Research yields contradictory results on the relationship between an individual’s spirituality, that is, the relationship with God/the Transcendent, and their cultural development. To address this gap, we conceptualize a model that investigates the effects of two spirituality dimensions, namely felt love for God and love for others, on the behavioral aspect of intercultural competence, that is, intercultural effectiveness (IE), through ethnocentrism. This model undergoes testing using a sample of 144 international students who self-identify as Christians, Muslims, belonging to other religions, and non-religious. The results confirm the positive impact of spirituality on IE by reducing ethnocentrism. We establish suppressing effects of both love for God and love for others, suggesting intricate dynamics of these two spirituality dimensions within the intercultural communication model. Furthermore, we identify the direct effects of host language and English as a lingua franca proficiency on IE. We also define the mitigating effect of host language proficiency on the adverse impact of ethnocentrism on IE. This study underscores the importance of higher education institutions to nurture students’ relational spirituality and support them in overcoming ethnocentric perspectives.

中文翻译：

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“用爱架起文化的桥梁”：灵性促进跨文化有效性。语言的影响


关于个人的灵性，即与上帝/超验者的关系，与其文化发展之间的关系，研究得出了相互矛盾的结果。为了解决这一差距，我们概念化了一个模型，该模型通过种族中心主义研究了两个灵性维度，即对上帝的爱和对他人的爱，对跨文化能力的行为方面的影响，即跨文化有效性 （IE）。该模型使用 144 名自我认同为基督徒、穆斯林、属于其他宗教和非宗教的国际学生样本进行了测试。结果证实了灵性通过减少种族中心主义对 IE 的积极影响。我们建立了对上帝的爱和对他人的爱的压制效果，暗示了跨文化交际模型中这两个灵性维度的复杂动态。此外，我们确定了东道国语言和英语作为通用语言熟练度对 IE 的直接影响。我们还定义了主机语言熟练度对民族中心主义对 IE 的不利影响的缓解作用。这项研究强调了高等教育机构培养学生关系灵性并支持他们克服种族中心主义观点的重要性。