* department of psychology faculty of arts university of ljubljana slovenia ** department of leadership studies indiana wesleyan university marion, in, united states eva.bostjancic@ff.uni-lj.si 9-25 Eva Boštjančič* Richard B. Johnson** Rosa Radman Žalodec* THE ROLE OF STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES LIVING ABROAD AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE 10 Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec izvirni znanstveni članek udk 159.9.075:37.091.8(497.4):314.15 ::ABSTRACT Slovenian students are increasingly choosing to pursue their studies or apply for work placement abroad, and every year a number of young people de- cide to leave Slovenia permanently. This research focuses on ascertaining which demographic factors and other features related to the experience of young people abroad have an impact on the development of cultural intelligence, i.e. an indi- vidual’s ability to work efficiently in culturally diverse situations. A total of 527 students from Slovenia completed the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) and shared their previous and planned intercultural experiences. The results show that both previous and planned intercultural experiences correlate to cultural intelli- gence (CQ), namely students with the most experience abroad, as well as students planning to move abroad, show higher scores for all CQ dimensions. Key words: Cultural intelligence, Cultural Intelligence Scale, international experience, students, Slovenia POVZETEK VLOGA MEDNARODNIH IZKUŠENJ TER DEMOGRAFSKIH DEJAVNIKOV ŠTUDENTOV PRI RAZVOJU KULTURNE INTELIGENTNOSTI Slovenski študentje se vse pogosteje odločajo za študij ali študijsko prakso v tujini, nema- lo mladih pa se vsako leto odloči trajno zapustiti Slovenijo. V pričujoči raziskavi smo že- leli preveriti, kateri dejavniki, tako demografski kot tudi dejavniki, ki so povezani s predhodnimi izkušnjami mladih v tujini, vplivajo na oblikovanje kulturne inteligen- tnosti, tj. posameznikove zmožnosti učinkovitega delovanja v kulturno raznolikih situ- acijah. Vprašalnik kulturne inteligentnosti (CQS) je izpolnilo 527 študentov iz Slove- nije, opisali so tudi svoje pretekle in načrtovane medkulturne izkušnje. Rezultati so po- kazali, da so tako pretekle kot načrtovane medkulturne izkušnje pozitivno povezane s kulturno inteligentnostjo. Študentje z največ izkušnjami v tujini, kakor tudi študentje, ki načrtujejo selitev v tujino, imajo v povprečju vse dimenzije kulturne inteligentnosti izražene močneje. Ključne besede: kulturna inteligentnost, Lestvica kulturne inteligentnosti, mednarodne izkušnje, študenti, Slovenija 11 t he role of students’ experiences living abroad ::INTRODUCTION :: ::The role of cultural intelligence in the internationalization of Slovenian citizens Globalization promotes internationalization at the national, corporate and per- sonal level. The Slovenian researcher Kohont (2011) argues that the internationali- zation of a company‘s business represents a challenge for its Human Resources function. This includes the need to make more demanding strategic decisions, which usually go hand in hand with an increase in the number of operational tasks, the need for standardization and localization of procedures, and transfer of practic- es and increased scope of change. It appears the most challenging of these issues are referrals and the preparation of domestic workers to work abroad, job seeking and working with foreign employees, and strengthening the common organizational culture. One of the most important factors that affect how well an employee adapts to work abroad, as well as the acceptance of various cultures in the home environ- ment, are personality traits (e.g. Barrett & Pietromonaco, 1997; Caligiuri, 2000; Mount & Barrick, 1995; Teagarden & Gordon, 1995) and other specific personal- ity factors, including cultural intelligence (e.g. Earley & Ang, 2003). Cultural intelligence pertains to an individual‘s ability to deal effectively with sit- uations characterized by cultural diversity (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008). Cultural intel- ligence includes four dimensions: metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and be- havioural. The metacognitive dimension is described as an openness and awareness of differences between interactions with individuals from other cultural back- grounds. The cognitive dimension refers to a knowledge of norms, practices and conventions in various cultural situations. The motivational dimension includes the willingness and ability to direct attention to intercultural differences. The behav- ioural dimension represents the ability to use appropriate verbal and non-verbal forms of communication when interacting with people from other cultural back- grounds (Ang, Van Dyne, & Koh, 2006). Much of the research already conducted on cultural intelligence focuses on the causes of its emergence and development, as well as its consequences, especially in the field of organizational psychology. However, students have participated in some of these studies as well, suggesting that cultural intelligence can also be measured on a student sample. (e.g. Johnson, 2014). Furthermore, students in Europe often participate in student exchange programs, which makes research of this field even more relevant. Previous findings suggest