Cultural Training Based on a Theory of Relational Ideology

Abstract

A field experiment examined the effects of an intercultural training intervention based on the construct of Protestant Relational Ideology (PRI). The experiment, like drug trial research, compared the effectiveness of the novel PRI intervention with an intervention previously shown to be successful. People working on consulting projects with colleagues in China or Chile received either PRI-based training or the well-established and popular cultural assimilator training. Results show that compared to cultural assimilator training, relational ideology training is more effective in improving managers’ success in completing project objectives and affective adjustment during cross-cultural ventures. The study shows that important practical and theoretical benefits can be gained from integrating theoretical advances in cultural psychology into cross-cultural training.