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The article is devoted to the study of intercultural competence (ICC) as a psychological phenomenon including the analysis of its models, factors, and profiles. The results of an empirical study in two major multinational Russian universities (388 students, of which 254 young women and 134 young men) are presented. The aim of the study was to identify the typological profiles of the ICC and their characteristics in relation to personality traits. ICC was studied based on the “Dynamic model of intercultural sensitivity” by M. Bennet. The author’s modification of the “Scale of intercultural sensitivity” by O.E. Khuhlaev and M.Y. Chibisova in the adaptation of Y.A. Lopashenko was used for the ICC diagnostics. Personality traits were considered in the framework of the Five-Factor Model (P. Costa and R. McCrae) and were measured by a short form of the “Five-Factor Questionnaire” in Russian adaptation by M.V. Bodunov and S.D. Biryukov. We identified four ICC profiles of students provisionally called “ethnocentrists”, “negativists”, “undecided (ambivalent)”, and “ethnorelativists”. It is shown that the profiles differ not only in the correlation between the severity of parameters of the ICC, but also in personality traits. The results can be used for the design of ICC development and formation programs, based on the identified psychological specifics of ICC profiles.

The development of intercultural competence (ICC) is important for the modern personality in an unstable and diverse world, but there is a lack of research on this phenomenon in the context of age, gender and intellectual differences. The purpose of the present exploratory study is to identify relations between ICC, cognitive abilities and academic achievements among Russian school students. The sample included 106 (55% female) students in the 9th grade of Moscow secondary school. ICC was measured with the author’s modification of The Intercultural Sensitivity Scale by Khuhlaev and Chibisova, developed on the basis of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity by Bennett. Cognitive abilities were determined with the School Test of Intellectual Development by Akimova et al. Academic achievements were evaluated using GPA. The findings of our research show that: (1) higher academic achievements and cognitive abilities usually characterize schoolchildren, who are not inclined to absolutize cultural differences and do not consider them to be barriers to intercultural interaction; (2) the most significant predictors of ICC features from the studied cognitive abilities are analogy and generalization, but generalization has opposite impacts in male and female students. This fact should be taken into account in the context of ICC developments, especially in male school students prone to ethnocentrism.

The search for predictors of intercultural competence (ICC) development is one of the important challenges of modern psychology in connection with globalization in all the spheres of modern life, including university education. The purpose of the present research is to show that the ethno-national attitudes (ENA), which Khukhlaev et al. consider as an individual’s predisposition to assess the nationality/ethnicity can determine the severity of ICC features in male and female university students. The sample includes 219 (75% female) first−third year Russian university students. ICC was measured with the author’s modification of the intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) by Khuhlaev and Chibisova. ISS is based on the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, (DMIS) by Bennett and includes 4 subscales: Minimization, Absolutization, Ambivalence, Acceptance. ENA (Nationalistic, Patriotic, Neutral, Negativistic) were determined with the “Scale of ethno-national attitudes” by Khukhlaev, Kuznetsov, and Tkachenko. Descriptive statistics methods, Wilcoxon W-test, and multiple regression analysis were used for statistical analysis in the R software environment, version 3.5.2. The findings of our research showed that Nationalistic and Patriotic ENA are the strongest predictors of studied ICC scales and have an opposite negative impact on Acceptance and Absolutization in both male and female students. This fact should be taken into account in the context of ICC developments.