Cultural intelligence and its relationship to digital citizenship skills among university students

Abstract This study aims to identify the level of cultural intelligence and digital citizenship among university students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the relationship between cultural intelligence and digital citizenship skills. The study adopted the descriptive approach which is concerned with studying the phenomenon and describing it accurately. The sample was randomly selected from Saudi university students, numbering (220) students in the academic year 2024-2025, with an average age of (20.23) and a standard deviation of (4.97), including (120) males and (100) females. The tools of the study are the Cultural Intelligence Scale (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral), and the Digital Citizenship Scale (digital communication, digital commerce, digital access, digital literacy, digital health and wellness, digital security, digital etiquette, digital rights and responsibility, digital law). The results indicated that university students have a high level of cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational cultural intelligence. This is due to the nature of university life, which contributes to increasing students’ interaction with other cultures, openness to the world, understanding different cultures, adapting effectively in complex cultural situations, and creating a space of close convergence between different cultures and knowing how to deal with them. Students also possess a high level of digital citizenship skills, which enhances their communication with others, access to information using technology effectively, and avoiding inappropriate behavior when using the internet. there is also a statistically significant correlation at the level (0.01) between the dimensions of each cultural intelligence and digital citizenship skills among university students (The higher the cultural intelligence of university students, the higher the level of digital citizenship skills). This is attributed to the importance of cultural intelligence and its impact on digital citizenship skills. Finally, the study recommended the development of academic curricula in Saudi universities to develop students’ cultural intelligence and digital citizenship skills, as well as holding seminars for university students to explain how to coexist with other culturally diverse societies and raise awareness of digital culture.