that experiences abroad increase one’s cultural intelli- gence (Engle & Crowne, 2014; Wood & St. Peters, 2014). Experiencing their first international service assignment increases employees‘ cultural intelligence (Wilson & Stewart, 2009). Shannon and Begley (2008) found that the number of countries a person visits has an influence on predicted metacognitive and motivational cul- 12 tural intelligence. The research conducted on those with non-work related experi- ences (Crowne, 2008) revealed that the number of countries visited for education- al purposes predicted cognitive and behavioural cultural intelligence, but the num- ber of countries visited for vacation purposes predicted motivational cultural intelligence. Wood and St. Peters (2014) examined whether short international study trips enhance cultural intelligence. The results of their study demonstrated that participation in a short international study trip affects three out of the four CQ dimensions – metacognitive, cognitive and motivational. Similarly, Engle and K. Crowne (2014) studied the impact of short-term intercultural experiences on cul- tural intelligence and found that each of the four CQ dimensions increased signif- icantly after experience abroad. With the help of a cultural intelligence scale, it is possible to predict three forms of intercultural effectiveness: (i) cultural judgment and decision-making (Ang et al., 2007; Prado, 2006); (ii) sociocultural and psychological adjustment (Ng, Van Dyne, Ang, & Ryan, 2012); and (iii) task performance (Ang, Van Dyne, & Tan, 2012; Chen at al., 2010). A study involving students and informational technolo- gy professionals has demonstrated that individuals with higher levels of motivation- al and behavioural cultural intelligence exhibit better levels of adjustment general- ly, at work and in terms of interaction (Ang et al., 2007). Beyene (2007) found that cultural intelligence motivates non-native English speakers to engage in frequent interactions with native English-speaking colleagues. The findings above prompted us to ask Slovenian students about their intercul- tural experiences and the plans they have regarding living and working abroad. We further wanted to evaluate how these experiences relate to cultural intelligence of Slovenian students, given that previous studies suggested a positive correlation be- tween phenomena (e.g. Engle & Crowne, 2014; Wood & St. Peters, 2014). How- ever, in order to make sound conclusions this issue needed to be further studied. This is also a rather new area of research in Slovene literature, since this is the first study of the relationship between intercultural experience and cultural intelligence conducted on the Slovenian youth population. :: ::Young adults in Slovenia, their mobility and exposure to other cultural influences The Slovenian government and other organizations are working hard to promote internationalization to the greatest possible extent, not only in terms of the econo- my but also student interaction, since this enriches, strengthens and encourages creativity and further economic development through gaining new knowledge and international experience. The Resolution on the National Higher Education Pro- gram 2011-2020 (ReNHEP , 2011) adopted by the Slovenian Parliament in 2011 introduced a comprehensive set of goals concerning the internalization of Sloveni- an higher education. Among these, several are directly compatible with the objec- Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec 13 tives and measures of Erasmus, an European student exchange program, such as: (i) support for outgoing and incoming mobility; (ii) joint study programs established with foreign higher education institutions; and (iii) creating a general internation- al culture in Slovenian higher education institutions with a significant percentage of foreign nationals in the overall population of students, higher education teach- ers, assistants and researchers. In Slovenia the percentage of higher education students per thousand inhabitants rose from 19.1 % in 1991 to 41.1 % in 2005 (Government of the Republic of Slo- venia, 2016). The number of exchange students increased from 227 outgoing and 62 incoming during the 2000/2001 academic year to 1,735 outgoing and 1,696 incom- ing in 2011/2012. Nevertheless, the share of outgoing students as a percentage of the entire student population in Slovenia remains relatively low: 1.03 % in 2007/2008 increased to only 1.51 % in 2011/2012, which is notably below the European aver- age of approximately 4.5 % (Klemenčič & Flander, 2013). Despite this, however, Komljenovič (2012) argues that mobility is one of the best ways to open up Sloveni- an higher education institutions and facilities to the rest of the world. At the end of 2017, there were a total of 207,552 individuals aged 18 to 27 liv- ing in Slovenia. During the 2016/2017 academic year, 68,156 individuals aged 18 to 27 were enrolled in tertiary education, of whom 28,652 were men and 39,504 were women (Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, 2016). Since 2007, the youth unemployment rate has risen dramatically, and Lavrič (2014) concluded that the economic pressures exerted on the intra-national migrations of youth in Slove- nia appear to be relatively low. Only one-quarter of Slovenian young people are willing to move to another