Hawaiian attributional perspectives on intercultural interactions in higher education: Development of an intercultural sensitizer

Counselors, academic advisors and educators working in educational institutions must address the increasingly diverse mental health and academic needs of culturally diverse groups. In Hawai’i, Native Hawaiians are a cultural minority. To alleviate the negative effects of current culturally inappropriate counseling and teaching methods, university personnel would benefit from intercultural training. The Intercultural Sensitizer (ICS) is a well-researched tool used in attribution training. The purpose of this study was to develop a Hawaiian ICS to train non-Hawaiian university personnel. The researcher gathered critical incidents from Hawaiian university students (N=113); presented 20 edited, critical incidents to a bicultural Hawaiian panel (N=6) to elicit culturally relevant attributions, and investigated the meanings Hawaiian students and non-Hawaiian students (N=285) attributed to the critical incidents. Statistical tests indicated 3 of 20 critical incidents and 14 attributions were statistically significant, revealing finite, cultural differences between the Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian samples. Counseling and educational implications are suggested that should increase the chances of success among Hawaiian students enrolled in college.