest reliabilities over a 2-month time period. The alpha coefficients

of the PANAS (Chinese version) for a sample of Chinese undergraduate students were .80 and .76 for PA and NA, respectively (Cui, Teng, Li, & Oei, 2010). In this sample the alpha coefficients of PA and NA were .86 and .92, respectively.

Satisfaction with Life Scale. The Satisfac- tion with Life Scale (SWLS) is a five-item, self-report measure designed to assess one’s general satisfaction with life (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). Items are rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with higher scores indicating greater life satisfaction. The alpha coefficients were .84 among interna- tional students (Sam, 2001) and .89 using the Chinese version with Hong Kong Chinese stu- dents (Wang, Yuen, & Slaney, 2008). Construct validity of the SWLS was supported by its pos- itive association with adjustment (Yoo, Matsu- moto, & LeRoux, 2006) and negative associa- tion with perceived discrimination (Sam, 2001) among international students. In this sample the alpha coefficient was .92.

Procedure

After obtaining IRB approval, participants were recruited through international student of- fices and Chinese student associations at vari- ous U.S. universities. We emailed the directors of international student offices and presidents/ chairs of student associations and requested them to forward the invitation to their incoming students. We informed potential participants that the study was about international students’ cultural intelligence. Those participants who chose to participate completed an online survey in Chinese. The following measures were ad- ministered at the four time points: Time 1: CQS; Time 2: CQS, DASS, PLD, SCMN-SCETH, SSE; Time 3: CQS, CCS; Time 4: CQS, PANAS, SWLS. The surveys administered at each time point included validity-check items (e.g., Please simply select [Strongly Disagree] for this item). Participants who did not correctly respond to the validity-check items were re- moved from the study. Data were collected at four time points. Time 1 (N � 221) was during the summer (July–August of 2012) before stu- dents started their studies in the United States; Time 2 (N � 195) was mid-September 2012; Time 3 (N � 135) was mid-October 2012; Time

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4 (N � 108) was mid-November 2012. Incen- tives provided to participants included (a) a brief study abroad guide after completion of each survey, and (b) a chance to win a US$25 or US$50 gift card through a raffle at each time point.

Data Analysis

Several data analytic procedures were used to (a) identify different profile types of CQ trajec- tories during the cross-cultural transition pro- cess, (b) examine factors predicting the CQ trajectories (positive and negative changes) dur- ing the transition process, and (c) compare stu- dents with different CQ trajectories on adjust- ment outcomes over time. We first conducted Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) to identify different types of adjustment patterns based on the CQ trajectories over the four time points. GMM estimates longitudinal growth trajecto- ries and identifies distinct profiles of trajectories within a sample (Muthén & Muthén, 2009). GMM assigns class membership of growth tra- jectories on the basis of probability, taking un- certainty of membership into account. Second, we used multinomial logistic regression to ex- amine which variables differentiated the CQ trajectories. Third, we compared the trajectories on their Time 4 subjective well-being.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

Missing values at the item-level were re- placed through the expectation–maximization (EM) method before summing subscale scores. Attrition was the main reason for variable-level missing data at subsequent time points. It was impossible to determine the reasons that partic- ipants did not continue at certain time points as follow-up data from those participants were not obtained. To address participant attrition, we first examined the pattern of missing data. Re- sults of Little’s MCAR test [�2(357, N � 221) � 334.46, p � .80] indicated that the data were missing completely at random (MCAR; Enders, 2010); in other words, the attrition in this study is completely random and not sys- tematic. Thus, full information maximum like- lihood (FIML) estimation was used to address missing data at the variable-level for growth

mixture modeling (GMM) analyzed with the Mplus 7 program (Muthén & Muthén, 2009). The covariance coverage across all time points ranged from .42 to .99, which far exceeded the .10 minimum coverage recommended for reli- able model convergence (Muthén & Muthén, 2009).

Descriptive Statistics and Intercorrelations

The mean, standard deviation, and Cron- bach’s alpha of each variable along with the correlations among the study variables are pre- sented in Table 1. In terms of social and inter- personal factors, CQ had the strongest positive correlations with social connectedness with mainstream society and social self-efficacy. CQ was also negatively correlated with perceived language discrimination. Among CQ’s correla- tions with coping strategies, CQ had significant positive correlations with the CCS acceptance, reframing, and striving coping strategy. Finally, CQ had relatively strong positive associations with positive affect and satisfaction with life (r � .20 to .52) compared with negative affect (r � �.11 to �.23).