location in Slovenia. Approximately one-third of young Slovenians are willing to live abroad. The most preferred destinations are Austria (especially the young people from the northern regions of Slovenia), the United States and Germany. On average, the economic reasons for international mobility are significantly more important for males, older age groups, and urban youth. All of this data points to the importance of political, social and cultural considerations for decisions made that are related to intercultural behaviour. The issue of language skills is an important feature in any examination of cultur- al intelligence, because this is the main way that people communicate. Slovenians generally speak more than one language, whereas most popular foreign languages are English, followed by Italian and German, which tend to be spoken most often near the Italian and Austrian borders, respectively (Passport to Trade, 2014). Due to the above, and along with the accessibility of the Internet and world media, study material in foreign languages, opportunities to participate in student ex- change programs and the affordability of trips abroad, Slovenian students are ex- posed to numerous foreign language influences in their day-to-day lives. t he role of students’ experiences living abroad 14 :: ::Previous cultural intelligence studies in Slovenia Although Slovenia is a relatively small country with a population of 2 million people, it borders on four countries with very different historical and cultural back- grounds (Austria, Croatia, Italy and Hungary). In modern scientific literature, there is a dearth of studies designed to identify the characteristics of employees or stu- dents for intercultural adaptation, and a lack of research on how Slovenia compares to other countries in terms of cultural intelligence. In recent years, some Slovenian students and researchers assessed the characteris- tics of students who had taken part in international exchanges (Lango, 2015; Vujašković, 2011) and compared them with students of other nationalities (Avram- ska, 2007). These researchers were looking for the qualities that an employee must possess to be successful when working abroad (Žišt, 2016). Others studied the rela- tionship between knowledge and cultural intelligence (Goltnik Urnaut, 2014), and the focus of other research was on the role of cultural intelligence in creativity in a culturally diverse environment (Bogilović & Škerlavaj, 2016). For the purposes of this research, we focused on ascertaining which specific demographic and environ- mental factors (past and future experiences) influenced an individual‘s cultural in- telligence. The previous Eastern European studies focusing on the cultural intelligence of students found that male students obtained a higher score on the behavioural di- mension (Brancu, Munteanu, & Golet, 2016), but there were no gender differenc- es observed in the smaller Slovenian sample (Goltnik Urnaut, 2014). Students’ lan- guage skills (if one speaks a foreign language) were positively related to higher cog- nitive dimension score (Goltnik Urnaut, 2014; Johnson, 2014), studying abroad or other international experiences was a significant predictor for all four dimensions of cultural intelligence in the study in Ukraine (Johnson, 2014), and Slovenia (Golt- nik Urnaut, 2014) and was connected only with higher behavioural dimension score in Romania (Brancu, Munteanu, & Golet, 2016). The purpose of the current study is to examine the role of different experiences and intentions that students had or plan to have in the future in the development of cultural intelligence. As we elaborated in our literature review, scholars have pro- posed and demonstrated that demographic and environmental variables have a sig- nificant role in predicting a level of cultural intelligence. All key factors included in our study are less connected with students’ inner motivation (e.g. motivation, pos- sibilities to earn money), but are oriented more toward situations where students could gain cultural exposure (e.g. nature of student experience abroad, level of con- tact with somebody abroad) – and thus possible antecedents are examined herein. Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec 15 :: ::METHOD :: ::Participants Participants were invited via e-mail or social media outlets, resulting in a hetero- geneous convenience sample of Slovene students. To be included in the study, po- tential participants had to study at one among Slovene universities. In-depth infor- mation about the data collection as well as anonymity and confidentiality of re- sponses was provided in an e-mail in addition to informed consent at the beginning of the study. All data were collected through online questionnaires. Participants provided their responses by using a computer, tablet or smartphone. The respondents were undergraduate students (N = 527) from three Slovenian universities – the University of Ljubljana (55.1 %), the University of Maribor (35.6 %) and the University of Primorska (9.3 %). Among these, 37 % were first-year students, 38.1 % were second-year students and 24.9 % were third-year students. Of these, 114 (21.6 %) were men and 413 (78.4 %) were women. Their average age was 22.8 years (SD = 3.9). Only two people (0.4 %) had never been abroad, and 21.3 % had lived abroad for at least three months