Cultural intelligence, multicultural personality of polish students in medical, health, and social sciences

Globalization and increasing international mobility intensify the importance of intercultural competencies in public trust professions. Previous research indicates that cultural intelligence and multicultural personality are crucial in intercultural interactions. The aim of this study was to assess the level of cultural intelligence, multicultural personality traits, and perceptions of cultural differences among students of social sciences, medical sciences, and health sciences. In Poland, the scale of cross-border contacts continues to grow, creating an educational challenge in preparing future professionals for work in multicultural environments. The study employed a proprietary questionnaire along with the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) and the short version of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ SF-40). A total of 102 students from a large university in southern Poland participated in the study. The findings revealed that social science students demonstrated significantly higher levels of cultural intelligence compared to students of medical and health sciences. Cultural intelligence was positively correlated with cultural empathy, open-mindedness, social initiative, and emotional stability. To date, no studies in Poland have addressed this issue. The results highlight the need to design educational programs that foster intercultural competencies while considering the specific professional roles and differences in student preparation.