Abstract

In an increasingly globalized society, the significance of effective intercultural communication cannot be overstated, especially for students involved in maritime studies who frequently encounter cross-cultural interactions. The present study aims to investigate the influence of cultural intelligence, psychological empowerment, and learning agility on intercultural communication competence among students in the maritime domain. Additionally, this study seeks to explore the mediating role of cross-cultural adjustment and the moderating role of socioeconomic status in this relationship. A quantitative survey was carried out among a cohort of Indonesian maritime students, employing a multistage random sampling methodology. Data was collected at two different time points with a time lag between them. The ultimate dataset comprised a total of 380 participants who successfully completed the questionnaire. The findings of the study indicated a statistically significant and positive correlation between cultural intelligence, psychological empowerment, learning agility, and intercultural communication competence within the population of sailor students. The associations between the predictor variables and intercultural communication competence were mediated by cross-cultural adjustment. Furthermore, the study provided evidence for the moderating influence of socioeconomic status, suggesting that the association between cross-cultural adjustment and intercultural communication competence displayed heterogeneity depending on the socioeconomic backgrounds of the students. The results underscore the significance of encouraging cross-cultural adaptation and taking into account students' socioeconomic status as essential factors in facilitating effective communication within multicultural settings.