Determination and Description of Latent Growth Classes

We used GMM to estimate growth trajecto- ries and identify distinct profiles of CQ trajec- tories among the students. GMM assigns prob- abilities of growth trajectory class (profile group) memberships. Both linear and quadratic growth factors were estimated in this model; and within-class variability of the quadratic and slope terms was constrained to zero.

The first step was to determine the number of classes. We examined the following indices: Bayesian information criterion (BIC; Schwarz, 1978), sample-size adjusted Bayesian informa- tion criterion (aBIC; Sclove, 1987), Vuong-Lo- Mendell-Rubin likelihood ratio test (VLMR LRT; Lo, Mendell, & Rubin, 2001), and en- tropy. For the first three indices, smaller values indicate a better model fit. For entropy, values closer to 1.0 indicate better classification preci- sion (i.e., more distinct probabilities of class- membership within participants). Parsimony, class prevalence, and interpretability, important factors in deciding the number of classes (Jung & Wickrama, 2008), were also used as criteria in this study.

57CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE TRAJECTORIES

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58 WANG, HEPPNER, WANG, AND ZHU

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A four-class solution was selected based on parsimony, class prevalence, and interpretably because the indices did not provide a clear in- dication of the best solution (see Table 2).1 In addition, the four-class solution included dis- tinct and interpretable trajectories that had ade- quate percentages of participants, whereas the five-class solution included a class with only 0.9% of participants. The four trajectories in- cluded (a) a group with increasing CQ scores over time (Increasing CQ; 8%), (b) a group with decreasing CQ scores over the semester (De- creasing CQ; 13%), (c) a group with a sharp decrease in CQ scores over the first two months which later rebounded at the third month (Re- bounding CQ; 7%), and (d) a group with con- sistently high CQ scores over the semester (High CQ; 72%). The estimated CQ means of each predicted group membership across the four time points are presented in Figure 1.

Predictors of CQ Trajectory Class Membership

Tests of categorical latent variable multino- mial logistic regressions using posterior proba- bility-based multiple imputations were con- ducted to determine if certain factors at Time 2 and Time 3 distinguished the trajectory groups. Time 2 variables included social self-efficacy, social connectedness in mainstream society, so- cial connectedness in ethnic community, per- ceived language discrimination, and anxiety. Time 3 variables included five collectivistic coping strategies.

At the first month of the semester (i.e., Time 2), social connectedness in mainstream society, perceived language discrimination, and anxiety were significant predictors of CQ trajectories. More specifically, participants with higher so- cial connectedness in mainstream society were more likely to be classified in the Increasing CQ (B � 0.21, SE � 0.09, p � .017) and High CQ (B � 0.15, SE � 0.06, p � .013) classes than the Rebounding CQ class. Similarly, those with higher perceived language discrimination were more likely to be classified in the Rebounding CQ class than the Increasing CQ (B � 0.20, SE � 0.09, p � .034) and High CQ (B � 0.14, SE � 0.06, p � .022) classes. Participants with higher anxiety were more likely to be in the Rebounding CQ class than the High CQ class (B � 0.14, SE � 0.07, p � .047).

At the second month of the semester (i.e., Time 3), family support was the only coping strategy that emerged as a marginally signifi- cant predictor of CQ trajectories. Participants that found family support as a more helpful coping strategy were more likely to be classified in the Increasing CQ class than the Decreasing CQ class (B � 1.07, SE � 0.56, p � .057). None of the other collectivistic coping strate- gies significantly predicted the CQ trajectories.

Outcome Comparisons of CQ Trajectory Classes

We compared the CQ trajectory classes on their psychological well-being at the third month of the semester (i.e., Time 4). We used the auxiliary function in MPlus to conduct the equality of tests of means across classes using posterior probability-based multiple imputa- tions. The Increasing CQ class had marginally higher mean scores on positive affect [�2(1) � 3.74, p � .053, Cohen’s d � 0.26] and satis- faction with life [�2(1) � 9.38, p � .002, Co- hen’s d � 0.42] than the Decreasing CQ class. Similarly, the High CQ class had higher mean scores on satisfaction with life [�2(1) � 6.45, p � .011, Cohen’s d � 0.35] than the Decreas- ing CQ class. The mean scores for each class on the Time 4 psychological well-being variables are presented in Table 3.

