Cultural Index
Generalities
The CI was created in the early 1990s by Gary Walstrom and Cecilia Bruening-Walstrom in 2004, in partnership with Louis Janda, a professor of psychology at Old Dominion University.
The company is based in Leawood, Kansas. CI is most often found on the East Coast and Southern states of the USA.
Assessment
The CI questionnaire has two questions on two pages, each with 174 adjectives. The first question asks the respondents to describe themselves, and the second asks them to describe how they must behave to be successful in their current position. It takes up to 20 minutes to answer. It measures four primary dimensions that are shown with dots in the CI profiles and three additional ones presented below. The four factors are designated with the letters A, B, C, or D.
| Dimension | GRI a priori |
|---|---|
| Autonomy (A) | High 1 versus low 1 |
| Social Ability (B) | High 2 versus low 2 |
| Pace (C) | Low 1, high 3 versus high 1, low 3 |
| Conformity (D) | High 4, low 2, low 1 versus low 4, high 2, high 1 |
| Logic (L) | N/A (composite factor) |
| Ingenuity (I) | N/A (composite factor) |
| Energy Units (EU) | Response Level |
Usage
A job evaluation form called the C-Job Position Analysis Questionnaire allows users to evaluate the behaviors expected in a job and make comparisons with the person's profile. The publisher proposes the assessment as a management tool for all kinds of applications, including recruitment. The CI deploys through training and services.
Comments
The CI dimensions are close to those of the AVA, DISC, Drake P3, PI systems, and others, including GRI, which are based on four factors. The CI is a free-choice assessment, unlike DISC or Drake P3, which are forced-choice.
The four dimensions being measured are work-related, meet considerations of parsimony and coverage, but as suggested by the above comparison with GRI’s four factors, may lack orthogonality.