Cultural Awareness
We live in a world that is too globalized to avoid interacting with people from different countries and cultures. When living, studying, and working with people from different cultures, it is essential to understand the cultural expectations of others to interact appropriately and communicate effectively. This comprehension means that we need to acknowledge our cultural differences. Furthermore, being culturally aware will prevent you from underestimating the impact of cultural differences.
According to the Collins dictionary (Cultural awareness definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary), a person’s cultural awareness is “their understanding of the differences between themselves and people from other countries or backgrounds, especially differences in attitudes and values” and how they manifest themselves.
Cultural experts often compare culture to an iceberg (Berthoin & Friedman 2005), pointing out that what we see of culture is marginal compared to what we cannot see, while there are some elements of culture that are precisely invisible and are the most difficult to comprehend and process, such as behavioural norms, values and beliefs. Professor Andrew Molinsky explains that we judge everyone through our own cultural prism: “We have nothing but our own cultural lens. Unless we are culturally trained, we are unable to see the same situation from multiple perspectives simultaneously.” (Molinsky, 2013).
Learning the facts and dos and don’ts about different cultures is not enough to make someone culturally aware. Conveying cultural awareness is only half the task. The other half teaches people how to act in cultural situations that make them uncomfortable (Molinsky, 2013). Indeed, one of the main challenges is to find out how to adapt and adjust our behaviour to take into account our differences, and thus learn to act outside our cultural comfort zone.
Why should we not underestimate the impact that cultural differences can have? The answer is straightforward: there are hundreds of real-life examples of cultural misunderstandings that have proven critical importance and have a significant impact on an individual’s failure or success in business, international negotiation, managing a multicultural team, or simply living in a multicultural neighbourhood.
In this sense, Erin Meyer’s book, The Culture Map, is insightful as it illustrates multiple examples of cultural misunderstandings and covers different aspects of intercultural interaction. For example, Meyer highlights the fact that how trust is built or constructive criticism is given can vary considerably from country to country. To summarise the cultural puzzle we live in, Meyer (2015) points out: ’’Americans precede anything negative with three nice comments; French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans get straight to the point; Latin Americans and Asians are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians think the best boss is just one of the crowds. It’s no surprise that when they try and talk to each other, chaos breaks out.’’
According to Edward Hall (1976), context is particularly important for communication. Cultures can be categorized as high context cultures or low context cultures (Hall, 1976). In low-context cultures (The Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, and Switzerland), communication is more explicit, and people generally say what they mean; whereas in high context cultures (Asia, Middle East, Africa, Mediterranean, and UK), feelings and thoughts are not explicitly expressed, and people tend to suggest the real meaning of what they are saying between the lines.
Regardless of what culture one comes from or interacts with, there are two main pitfalls to be aware of:
- Because we are steeped in our own culture, it is often difficult to identify when our own cultural assumptions influence how we act.
- We often use our own culture as a norm for how to get things done.
The concept of cultural differentiation is a key element in understanding how to preserve your own culture while acknowledging the value that other cultures bring to the group. To this end, accepting that our way of doing things is not objectively the best for everyone can contribute significantly to improving our cross-cultural interaction.
Finally, by developing cultural awareness, we acquire cultural compassion, motivation, and intelligence, which are tools to overcome common stereotypes, prejudices, and assumptions and enable us to enjoy navigating successfully and effectively in an intercultural world.
Interested in additional information on Cultural Awareness? Check out the Methodological Guide!
Check out Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map! 👉 https://erinmeyer.com/books/the-culture-map/