1 Because we only included participants that participated in at least one postarrival time point in this study, we also analyzed the data with all participants (N � 480) that started the study at Time-1 (prearrival). In this sample, the covari- ance coverage ranged from .19 to .99. The four-class growth mixture modeling solution [LL � �3647.66, BIC � 7418.79, aBIC � 7355.31, aLRT p � .44, Entropy � .51] was almost identical with the same four trajectories and had approximately the same proportion of participants: Increas- ing CQ (8.3%), Decreasing CQ (12.6%), Rebounding CQ (7.5%), and High CQ (71.5%). In addition, we also analyzed the data excluding all participants that had any prior visit to the United States (N � 194). The pattern of four trajectories was the same [LL � �2251.40, BIC � 4608.15, aBIC � 4544.79, aLRT p � .14, Entropy � .73], with only minor differences in the percentages: Increasing CQ (10.9%), De- creasing CQ (9.5%), Rebounding CQ (5.9%), and High CQ (73.7%). The consistency between the results of these sets of analyses provides support for the robustness of the tra- jectories.

59CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE TRAJECTORIES

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Discussion

This study contributes to the international student adjustment literature by providing (a) new information about the initial develop- ment of self-reported cross-cultural competen- cies, (b) empirical support for the association between CQ and psychological well-being in Chinese international students, and (c) knowl- edge of CQ trajectories and factors predicting the trajectories of cross-cultural competence during initial cross-cultural transition processes. We will discuss each of these contributions as well as practical implications and future re- search directions to further our understanding of cross-cultural competence.

Distinctive CQ Trajectories

This study is the first to examine distinct self-reported CQ trajectories in international students; four patterns were identified through growth mixture modeling. All four CQ trajec-

tories had relatively close CQ scores at the prearrival time point. However, after the groups of students started their studies, their perceived CQ became more distinct from each other. For example, the majority of students had CQ scores that were both high and remained rela- tively stable across the semester (the High CQ group). However, one group’s CQ scores (the Rebounding CQ group) dropped over 30 points over the first two months of their studies before rebounding at the third month. This group mir- rored the U-shaped theory of cross-cultural ad- justment, emphasizing recovery from the shock of entering a new cultural context (i.e., “culture shock”; Oberg, 1960). There was also a group with gradually increasing CQ scores (the In- creasing CQ group), and another with gradually decreasing CQ scores (the Decreasing CQ group) over the course of the semester. These results clearly highlighted that individual differ- ences exist in how cross-cultural competence changes during the initial stage of cross-cultural transitions, and most importantly, that there does not seem to be a uniform cultural adjustment pro- cess as international students engage in a major cultural transition to study in the United States. In addition, being in a different cultural setting does not simply mean that one’s CQ will enhance, as the majority of students in this study reported relatively consistent CQ over the first semester of their studies. Perhaps significant CQ changes for the majority of international students necessitate greater length of time or greater immersion into the U.S. cultural context.

Factors Predicting the CQ Trajectories

Factors significantly predicting the self- reported CQ trajectories included immersion

Table 2 Model Fit Indices of Growth Mixture Modeling for Two- to Five-Class Solutions Across Four Time Points

Model LL BIC aBIC aLRT p Entropy

2-class model �2609.04 5282.86 5244.83 .22 .67 3-class model �2603.39 5293.16 5242.45 .44 .73 4-class model �2599.58 5307.12 5243.74 .49 .68 5-class model �2596.25 5322.05 5245.99 .23 .68

Note. LL � Log likelihood; BIC � Baysian information criterion; aBIC � adjusted Baysian information criterion; aLRT p � adjusted Lo-Mendell-Rubin Likelihood Ratio Test p value. Smaller values indicate better fit of the model. Entropy values closer to 1.0 indicate higher classification precision.

Figure 1. Characteristics of the trajectory classes of cul- tural intelligence over the first semester.

