Scale Analysis

The Intercultural Sensitivity Scale was developed by Chen and Starosta in 2000. It includes five subscales: interaction engagement, respect for cultural differences, interaction confidence, interaction enjoyment, and interaction attentiveness.

Purpose

The scale was designed to help individuals recognize that their counterparts may differ in behavior, perceptions, or emotions during the process of intercultural communication.

Question Scoring

Participants are asked to respond based on how they themselves perceive and feel toward individuals from other cultures. The scale consists of 24 items, both positive and negative, rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Questions 1, 9, 11, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 belong to the “interaction engagement” subscale, with item 19 being a negatively worded item within the same subscale.
The “respect” subscale includes four negative items: 2, 7, 16, 18 and one positive item, 14.
The “interaction confidence” subscale includes items 3, 5, 6, and the negatively worded item 4.
The “interaction enjoyment” subscale consists of items 8, 10, and 13.
The “interaction attentiveness” subscale includes items 12, 15, and 17.

Statistical Analysis

Scores for the five subscales are calculated by summing the scores of each relevant item after reversing the negatively worded statements.
The “interaction engagement” subscale ranges from 9 to 45, with higher scores indicating more positive feelings toward intercultural engagement.
The “respect” subscale ranges from 5 to 25, where higher scores correspond to higher levels of orientation or tolerance toward others’ opinions and cultures.
The “interaction confidence” subscale ranges from 4 to 20, with higher values suggesting a greater sense of confidence in intercultural contexts.
The “interaction enjoyment” subscale ranges from 3 to 15, with higher scores reflecting a more positive emotional response to interactions with culturally different individuals.
The “interaction attentiveness” subscale ranges from 3 to 15, with higher scores indicating a greater effort to understand the culture of the communication partner during intercultural exchanges.
Finally, the overall Intercultural Sensitivity Scale produces a total score ranging from 24 to 120. Higher total scores correspond to higher levels of intercultural sensitivity.

Validity and Reliability

The scale was adapted into Greek by F. Kossyvaki, using the backward independent translation method. The internal consistency reliability of the subscales ranged from moderate to low. Specifically, the Cronbach’s alpha values for “interaction engagement” and “interaction attentiveness” were low, at α=0.57 and α=0.50, respectively. However, the total Intercultural Sensitivity Scale demonstrated satisfactory reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.78.

References

Authors: G. M. Chen and W. J. Starosta (2000)