Antecedents of American hospitality students’ intercultural communication apprehension: Effect of ethnocentrism, cultural intelligence and core self-evaluations

Abstract

While cross-cultural communication skill is recognized as a critical attribute for hospitality employees and managers in the increasingly globalized hospitality business and operations, the issue of college students’ apprehension about interacting with people from different cultures has been overlooked. The purpose of this study is to examine personal traits that increase or decrease intercultural communication apprehension (ICA) among American hospitality students. Using quantitative analysis of data from 370 American college students enrolled in hospitality programs in the United States, this research revealed that cultural intelligence (CQ) and core self-evaluations (CSE) can decrease ICA while ethnocentrism promotes ICA. The results further showed that the positive link between ethnocentrism and ICA can be diminished by CSE. Practical implications and theoretical contributions of the findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research.