PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE QUESTIONNAIRE: APPLICATIONS IN SPORTS EDUCATORS

Virginia Politi, Despoina Ourda, Charalambos Tsorbatzoudis

Abstract


This study examines the psychometric properties of Fantini’s (2000) Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) Questionnaire, focusing on its applicability in assessing intercultural competence among sports educators. The study aims to examine the factorial structure of the questionnaire and evaluate its reliability. The sample consisted of 315 physical education and sport science students. Participants completed the adapted to Greek language version of the ICC comprising 28 items measuring four factors, namely Knowledge, Behavior, Awareness, and Skills. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the ICC Questionnaire, revealing a four-factor structure accounting for 60.5% of the total variance. All items loaded on the original factor provided preliminary evidence on the factorial validity of the scale. The reliability of the extracted factors was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, and the analysis revealed adequate scores for all subscales (α > .78). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) further supported the four-factor model, indicating a satisfactory model fit (CFI = .920). All factor loadings were statistically significant, aligning with the theoretical structure of the questionnaire. The results suggest that the ICC Questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for assessing intercultural competence in sports education contexts and provide a foundation for further research on cross-cultural applicability and intervention-based competency development.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


intercultural competence, sports education, team cohesion, multiculturalism, psychometric analysis

Full Text:

PDF

References


Arasaratnam, L. A. (2009). The development of a new instrument of intercultural communication competence. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 38(2), 105–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475750903391530

Beaton, D. E., Bombardier, C., Guillemin, F., & Ferraz, M. B. (2000). Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine, 25(24), 3186–3191. https://doi.org/10.1097/00007632-200012150-00014

Bennett, M. J. (1993). Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In Education for the Intercultural Experience (pp. 21–71). Intercultural Press

Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238

Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910457000100301

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters. Retrieved from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.21832/9781800410251/html?srsltid=AfmBOoppf6oBTXGqBCbJ2ZfXY_rwsGasNe8htZqHbT1W4Ecv7YPkQzE2

Deardorff, D. K. (2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315306287002

Deardorff, D. K. (2009). The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence. SAGE Publications. Retrieved from https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-intercultural-competence/book232239

Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4(3), 272–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.4.3.272

Fantini, A. E. (2000). A central concern: Developing intercultural competence. In A. Fantini (Ed.), New ways in teaching culture (pp. 25–33). TESOL. Retrieved from https://agustinazubair.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/6-developing-intercultural-competence1.pdf

Fantini, A. E., & Tirmizi, A. (2006). Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis. https://doi.org/10.7936/K7H41P6F

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119409137

Hammer, M. R., Bennett, M. J., & Wiseman, R. (2003). Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The Intercultural Development Inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27(4), 421–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(03)00032-4

Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

Kaiser, H. F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika, 39(1), 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02291575

Kérchy, A. (2020). Intercultural competence in multicultural education. Hungarian Educational Research Journal, 10(2), 120–135. https://doi.org/10.1556/063.2020.00011

Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (4th ed.). Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226817594.001.0001

Matsumoto, D., & Hwang, H. C. (2013). Assessing cross-cultural competence: A review of available tests. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(6), 849–873. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022113492891

Pedhazur, E. J., & Schmelkin, L. P. (1991). Measurement, design, and analysis: An integrated approach (1st ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203726389

Schinke, R. J., & McGannon, K. R. (2015). The psychology of sub-cultures in sport and physical activity: Critical perspectives. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 20, 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.03.005

Sideri, E. (2006). Intercultural competence in the Greek context. Intercultural Education, 17(5), 475–487. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980601088353

Sousa, V. D., & Rojjanasrirat, W. (2011). Translation, adaptation and validation of instruments or scales for use in cross-cultural health care research: A clear and user-friendly guideline. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 17(2), 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2010.01434.x

Spitzberg, B. H., & Chagnon, G. (2009). Conceptualizing intercultural competence. Intercultural competence, 2(1), 2-52.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v12i4.5931

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Virginia Politi, Despoina Ourda, Charalambos Tsorbatzoudis

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2015 - 2026. European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science (ISSN 2501 - 1235) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.


This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All authors who send their manuscripts to this journal and whose articles are published on this journal retain full copyright of their articles. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).