Intercultural Skills’ Assessment

1. When you are on university grounds, do you regularly hear different languages being spoken?

2. At your university, can you observe a growing cultural diversity?

3. Age, gender, and nationality are essential characteristics of a person.

4. How would you evaluate yourself on curiosity on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

5. How would you evaluate yourself on knowledge of cultural worldview frameworks on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

6. How would you evaluate yourself on cultural self-awareness on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

7. How would you evaluate yourself on empathy on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

8. How would you evaluate yourself on openness on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

9. How would you evaluate yourself on verbal and non-verbal communication on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

10. The national culture of my country defines my country and makes it better than others.

11. Cultural differences can also be observed between different generations.

12. Culture is given from one generation to the other and stays the same.

13. There are different cultural identities in the different regions of my country.

14. Culture is:

15. Cultural bias is the tendency of people to judge the outside world through a narrow view based on their own culture.

16. Which of the following could describe culture?: A. Learned and dynamic; B. Static and unaffected; C. Shared and integrated; D. Based on symbols and inseparable from language.

17. Cultural bias is different from racism in that it targets cultural differences rather than anthropological characteristics like skin color.

18. I believe that the social conventions of my country are universal. People who do not follow those conventions are outcasts.

19. It is important to suspend judgments vis-à-vis different values and customs, and to consider multiple meanings.

20. Do you think that all gestures have the same meaning in all countries?

21. When stereotypes come up during a discussion, what do you usually do?

22. Do you think that the number of times people kiss when meeting each other may differ from country to country?

23. The more one is positively exposed to people from different cultures, the lower his/her cultural empathy.

24. Cultural empathy is the ability to empathise with the feelings, thoughts, and behaviours of members of groups with a different cultural background.

25. How would you define empathy?

26. Empathic communication is a powerful tool to solve interpersonal conflicts and establish deep connections.

27. Do you think that widely recognised hand gestures, like the thumps-up sign of approval or agreement, may have opposite, negative, or even insulting meaning in some countries?

28. Communication is crucial in order to foster positive intercultural relations.

29. In your country, a person who does not speak your language asks you a question. How do you react?

30. While working with a group of foreign students, do you pay attention to body language and gestures?

31. You have just arrived in a foreign country for a year of studying abroad. A local classmate invites you for dinner to his/her parents' house, where many things (the welcoming, manners, the food, etc.) will be new for you. How do you feel?

32. When you are abroad, do you like to engage in a conversation with locals?

33. During a vacation in Mexico, you come across the parade of the Day of Deads (Dia de los Muertos). For the first time, you witness a different way to remember those who have passed, which replaces mourning with celebrations. How would you react?

34. You have just moved abroad for a two-month internship in an organisation where your mother tongue is the working language. Do you still try to acquire a basic knowledge of the local one?

35. A culturally open individual does not assume, but questions.

36. Do you define yourself as an open-minded person?

37. Cultural openness allows people to navigate without social constraint within and across different cultural groups.

38. How would you react if, during a working experience abroad, you are asked to adapt your schedule, personal and working routine, to local habits?

39. The greater the comprehension an individual has of his/her own culture (cultural self-awareness), including stereotypes and generalisations, the more that person can appreciate and understand other cultures.