since they were 14 years old. 71.1 % of students reported that they have a friend who has moved abroad, 32.3 % have relatives abroad, while 63.9 % personally know someone who lives abroad and regularly communicates with them (at least once a month). Almost all participants of this research (97.9 %) speak at least one foreign language at a level that is sufficient for everyday commu- nication. When asked about their future plans, 51.6 % responded they intend to look for student work abroad, 53.1 % will look for a job there, and 40.6 % of the students plan to move to another country. :: ::Measures We used the Slovene version of Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS; Ang, Van Dyne, Koh, Ng, Templer, Tay, & Chandrasekar, 2007), a self-reported question- naire that measures a person’s ability to function effectively in culturally diverse sit- uations. The results of confirmatory factor analysis supported the factorial validity of the Slovene CQS and the existence of a general (second-order) cultural intelli- gence factor. The four scales and the overall (general) CQS scale showed satisfacto- ry internal consistency (Boštjančič, Komidar, & Johnson, 2018). With 20 items, the CQS measures four dimensions of cultural intelligence: four items for metacognitive CQ (e.g. I am conscious of the cultural knowledge I use when interacting with people with different cultural backgrounds.), six items for cognitive CQ (e.g. I know the legal and economic systems of other cultures.), five items for motivational CQ (e.g. I enjoy interacting with people from different cul- t he role of students’ experiences living abroad 16 tures.), and five items for behavioural CQ (e. g. I change my verbal behaviour when a cross-cultural interaction requires it.). The participants should select the response that best describes their capabilities, and choose answers (1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree). For each dimension, we summarize the answers to the correspond- ing items. A higher value for a dimension means a higher level of expressiveness. In the second part of our research, we asked six questions about the participant’s international knowledge and experience (Have you ever been in any country out- side of Slovenia since you were 14 years old? Have you ever lived for at least 3 months outside of Slovenia since you were 14 years old? Do you have a friend who has moved abroad? Do you personally know someone who lives abroad and regu- larly communicate with him (at least once a month) by phone, messages or social networks? Do you have relatives abroad with whom you communicate regularly (at least once a month) by phone, messages or social networks? Do you speak at least one foreign language at a level that is relevant to everyday communication?) and three questions about their future plans, both in terms of student work and life and work abroad (e.g. Do you intend to look for a student work abroad? Are you going to move abroad? Do you intend to look for a job abroad?). They responded dichot- omously (yes/no). :: ::Procedure This research was conducted in cooperation between researchers from the USA and Slovenia within the framework of the project titled “Cultural Intelligence (CQS): a Slovenian case study (2015-2016)”. First, the Cultural Intelligence Questionnaire was translated into Slovenian in accordance with the rules of double translation, and adjusted accordingly (phase 1). We then conducted an online survey (phase 2) to verify the reliability and structure of the Slovenian version as well as identifying some factors (experiences with living abroad and preferences for the future) that can influence the development of cul- tural intelligence among students. During the study, we also controlled the age, gender, years of study, origin of the university that he/she attends. All variables were self-reported. Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec 17 :: ::RESULTS We prepared the descriptive statistics for the variables included (Table 1 and T a- ble 2). Table 1 Descriptive statistics of independent variables Students (N = 527) Gender (female) 413 (78.4 %) Mean age (SD) 22.8 (3.9 %) University (N = 514) Ljubljana 283 (55.1 %) Maribor 183 (35.6 %) Primorska 48 (9.3 %) Year of study (N = 343) 1 67 (37 %) 2 69 (38.1 %) 3 45 (24.9 %) Experience Being abroad since being 14 525 (99.6 %) Lived abroad for 3 months since being 14 112 (21.3 %) Friend living abroad 378 (71.7 %) Monthly communication with someone living abroad 337 (63.9 %) Monthly communication with relatives living abroad 170 (32.3 %) Speaks a foreign language 516 (97.9 %) Plans Student work abroad 272 (51.6 %) Move abroad 214 (40.6 %) Work abroad 280 (53.1 %) Cultural intelligence is a multidimensional construct comprising four comple- mentary ways of conceptualizing individual-level intelligence: metacognitive, cog- nitive, motivational, and behavioural. In accordance with previous studies, the reli- t he role of students’ experiences living abroad 18 ability results in Table 2 show high levels of consistency for the CQS scores (over- all) and the four capabilities in particular. Ang and colleagues (2007), for example, report reliabilities 0.71–0.88 for individual dimensions across two large national samples, USA and Singapore. Table 2 Descriptive statistics and reliability testing of the Cultural Intelligence