Cultural Identity and Cultural Intelligence Functionalities
As the population grows year after year, we’re witnessing an expansion of diverse beliefs. When socializing with people of different perspectives whether it be in a casual setting or in a work set one must be knowledgeable of their views. It’s important to respect and place boundaries between one another. On occasion, some people have negative experiences in their life that guide their behavior and causes friction. It’s important to be open-minded and unbiased. In a leadership role, one must be capable of adapting to a variety of cultural situations. Being capable of adapting is defined as Cultural Intelligence (CQ). CQ is the capacity to function & manage efficiently in culturally diverse surrounding. In order to effectively implement CQ there must be four categories achieved which is, strategy, knowledge, motivation, & behavior. The competence within the four categories determines the effectiveness of the interaction.
To further clarify each step in CQ, a strategy is a skill that is required to manage cultural complication. The reason why having a strategic skill is important is that no individual has the same thoughts and behaviors (Include-Empower. n.d). Therefore, the strategy phase helps facilitate in selecting an organized response, then test & reflect on the precision of your assumption, & experiment with alternative approaches. In other words, you start building a cultural profile by conducting a trial & error until you locate a profile that best fits. Next is the knowledge phase, one must be open-minded & comprehending dissimilar cultural beliefs. Not only must one be open-minded but also vigilant of numerous dialects, customs, & looks. One must be prepared & knowledgeable of how to overcome some problematic cultural differences such as values, presumption & beliefs (Include-Empower. n.d).
The next category is motivation which is the will of being preparedness to socialize with people of different perceptions. By having the courage and taking the initiative one is mentally prepared for the obstacles to come. Some of the issues that may arise are explicit or unconscious biases, challenging exchange, & frustrating, stressful environments (Include-Empower. n.d). Throughout these troubling experiences, one must stay composed and professional. The last category is behavior which is the aptitude to communicate with others is a vocal and non-voiced matter. In other words, when you communicate with people of diverse viewpoints in a matter that they’re familiar to in order to gain their respect & building rapport. If these actions are constant the friction will subside.
Cultural sensitivity is something everyone has experience in their life. Such as offering pork to someone that doesn’t eat it. Sometimes you may say something accidentally that can offend someone from a different culture. According to Milton Bennett’s Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, there are six staged that a person must go through to become culturally sensitive: denial, defense, minimization, acceptance, adaptation, and integration (Center of Growth. n.d). By implementing these six stages it will help when dealing with culturally diverse circumstances. It also assists in gaining more in-depth knowledge & sensitivity for other’s experiences. Once you have mastered the 6 stages its unquestionable that future relations will improve because you’re now considering other’s worldviews other than your personal views.
To further clarify the meaning of the 6 stages denial is the first stage you encounter. In the denial stage, you’re blind to other viewpoints. You don’t put much effort to get to know or except other’s views other than your own. To conquer this phase one must be willing to analyze & except that the existence of other philosophies is present. The next phase is defense this is the point where you have come to acknowledge that there are numerous cultures out there. This is also the phase that will make you see your culture as either evolved or not evolved. Both groups see their own culture in positive stereotypes & the other culture in negative stereotypes. In other words, the conflicts proceed because both cultures views have an “us and them” way of thinking (Center of Growth. n.d).
The proceeding phase is minimization. At this point, the cultures of others are being categories to see fewer differences from one another. An example will be comparing facial features or simply stating we’re all human. Others may categories by involving religion such as saying, “we’re all creatures of God.” The minimization phase is a way of separating the differences and simply just becoming comfortable with many different perspectives. The fourth stage is acceptance which is the stage that you fully acknowledge other cultural views and you don’t degrade one over the other. At this point you see all cultural views as equally relevant and important (Center of Growth. n.d). If at one point you’re faced with a new culture you’re more curious and ask questions to comprehend it before judging.
The adaptation phase is when you are now fully comfortable with other cultures that you can behave accordingly to what is culturally appropriate. Abide by the regulations & have the capabilities to empathize within a different context. Feeling more confident to collaborate culturally appropriate with other cultures. This phase might look like you’re giving up on your own beliefs but not at all. This phase helps broaden who you are which facilitates the capabilities of recognizing & accepting different viewpoints & establish specified changed to your views in intent to work with people of different views. The last step is integration this step is simply the stress-free ability to enter & exit cultures deprived of affecting your personal views nor the individuals involved. Your beliefs are not affected whatsoever & remain intact throughout the experiences.
The mechanisms that are important within CQ are cognitive, physical, emotional, & motivational (Earley., Mosakowski. 2004). In the cognitive stage, you’re finding ways to match or correlate your views with someone else views in an attempt to relate with them. In the second component physical, you must be capable of altering your expressions. When interrelating with folks with dissimilar views you must be willing to acclimatize to their actions & body dialectal. Lastly, emotions & motivations are the self-assurance & competence to deal with individuals from other cultures. It’s easy for you to acclimate to the lifestyle of a different culture at ease.
