Development of Cross-Cultural Psychological Capital and Its Relationship With Cultural Intelligence and Ethnocentrism

As a key construct in the field of positive organizational behavior, positive psychological capital (or PsyCap) has been well established in the work domain. In the current study, the applicability of PsyCap was extended into the domain of cross-cultural interactions and was tested via a training intervention in the United States (n = 130) and South Africa (n = 71). Psychological resource training targeting the underlying components of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism resulted in significant gains in cross-cultural PsyCap, cultural intelligence, and positive emotions as well as decreases in ethnocentrism. In the South African sample, gains in PsyCap and cultural intelligence were maintained one month following training. Results are discussed within the context of psychological resource training for employees working in a diverse environment. This intervention study extends and applies PsyCap into the domain of cross-cultural development and management.