“Bridging Cultures With Love”: Spirituality in Fostering Intercultural Effectiveness. The Effects of Language

Research yields contradictory results on the relationship between an individual’s spirituality, i.e., 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, i.e., 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 different spirituality dimensions within the intercultural communication model. Furthermore, we identify 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 for higher education institutions to nurture students’ relational spirituality, supporting them in overcoming ethnocentric perspectives.