The Relationship of Social Perspective-Taking and Ego Strength to Cultural Intelligence in Non-Native College Students: The Modifying Role of Age and Gender

Immigrant-receiving cities and communities can pose numerous cultural challenges for their citizens. This condition is more difficult for non-native students. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship of social perspective-taking and ego strength to cultural intelligence, considering the modifying role of age and gender of the non-native students. A sample of 148 non-native students was selected from the Humanities Faculty of the Islamic Azad University of Saveh using availability sampling. The research tools included Earley and Ang’s Cultural Intelligence Scale, Barron's Ego Strength Scale, and the Social Perspective-Taking Scale. After collecting the questionnaires, the data was analyzed using hierarchical multivariate regression. The results showed that the relationships of social perspective-taking and ego strength to cultural intelligence were positive. Furthermore, gender had no modifying role in the relationships between the predictors and cultural intelligence. As for age, an increase in the age of the participants had a negative effect on the relationship between social perspective-taking and cultural intelligence, whereas the relationship between ego strength and cultural intelligence increased with an increase in the student age. Paying close attention to the factors affecting cultural intelligence can promote competence and cultural adaptation of student communities.