Global Leadership Program
What is IDI?
IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory) is a cross-culturally valid and reliable assessment of intercultural competence. You can know how much your intercultural competence develops through taking a test, answering 40 questions about your experience or attitude for culture(five grade evaluation style).
It can help you to reflect on your experiences around cultural differences and similarities and lead your own cultural “self-awareness” of your own, unique experiences around cultural differences and commonalities.
How it is evaluated?
Intercultural competence is the capability to accurately understand and adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities. It reflects the degree to cultural differences and commonalities in values, expectations, beliefs, and practices are effectively bridged, and an inclusive learning environment is achieved, and specific differences that exist in your institution are addressed from a “mutual adaptation” perspective.
The right figure is called "Intercultural Development Continuum". It indicates the more you have a intercultural mindset, the greater you get a capability for responding, recognizing and building upon true commonalities.
My result (1)-PO
My Perceived Orientation (PO) Score is placed in the stage of Acceptance. PO is the rate of the capability in understanding and appropriately adapting to cultural differences. So, I can relatively early understand, shift cultural perspectives, and adapt behaviors when I face different culture from mine.
Considering my cultural experience, it is related to not only my birth background but also my father’s influence. My father has lived in three foreign countries on business. He always tells me cultural differences between Japan and these countries and hardships caused by them, especially lifestyle and work ethic. Sometimes, he has invited my family and showed us to the world and taught how important to recognize and face the cultural differences. That’s why, I assume my PO result is relatively higher scored.
My result (2)- DO
My Developmental Orientation (DO) Score is placed in the stage of Minimization. DO is the primary orientation toward cultural differences and it reflects a tendency to highlight commonalities across cultures that can mask important cultural values, perceptions and behaviors.
As I mentioned in my result (1), I am relatively good at telling cultural differences; however, it rather makes me easier to stick the highlighted differences of cultures. According to the report, the next stage, Acceptance involves the capability to make moral and ethical judgements in ways that take into consideration other cultural values and principles. To lift my DO, I should begin to more fully recognize and appreciate cultural differences since it makes me well positioned to look for ways to shift perspective and adapt behavior around cultural differences.