Scale (N = 527) Mean score (M) Standard deviation (SD) Internal consistency (α) Cultural intelligence – overall 4.5 0.88 0.90 Meta-cognitive 5.1 1.08 0.76 Cognitive 3.9 1.00 0.74 Motivational 4.8 1.07 0.79 Behavioural 4.5 1.15 0.90 The hierarchical clustering method using Jaccard distance and within group link- age method was applied to obtain clusters of students according to the nature of their experience abroad. The method is used when there is a need to identify groups within which units are as similar as possible and at the same time differ from units in other groups. It is a hierarchical method starting with all units as separate groups and hierarchically combining units that are most similar until all units are com- bined in a single group. The researcher decides about the number of groups graph- ically, by inspecting the dendrogram (a graph showing the procedure of units’ clas- sification). In the current research, five clusters were obtained (Figure 1). Students in all clusters have in common an experience of being abroad since they were 14 years old and speaking a foreign language so well as to be able to manage everyday communication. The first cluster, which is the largest, comprises 152 students who have either a friend or someone they know living abroad and communicate with at least once a month. The second cluster, which is the smallest, comprises 72 stu- dents. These are students with no contacts (neither colleagues, friends nor family) abroad. The third cluster, which comprises 125 students, comprises those who communicate at least once a month with relatives and friends abroad. The fourth cluster comprises 95 students who had lived abroad for at least three months and are in regular touch with their family and friends abroad. The last cluster numbers 83 students. These are students with a friend living abroad who they contact regu- larly. Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec 19 Figure 1. The description of the five clusters of experience abroad (the names of the clusters are presented on the top of the figure; bars represent percentages within the cluster). For the next step, a total of five multiple regression models were built to deter- mine the key factors associated with each dimension and overall cultural intelli- gence (Table 3). The obtained clusters were included in the regression model as in- dependent variables, so that the reference group were students living abroad. Beside the clusters also demographic variables and intention for studying or working abroad were included as independents in the regression model. The nature of student experience abroad is one of the key factors influencing overall cultural intelligence as well as all individual dimensions. In contrast with the most experienced group of students, i.e. students who lived abroad for a while and maintain regular (monthly) relationship with family and friends abroad, all other experience groups have lower meta-cognitive, cognitive, motivational and overall cultural intelligence. Lower behavioural cultural intelligence was found in the group with regular contacts with somebody living abroad and the group with no contact abroad. The group of students with relatives abroad or a friend living abroad does not statistically significantly differ from the most experienced group of stu- dents. Men have lower cultural intelligence than women in all but the cognitive dimen- sion. Students with plans to do student work abroad have higher cultural intelli- gence, not only in terms of each of the dimensions, but also overall. Students that intend to move abroad have higher cognitive, motivational and overall cultural in- telligence. Age, type of university and intention of working abroad are not related to cultural intelligence. t he role of students’ experiences living abroad 20 Table 3 Factors associated with dimensions and overall culture intelligence (results of multiple linear regression analysis: regression coefficients and p-values) Meta-cognitive Cognitive Motivational Behavioural Total Constant 4.9 (<0.001) 4.1 (<0.001) 4.8 (<0.001) 4.3 (<0.001) 4.5 (<0.001) Men -0.3 (0.013) -0.1 (0.443) -0.2 (0.015) -0.3 (0.004) -0.2 (0.008) Age 0 (0.069) 0 (0.274) 0 (0.503) 0 (0.336) 0 (0.163) University of Ljubljana 0.2 (0.116) -0.1 (0.646) 0 (0.980) 0.1 (0.672) 0 (0.690) University of Maribor 0.1 (0.605) -0.1 (0.355) -0.1 (0.382) -0.1 (0.513) -0.1 (0.489) University of Primorska Ref. Ref. Ref. Ref. Ref. In contact with somebody abroad -0.7 (<0.001) -0.6 (<0.001) -0.5 (<0.001) -0.3 (0.046) -0.5 (<0.001) No contact abroad -1.1 (<0.001) -1.2 (<0.001) -1.1 (<0.001) -0.6 (0.003) -1.0 (<0.001) In contact with relatives abroad -0.6 (<0.001) -0.4 (<0.001) -0.4 (0.001) -0.2 (0.218) -0.4 (<0.001) Living abroad Ref. Ref. Ref. Ref. Ref. Friend living abroad -0.6 (<0.001) -0.7 (<0.001) -0.6 (<0.001) -0.2 (0.170) -0.5 (<0.001) Student work abroad 0.3 (<0.001) 0.3 (0.006) 0.3 (0.002) 0.3 (0.007) 0.3 (<0.001) Move abroad 0.2 (0.164) 0.3 (0.035) 0.5 (<0.001) 0.2 (0.243) 0.3 (0.005) Work abroad -0.1 (0.285) 0 (0.898) 0 (0.914) 0 (0.968) 0 (0.786) R 2 0.17 0.20 0.26 0.09 0.24 Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec 21 :: ::DISCUSSION As cultural intelligence influences successful adaptation to new cultural environ- ments, we wanted to determine which factors related to experiences of Slovenian students’ life and work abroad affect the development of their cultural intelligence. Results showed adequate internal consistency of the questionnaire as well as inter- nal consistency of individual factors. These findings are consistent with results from other countries (Al-Dossary, 2016; Brancu, Munteanu, & Golet, 2016; Johnson, 2014; Ward, Fischer, Lam, & Hall, 2008). The Cultural Intelligence Scale measures four primary dimensions – metacogni- tive, cognitive, motivational and behavioural. Slovenian students scored the highest results in the motivational and metacognitive dimension. People with high motiva- tional CQ are capable of directing effort and energy toward functioning in differ- ent cultural settings, meanwhile people who are high in metacognitive CQ tend to question their cultural beliefs and adjust their knowledge when they interact with people from foreign cultures (Ang et al., 2010). On average, Slovenian students achieved the lowest results on the cognitive dimension that reflects knowledge about norms, habits and customs in other cultures (Ang et al., 2010). The results thus show a positive attitude exhibited by Slovenian students towards gathering ex- perience in foreign cultural environments, as well as openness to intercultural dif- ferences in interaction with individuals from other cultures. However, it is impor- tant to consider the possible bias of our sample, since there is a possibility that those students participated in the research who are initially more interested in traveling and acquiring intercultural experiences. The results have confirmed our expectations and showed that more culturally ex- perienced students have higher cultural intelligence compared to less experienced students. The most experienced group of students consists of students who have lived abroad for at least three months and are in contact with someone abroad at least once a month. This is the group with the highest average results in all four di- mensions of cultural intelligence. On the other hand, the group with the lowest av- erage results in all four dimensions is the group with no contact abroad whatsoev- er. Thus, our results are in line with the findings of prior studies, which have shown that having experiences abroad increases one’s cultural intelligence (Crowne, 2008; Engle & Crowne, 2014; Wood & St. Peters, 2014). Students who intend to do student work abroad or move abroad for personal in- terest have on average higher cultural intelligence than other participants. To some extent, we can conclude that these are the students who are already more interested in traveling and getting to know people from other cultures. It is also very likely that these students have travelled more in the past, so such results are not surpris- ing. However, what we find especially interesting is that those students who intend to move abroad merely for work do not have higher cultural intelligence. This could be due to finding migration as inevitably because of the lack of opportunities to t he role of students’ experiences living abroad 22 work in Slovenia (and not because of the personal interest in moving). As it seems, among demographic variables, only gender is associated with cultur- al intelligence, as men have a lower cultural intelligence in all four dimensions. This finding is not in line with a previous Slovene study (Goltnik Urnat, 2014) where no significant differences between men and women were confirmed. Although age did not appear to be associated to cultural intelligence, we must take into consideration that students of a similar age (SD = 3.9) participated in our study. :: ::Limitations and further research The study was carried out on a sample of Slovenian students, so the findings can- not be generalized to the rest of the population, such as members of other cultures and employed adults. The questionnaire was applied online, which means that those students who are initially more interested and self-motivated participated in the survey. The results of the current study showed the appropriate psychometric character- istics among student population, but for further research, it would be necessary to evaluate psychometric characteristics of the sample of employees, given that cultur- al intelligence is an important concept in organizational psychology. Further research might involve a baseline study among Erasmus student alumni and a comparison of the results with the current sample. It would be reasonable to conduct a national study of CQS in Slovenia and compare the results of the youth sample with the overall Slovenian sample. Future research might examine other fac- tors, such as personality traits of Slovenian students that affect both decisions relat- ed to living and working abroad, as well as one‘s cultural intelligence. It is important to note that the data collection process took place in 2015, when the economic situation in Slovenia was still somewhat different from how it is to- day. Some of the results, such as the proportion of students who intend to move abroad merely for work, would be different today. :: ::Practical implications Our findings offer practical implications for student advisors and their students because they show how important practical experiences are in terms of developing cultural intelligence. This study indicates that providing students with the