Intercultural interactions, psychological flourishing at work and interpersonal organizational citizenship behaviors: the mediating role of cultural intelligence

This study concerns the effect of accelerating globalization and the growing internationalization of the labor market. This results in workers having to interact with colleagues who have different relational and work standards, which can give rise to misunderstandings or conflicts (Caputo et al., 2018). This cultural diversity requires them to acquire intercultural skills, and in particular a high level of cultural intelligence (Ang et al., 2007), in order to adapt their interpersonal relationships and manage their tasks successfully (Hobfoll, 2001). Indeed, workers with a high level of cultural intelligence are better able to reduce anxiety related to intercultural interactions, and are more successful in their organizational socialization (Wen, 2019). Following this line, the present study focuses on the mediating role of cultural intelligence in the relationships between intercultural interactions, psychological flourishing at work, and interpersonal organizational citizenship behaviors. The study was carried out in France with 335 workers in different sectors of activity, using a self-administered questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modeling. The results reveal that cultural intelligence fully mediates the relationships between intercultural interactions on the one hand, and psychological flourishing at work and interpersonal organizational citizenship behaviors on the other. Thus, they suggest that intercultural interactions foster the development of cultural intelligence (Pekerti & Arli, 2017), which in turn contributes positively to both psychological flourishing at work and interpersonal organizational citizenship behaviors (Schlägel & Sarstedt, 2016). They highlight the importance of including cultural intelligence in explanatory models of psychological health at work, and in intercultural training and management. This is especially the case in France where it continues to be relatively little used (Burakova & Filbien 2020). Implications for intercultural management are discussed, as well as the limitations of the study and avenues for future research.