60 WANG, HEPPNER, WANG, AND ZHU

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experiences (i.e., connectedness with main- stream society, perceived language discrimina- tion) and individual factors (i.e., anxiety and marginally coping through family support). Consistent with past studies that have found connections with the mainstream society to be beneficial (Wei et al., 2012), a stronger sense of connectedness with the mainstream society was associated with being classified into the two adaptive CQ trajectories (i.e., High and Increas- ing). In other words, international students that reported having stronger interpersonal connec- tions with U.S. students/community members (who are “cultural insiders”) rated themselves as having higher or increasing levels of cross- cultural competence. We suspect those interna- tional students who connect with cultural insid- ers not only have more exposure to relevant U.S. cultural knowledge, but also acquire more information about the complexities and subtle nuances of the U.S. cultural context. Moreover, those students may be more likely to feel greater emotional support, and perhaps even feel some assurance that they have cultural insiders who they can count on for much-needed assistance in this new and sometimes seemingly perplexing cultural environment.

Our findings also revealed that students who reported having higher levels of perceived lan- guage discrimination and higher levels of anx- iety were more likely to be located in the tra- jectory with a high prearrival CQ that plummeted after starting their studies but then gradually rebounded. Perceived language dis- crimination can be a constant, if not a daily reminder, of being unable to perfectly navigate one’s new cultural environment, and detrimen- tal to one’s psychological adjustment (Wei et al., 2012). It could also be that in their home

countries, these students may have perceived themselves as having relatively better English proficiency than their peers and expected that they would be able to adapt easily in the U.S. culture, an expectation that was shattered after experiencing perceived language discrimination in the United States. Similarly, students who were more anxious after arriving in the United States could have more likely viewed them- selves as less culturally competent in the initial stage; however, after some time and experience, they learned to adapt and perhaps realized that their cultural competence was not as low as they initially thought. In other words, the drop of CQ during the first two months may have been a reflection of their anxiety, which has been found as an intervening factor associated with CQ (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008).

In terms of coping, only the perceived coping helpfulness of family members emerged as a marginally significant predictor of the CQ tra- jectories. Specifically, students with an Increas- ing CQ trajectory were differentiated from those with a Decreasing CQ trajectory by having fam- ily members that were helpful in coping specif- ically with their adjustment in the United States. Perhaps functional coping interactions with family helped them deal with acculturative stress. In other words, family may not only help Chinese international students deal with the in- numerable stressors in a far-away land, but also increase students’ emotional well-being and confidence, decrease their worry about families at home, focus more on the many new demands in the United States, and subsequently enable them to enhance their cross-cultural compe- tence. In sum, given the importance of family in Chinese culture, additional research is needed to more fully understand functional coping pro-

Table 3 Estimated Mean Scores on Time 4 Study Variables by CQ Trajectory Class

Variable

Increasing (8%) Decreasing

(13%) Rebounding

(7%) High (72%) Significant class

comparisonsMean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE

NA 21.26 3.03 23.43 2.40 24.54 3.04 20.53 0.96 n.s. PA 31.57 2.38 25.00 2.45 29.98 3.77 29.61 0.75 D � I†

SWL 25.54 1.92 17.24 1.80 22.85 3.28 22.28 0.71 D � I��,H�

Note. Equality tests between means across classes were conducted with posterior probability-based multiple imputations with 1 df. NA � Negative Affect; PA � Positive Affect; SWL � Satisfaction with Life. † p � .053. � p � .05. �� p � .01.

61CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE TRAJECTORIES

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cesses between Chinese international students and their families.

Comparing CQ Trajectories on Psychological Well-Being

As for comparing CQ trajectories on psycho- logical well-being in the final month of the semester, CQ was more associated with the positive indicators (i.e., positive affect and sat- isfaction with life) than negative affect. More specifically, individuals with an increasing or high CQ trajectory had higher positive affect and were more satisfied with life in general. Interestingly, these different CQ trajectories did not differ on negative affect. Thus, our results suggest CQ trajectories relate more with posi- tive well-being but less with psychological struggles. These results may explain why the total variances of the four separate CQ dimen- sions as a whole did not significantly predict the negative psychological indicators (i.e., socio- cultural difficulties and psychological symp- toms) in Ward et al.’s (2011) study.

