Cultural intelligence is defined as a measure of a person’s capacity to function effectively in a multi-cultural environment. It has several components, including the ability to adapt to different cultural environments and a sensitivity to how people in other cultures think and feel. On the other hand, emotional intelligence, is the ability to manage personal emotions in interpersonal relationships. It involves social awareness and is often manifest in an ability to resolve conflicts and provide leadership. We would expect that someone with a high emotional intelligence would also have a high sensitivity to those in other cultures, so cultural intelligence and emotional intelligence are related through empathic sensitivity. However, there are some dimensions of EQ that are independent of CQ. For example, a person with a high emotional intelligence may not have much exposure to members of other cultures and might have a relatively low cultural intelligence. However, we would expect the measures of emotional intelligence (EQ) and cultural intelligence (CQ) to be highly correlated because they measure distinct, but related variables.
