ABSTRACT
Modern global assignments require individuals to seamlessly transition from one cultural context to the next (Bhawuk, 1990; Bhawuk & Brislin, 1992; Earley & Mosakowski, 2000) as “cultural chameleons” (Earley & Peterson, 2004). However, just as a chameleon sitting on a soccer ball may change its colors to black and white without understanding the game of soccer, individuals may not realize the true nature of their social environment. Researchers and practitioners have long recognized this and have investigated the competencies (Dinges, 1983; Dinges & Baldwin, 1996; Dinges & Liberman, 1989), skills (Bhawuk & Brislin, 1992; Cushner, 1989), and personality traits (Detweiler, 1975, 1978, 1980) that help predict effectiveness in intercultural interactions. Concepts such as intercultural sensitivity (Bennett, 1986; Bhawuk, 1989; Bhawuk & Brislin, 1992; Cushner, 1989), intercultural development (Hammer, 1998), intercultural effectiveness (Elmer, 1987), cross-cultural adaptability (Kelley & Meyers, 1992), intercultural competence (Chen & Starosta, 1996), cultural intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003), intercultural consciousness (Landreman, 2003), and intercultural maturity (King & Baxter Magolda, 2005) have furthered our understanding of intercultural effectiveness. Though these constructs differ in their definitions and assessments, they broadly fall under the domain of intercultural expertise development, and at the root of this development is the role of learning.
