Peterson Cultural Style Indicator™ (PCSI)
- For individuals
- For instructors providing the PCSI to a group
Here’s a quick overview of the six basic steps in this guide:
For individuals and instructors:
- Register yourself (create an account – you need a valid email for this step).
- Buy a test (for yourself, then complete it), or buy multiple tests (for a group).
For instructors providing the PCSI to a group:
- Create a group, with a Group Name and Group Password (called the “Group ID”).
- Email or communicate a message to the participants to tell them to register themselves (just like you did in Step 1), and to let them know the Group Name and Group Password (the Group ID).
- Log back in later to check or manage your group and see who has completed the test, analyze their scores, etc.
- Some extra tips are at the end.
Here’s some detail on how to do the above, with examples, screenshots, and tips:
For Individuals and Instructors:
1) Register yourself (create an account):
First, register using the menu PCSI -> Main Page. Follow the simple directions to register and create a Personal ID for yourself. A valid email address is required. Please use a secure password (include numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols). For example:
Username: Professor Smith
Password: (7uQ^something$ecure)
Email: smith@xyz.edu
You only need to register once (Instructors: your participants will each register separately later – you cannot register for them).
An activation email is sent instantly with a link to complete your registration. If you do not see that email within 5-10 minutes, please search your spam folder for the subject “Peterson Cultural Style Indicator”.
When you’ve completed registration with the activation email, you’re automatically logged in the first time. On subsequent visits to AcrossCultures.com, you can always log back in via the top menu: PCSI -> Main Page.
If your instructor provided you with a Group Name and Group Password (a Group ID), there’s no need to buy the test – you can now use this Group ID to complete the test.
2) Buy a test (for yourself, then complete it), or buy multiple tests (for a group):
Once you’re logged in, you will see a link to “Buy” in the top menu:
Individuals: Just buy one test for yourself using PayPal, then you will see a “Take the PCSI” button to begin the test.
Instructors: Use the “Buy” link to buy however many tests you want. When you buy tests, they are immediately added to your account. If you have 12 people in your group, you would buy 12 tests. All sales are done through PayPal. (You do not need a PayPal account to pay. PayPal accepts credit cards.) You might use a department credit card, then include the test ($14 per person) in the price of the training or ask students to reimburse it as a course fee.
For instructors providing the PCSI to a group:
3) Create a group: The next step is to create a “Group ID” (a Group Name and Group Password) for your participants so they can take the test. This way, your participants won’t need to pay separately, they’ll just enter the Group ID (Group Name, Group Password) you give them.
Once you’ve bought some tests, you will see “Groups” in the top menu. Here are some screenshots to show you the basics of creating and managing groups:
4) Send a message to the participants:
You might send a message like this (copy/paste/edit and use as a template if you wish):
Subject: PCSI
(Dear students, / Dear participants, / Dear customer,)
Please complete the Peterson Cultural Style Indicator (before xyz deadline) using the following:
1) Go to: AcrossCultures.com
2) Register via the menu PCSI -> Main Page.
3) Complete the test using this Group ID:
Group Name: GroupXYZ Fall
Group Password: 246^Sec8ure
Best regards,
(Your name, etc.)
Here’s an example:
5) Log back in later to check or manage your group:
You can always log back in to see which participants have completed the group test, view their scores, and so on.
You can buy more tests if people have been added to your class / group or if you plan on using the test with a new class / group. If you buy additional tests for a group, be sure to update the “Group Maximum” to make these tests available to whichever group you wish (your existing group, or a new group). The new tests you purchase are not automatically added to an existing group because some people manage multiple groups, or some might be buying the tests for a new group. Therefore (professors / instructors / managers) have total control over editing the “Group Maximum” for each group. This also means that, if you wish, you can stop people from taking new tests in a particular group by capping it with the appropriate maximum. For example, you have a particular group with a maximum of 15 tests enabled. It turns out only 13 people took the test in that group, and you are done with that group. To be sure no more take it, you would set the Group Maximum to 13. You can change this again, raising and lowering the maximum as needed. And you can always apply the unused tests to a future group you create while logged into the same account.
You can copy and paste a group’s data into a spreadsheet or other software to analyze or summarize it as you see fit (see below).
6) Finally, a few extra tips:
Unused tests cannot be transferred to different accounts. It’s not possible to “link” multiple accounts together or “transfer” unused tests among accounts, so be sure to buy tests while logged in as the person who will ultimately use those tests to create and manage groups, view participant scores, etc.
For future reference, check the AcrossCultures.com menus: Choose “PCSI“, to find answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and so on. This Help page will always be in the menu in the top right.
Note: The PCSI is an online app that has a blue menu bar across the top (as in the screenshots above). To return here, to the main AcrossCultures.com site, click the bridge logo at the bottom or top of any page.
The book Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working with People from Other Cultures contains case studies, questions and other more in-depth discussion material related to the same culture themes covered by the PCSI.