Cultural intelligence (CQ) in action: The effects of personality and international assignment on the development of CQ

We examined (1) the effect of international assignments on the development of cultural intelligence – CQ over time (2) whether crucial personality traits (i.e., extraversion and openness to experience) had a moderating role in the relationship between international assignments and CQ in a longitudinal design. A total sample of 145 military personnel participated in the study at the beginning of the deployment (Time 1) and 121 persons participated at the end of the deployment (Time 2) in a multinational and multicultural military organization. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance showed that the 6-month international assignment did have a statistically significant effect on the development of all four facets of CQ over time. Moreover, moderated multiple regression analyses demonstrated that individuals who are high on extraversion improved their metacognitive CQ and behavioral CQ more than did individuals who are low on extraversion. Similarly, individuals who are high on openness to experience improved their motivational CQ more than did individuals who are low on openness to experience. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.