A Study of the Relationship between Cultural Intelligence and Students’ Iranian - Islamic Identity

A. Salahshouri, Ph D

F. Khavari, M.A.

The main purpose of this research was to study the relationship between cultural intelligence and students’ Iranian-Islamic identity. In this descriptive, correlational research the population of the study included all twelfth graders in district one of Hamedan (2141 students). The sample of the study which was selected through random stratified sampling method comprised 327 students (176 girls and 151 boys). The instrumentation included standard Cultural Intelligence Questionnaire as well as a self-devised Iranian-Islamic Identity Questionnaire. The experts approved of the content and face validity of the questionnaires. In addition, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients reported for the Cultural Intelligence Questionnaire and the Iranian-Islamic Identity Questionnaire were 87% and 92%, respectively. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive indexes (mean, percent, frequency, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis). Obtained results indicated that there was a significant relationship between the Iranian - Islamic identity and the cultural intelligence of the students (R2 =0.049). Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between Iranian– Islamic identity and the meta-cognitive (R2=0.077), cognitive (R2=0.021) and motivational (R2=0.031) components of the cultural intelligence; however, no significant association was observed between the behavioral aspect of the cultural intelligence and the Iranian-Islamic identity.

Key words: cultural intelligence, Iranian-Islamic identity, students