Cultural Intelligence, Flourishing, and Thriving in the South African Work Context

Abstract

There is increased interest in the field of cultural intelligence (CI) internationally, owing to globalization. CI seems to be a particularly important field in a country such as South Africa, which is regarded as one of the most diverse societies in the world. In this article, the relationship between CI, flourishing at work, and thriving at work is analyzed in the context of South African organizations. The purpose of the article is to establish whether CI positively influences flourishing and thriving at work. A survey study was conducted, which was quantitative. The quantitative data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire, which was distributed to a final sample of 366 individuals working at South African organizations. The findings show that CI promotes flourishing at work, and they show that flourishing at work and thriving at work are related. They also indicate that emotional well-being and social well-being mediate the influence of CI on thriving at work, such that the indirect effects are positive and significant. The findings of the study indicate that CI is important in advancing mental health in the workplace. They also point to the importance of CI in a diverse country to promote flourishing and thriving at work. CI is thus important not only when leaders are on international assignments, but also in diverse settings. Through promotion of positive outcomes such as flourishing and thriving at work, organizations functioning in diverse settings are likely to become more effective and competitive.