oppor- tunity to study, work or undertake student work abroad tends to empower them to take further steps towards gaining higher values of CQ. Although high individual cultural intelligence does not emerge automatically (Engle & Crowne, 2014), stu- dents can improve and develop their cultural intelligence. Students’ advisors could identify the gaps and guide students who are interested in gathering experiences in culturally diverse environments to attend cross-cultural trainings, seminars, confer- ences and workshops for youth in order to increase CQS competences and skills for Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec 23 future employment. Based on the findings, that the more prolonged employees re- main in foreign countries, the more individual cultural intelligence they may devel- op (Shannon & Begley, 2008), their enrolment should be focused on gathering di- verse activities, and also their living or studying abroad should be long enough to maximise gathering a broad scope of information about a particular culture. :: ::Conclusions Our study confirmed that there is a positive correlation between experiences abroad and cultural intelligence. Since there is great interest among Slovenian youth when it comes to working abroad, this suggests that it is important to pro- vide practical content for students in order to help develop their cultural intelli- gence and ability to work abroad. :: ::Acknowledgement We thank the consulting company Ro Sigma, Vanja Ida Erčulj s.p. for their as- sistance with statistical analysis. :: ::REFERENCE Al-Dossary, S. A. (2016): »Psychometric properties of the cultural intelligence scale in a Saudi Arabian context.« V: International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 24(4), str. 305–311. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12149 Ang, S., and Van Dyne, L. (2008): »Conceptualization of cultural intelligence: Definition, distinctiveness, and nomological network.« V: Ang, S. and Van Dyne, L. (ur.): Handbook of cultural intelligence: Theory, measurement, and applications. New York: M. E. Sharpe, str. 3–15. Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., and Koh, C. (2006): »Personality correlates of the four-factor model of cultural intelligence.« V: Group & Organization Management, 31(1), str. 100–123. doi:http:// dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059601105275267 Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., and Tan, M. L. (2012): »Cultural intelligence.« V: Sternberg, R. J. and Kaufman, S. B. (ur.): The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. str. 582–602. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511977244.030 Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., Koh, C., Ng, K. Y., Templer, K. J., Tay, C., and Chandrasekar, N. A. (2007): »Cultural intelligence: Its measurement and effects on cultural judgment and decision making, cultural adaptation and task performance.« V: Management and Organization Review, 3(3), str. 335–371. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8784.2007.00082.x Avramska, I. (2007): »Cross-cultural comparison among students from Macedonia, Slovenia and Kosovo and cultural differences in relation to economic development« (Neobjavljena doktorska disertacija). University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, Ljubljana. Barrett, L. F ., and Pietromonaco, P . R. (1997): »Accuracy of the five-factor model in predicting perceptions of daily social interactions.« V: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(11), str. 1173–1187. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01461672972311005 Beyene, T. (2007): »Fluency as a stigma: Implications of a language mandate in global work« (Neobjavljena doktorska disertacija). Stanford University. t he role of students’ experiences living abroad 24 Bogilović, S., and Škerlavaj, M. (2016): »Metacognitive and motivational cultural intelligence: Superpowers for creativity in a culturally diverse environment.« V: Economic and Business Review, 18(1), str. 55–75. doi:10.15458/85451.18 Boštjančič E., Komidar, L., and Johnson, R. B. (2018): »Factorial Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Slovene Version of the Cultural Intelligence Scale. « V: Frontiers in Psychology, 9, str. 1499. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01499 Brancu, L., Munteanu, V., and Golet, I. (2016): »Understanding cultural intelligence factors among business students in Romania.« V: Social and Behavioural Science, 221, str. 336–341. doi:https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.123 Caligiuri, P . M. (2000): »The five big personality characteristics as predictors of expatriates’ desire to terminate the assignment and supervisor-rated performance.« V: Personnel Psychology, 53(1), str. 67–88. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2000.tb00194.x Chen, G., Kirkman, B. L., Kim, K., Farh, C. I. C., and Tangirala, S. (2010): »When does cross- cultural motivation enhance expatriate effectiveness? A multilevel investigation of the moderating roles of subsidiary support and cultural distance.« V: Academy of Management Journal, 53, str. 1110–1130. doi:https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2010.54533217 Crowne, K. A. (2008): »What leads to cultural intelligence?« V: Business Horizons, 51, str. 391–399. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2008.03.010 Earley, P . C., and Ang, S. (2003): Cultural intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. Engle, R. L., and Crowne, K. A. (2014): »The impact of international experience on cultural intelligence: an application of contact theory in a structured short-term programme.« V: Human Resource Development International, 17(1), str. 30–46. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ 13678868.2013.856206 Goltnik Urnaut, A. (2014): »Education for successful intercultural communication and cultural intelligence.« V: Journal of Economic and Social Development, 1(1), str. 63–73. Government of the Republic Slovenia, 2016. Povzeto (18. 10. 2016) s strani http://www.vlada.si/ en/about_slovenia/society/education/ Johnson, R. B. (2014): »Testing cultural intelligence of Ukrainian students.« V: Economic Noble Visnyk, 1(7), str. 171–178. Klemenčič, M., and Flander, A. (2013): Evaluation of the impact of the Erasmus programme on higher education in Slovenial: final report. Ljubljana: Centre of the Republic of Slovenia for Mobility and European Educational and T raining Programmes – CMEPIUS. Kohont, A. (2011): Vloge in kompetence menedžerjev človeških virov v kontekstu internacionalizacije [Roles and competencies of human resource managers in the context of internationalization]. Ljubljana: Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede. Komljenovič, J. (2012): »The complexity of policy mirroring: The connection between international and Slovenian higher education policy discourse.« V: CEPS Journal, 2(4), str. 9–28. Lango, S. (2015): Ali Erasmus izkušnja vpliva na mehke veščine študentov?: Študija primera študentov z Univerze na Primorskem [Does the Erasmus experience have an impact on students‘ soft skills?: A case study of students from the University of Primorska]. University of Primorska, Koper. Lavrič, M. (2014): »Employment and mobility.« V: Flere, S., Klanjšek, R., Lavrič, M., Kirbiš, A., Tavčar Krajnc, M., Divjak, M., Boroja, T., Zagorc, B., and Naterer, A. (Eds.): Slovenian youth 2013: Living in times of disillusionment, risk and precarity. Zagreb: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, str. 75–82. Mount, M. K., and Barrick, M. R. (1995): »The big five personality dimensions: implications for research and practice in human resources management.« V: Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 13(3), str. 153–200. Ng, K. Y., Van Dyne, L., Ang, S., and Ryan, A. M. (2012). Cultural intelligence: A review, reflections, and recommendations for future research. Conducting multinational research: Applying organizational psychology in the workplace, str. 29–58. Anthropos 1-2 (253-254) 2019, str. 9 -25 eva boštjančič, r ichard b . johnson, r osa r adman ž alodec 25 Passport to trade 2.0 (2016). Business communication. Povzeto (30. 9. 2016) s strani http://businessculture.org/southern-europe/business-culture-in-slovenia/business- communication-in-slovenia/ Prado, W. H. (2006): »The relationship between cultural intelligence and perceived environmental uncertainty« (Neobjavljena doktorska disertacija). University of Phoenix, AZ. Shannon, L. M., and Begley, T. M. (2008): »Antecedents of the four-factor model of cultural intelligence.« V: Ang, S., and Van Dyne, L. (ur.): Handbook of cultural intelligence: Theory, measurement, and applications. New York: M. E. Sharpe, str. 41–55. Statistični urad Republike Slovenije (2016). Povzeto (30. 9. 2016) s strani http://pxweb.stat.si/ pxweb/Database/Demographics/Demographics.asp Teagarden, M. B., and Gordon, G. D. (1995): »Corporate selection strategies and expatriate manager success.« V: Selmer, J. (ur.): Expatriate management: New ideas for international business. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, str. 17–36. The Resolution on the National Higher Education Programme [ReNHEP] 2011-2020. (2011). [Resolucija o Nacionalnem programu visokega šolstva 2011–2010]. The Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 41/2011. Povzeto (30. 9. 2016) s strani http://www.uradni-list. si/1/ content?id=103885 Vujašković, T. (2011): »Mednarodna izmenjava študentov: Konceptualni model kulturne prilagodljivosti [International student exchange: A conceptual model for cultural adaptability]« (Neobjavljeno magistrsko delo). Univerza v Ljubljani, Ekonomska fakulteta, Ljubljana. Ward, C., Fischer, R., Lam, F . S. Z., and Hall, L. (2008): »The convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of scores on a self-report measure of cultural intelligence.« V: Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69(1), str. 85–105. doi:https://doi. org/10.1177/0013164408322001 Wilson, C. E., and Stewart, A. C. (2009): »Developing ethically & culturally-intelligent leaders through international service experience.« Paper presented at the Academy of Management Meeting, Chicago, Il. Wood, E. D., and St. Peters, H. Y. Z. (2014): »Short-term cross-cultural study tours: impact on cultural intelligence.« V: The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(4), str. 558–570. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.796315 Žišt, F . (2016): »Delovna kariera v tujini in osebnost [Work career abroad and personality traits]« (Neobjavljeno magistrsko delo). Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta, Ljubljana. t he role of students’ experiences living abroad