Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2012

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Marcus W. Dickson

Abstract

Using a set of scales to measure cultural competences which have been used in previous research, this study examined the relationships between Cultural Attitudes and Beliefs, Cultural Intelligence (CQ), and Ethnic Identity, as well as the Big Five personality traits and demographic variables, within a sample of 87 high school teachers. Cultural Attitudes and Beliefs predicted Metacognitive CQ, Cognitive CQ, Motivational CQ, and overall CQ above and beyond Openness. Teachers with ten years of experience or less were found to have higher CQ than teachers with more than ten years of experience, which may be attributed to age. Also, teachers who teach Social Studies and Language Arts had more positive Cultural Attitudes and Beliefs and higher Cognitive CQ and overall CQ than teachers who teach Math and Science, which may be attributed to personality differences and/or situational factors. Openness demonstrated the strongest relationship to cultural competence variables, and Conscientiousness showed no relationship. Finally, Ethnic Identity Exploration was found to moderate the relationship between Openness and CQ. Results also demonstrate differences between White and non-White teachers.

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