Bivariate Correlations Between CQ and Other Variables

The bivariate correlations between CQ scores and the predictor variables at four time points provide additional data about the transition pro- cess of Chinese international students, and are presented in Table 1. Those results indicate that higher social self-efficacy and connectedness with mainstream society were the two variables most highly and consistently associated with higher CQ scores across all four time periods. These results suggest that being able to navigate the new social environment is very much re- lated to Chinese international students’ cross- cultural competencies (as measured by CQ). Moreover, perceived language discrimination at Time 2 was associated with CQ scores at Time 1 and 2 (that is, for prearrival and the first month of their immersion). Perhaps, as interna- tional students acquired more effective lan- guage skills, their perceived language chal- lenges became less stressful or problematic, or they learned how to cope/compensate for their language deficits. Additional research is needed to more fully understand this important and central skill in cultural transitions for Chinese international students. Moreover, in terms of

coping, ARS, in contrast to FS, was the only strategy that had a significant and consistent association with CQ over time (Time 2, 3, and 4). Previously, ARS has been found to be one of the most effective strategies in coping with cross-national transitions (Wang et al., 2012). Such an approach-oriented coping style seems to be functional in dealing with challenges not only with crossing cultural boundaries but also in acquiring new cultural competencies.

Limitations and Future Directions

Limitations of this study should be noted. First, this study used self-report CQ scores, which could be susceptible to over or under estimating one’s ability. Future studies may as- sess cultural competence by using multirater assessments and/or performance measures to objectively evaluate cross-cultural competency levels. Second, the generalizability of results is limited to Chinese international students. Future studies may focus on international students from other countries of origin, or those that are studying in countries other than the United States. Third, the time frame for this study only spans the first semester, and thus only reflects the beginning of a sojourner’s cultural journey. The majority of participants with stable CQ scores could be related to the short time frame of three months. Future studies may examine CQ development across a longer period of time, which may better detect students that develop CQ more slowly over an extended time period. Fourth, attrition rate for the study was high especially between the assessment at prearrival and first month where students crossed national boarders. It is unknown whether certain factors (e.g., higher stress or change of email ad- dresses) that were not measured or obtainable influenced attrition. Thus, there could be a po- tential for selective attrition. Fifth, other mod- erating and mediating factors (e.g., cultural val- ues, attachment, financial resources, how long the student planned to stay in the foreign coun- try) could be worth examining in future CQ studies. Cross-lagged designed studies could also provide more insight into causal relation- ships in future studies. Sixth, future studies might also examine the four CQ dimensions separately and compare similarities and differ- ence across them. Finally, researchers might examine other dimensions related to cultural

62 WANG, HEPPNER, WANG, AND ZHU

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competence not measured by the CQ scale (e.g., social intelligence, prior cultural immersions, personality variables; see Heppner et al., 2012).

Practical Implications

First and foremost, the results of this study indicate that it is essential for professional help- ers to realize that all Chinese international stu- dents will not experience the first semester of their cultural transition in the same way; assum- ing such uniformity is at best a myth. Findings from this study could also lead to more custom- ized and effective outreach programming and training workshops during the very first semes- ter, focusing in part on CQ, or cross-cultural competence more broadly, to enhance the ac- culturative adjustment of international students. For example, it might be helpful to design pro- grams that directly (e.g., training workshops) or indirectly (e.g., social connection programs) en- hance international students’ CQ. Second, be- cause CQ was predictive of psychological well- being and was significantly associated with Chinese international students’ connectedness with the mainstream society, anxiety levels, perceived language discrimination, and coping helpfulness of family support, it may be impor- tant that international centers present these fac- tors during orientations for new international students upon arrival. Other ways to enhance CQ indirectly would be to facilitate more posi- tive interactions during the first semester of study between international and U.S. students in order to strengthen their social connections. It would also be important to address the level of anxiety that Chinese international students may experience when immersing themselves in a new culture.

In summary, as more students cross cultural borders to receive advanced educational train- ing, the notion of cross-cultural competencies becomes of increased importance. Learning how to facilitate the initial development of in- ternational students’ cross-cultural competence could be a very important part of establishing an international-friendly campus, and would make U.S. institutions more appealing to those poten- tial international students. This study extends the CQ literature by contributing new knowl- edge about CQ in new Chinese international students as well as factors that distinguish the patterns of CQ trajectories. Most importantly,

our results suggest there are different trajecto- ries in the development of cultural competen- cies of Chinese international students, and that several personal, environmental, and situational factors affect those trajectories, which aligns with the Cross-National Cultural Competence model (Heppner et al., 2012). Consequently, it is very important for those in the helping pro- fessions to note that there does not seem to be a uniform development of cross-cultural compe- tencies in international students.

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Received June 26, 2013 Revision received October 7, 2014

Accepted October 8, 2014 �

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