Cultural intelligence

Cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ), refers to an individual's capability to function effectively in culturally diverse settings. The concept was introduced by London Business School professor P. Christopher Earley and Nanyang Business School professor Soon Ang in 2003.

While cultural intelligence is comparable to emotional intelligence (EQ), individuals with a high EQ can grasp "what makes us human and, at the same time, what makes each of us different from one another." In contrast, individuals with a high CQ can discern universal, individual, and non-idiosyncratic features within the behavior of a person or group. The authors cited behavioral, motivational, and metacognitive aspects of cultural intelligence.

Four CQ capabilities
The authors described four CQ capabilities: motivation (CQ Drive), cognition (CQ Knowledge), meta-cognition (CQ Strategy), and behavior (CQ Action). CQ Assessments report scores on all four capabilities as well as several sub-dimensions for each capability. The four capabilities stem from the intelligence-based approach to intercultural adjustment and performance.