The Relationship of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) with IQ and EQ
Personal characteristics - such as cognitive ability and emotional intelligence - facilitate the process of acquiring particular types of information. But when you're working in an
international or intercultural environment, these two characteristics are not sufficient. In such circumstances
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is needed as well.
In fact, CQ can have a reinforcing effect on both your cognitive abilities and your EQ. How?
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Cognitive abilities. These include the ability to solve problems, to explain and think in an abstract way so that certain types of information can be processed accurately.
However, there is one specific important weakness if CQ is not present simultaneously: cognitive abilities do not entail the ability to process
inter personally important information (information out of social interactions, especially among different cultures). For that CQ is required.
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Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Includes the ability to assess one’s or someone else's emotions and to appropriately respond to these emotions.
However, this does not mean that a person with a high EQ is able to familiarize with persons with
cultural-specific systems of emotional expressions. Although there certainly are emotions that are universally the same, there are also differences in emotional expressions across cultures. These cultural specific differences in emotional expression lead to the challenge of accurately recognizing emotions across cultural borders, which requires a certain level of CQ.
Source: Imai, L. and M.J. Gelfand (2010) “ The culturally intelligent negotiator: The impact of cultural intelligence (CQ) on negotiation sequences and outcomes” Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Vol. 112, Issue 2
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