PSBB082 Intercultural psychology
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
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Intercultural communication
̶ Communication between people from different cultures – between
individuals of different religious, social, and ethnic backgrounds
̶ Social exchanges: Commercial activities, or warfare
̶ Increased relevance due to globalization, increasing migration, the
development of the transportation systems, the advance of
information technologies, international employment, study
exchange programs, interdependent economies, foreign travel,
political alliances and global peace threats
̶ Mobility of goods, capital, and people resulted in super-diversity
(Vertovec, 2007) in the global village (Kim & Hubbard, 2007)
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Intercultural communication
̶ Effective intercultural communication is essential for world peace,
stable international relations, resource sustainability, cosmopolitan
citizenship (Starkey, 2007)
̶ Complicated by different languages, values, behaviors and
attitudes (the importance of punctuality), context, customs,
distance, non-verbal signs
̶ Culture shapes language vs. language shapes culture.
̶ Linguistic Relativity Theory – the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: structure
of a language affects its speakers’ world view or cognition
̶ People move from ethnocentrism (denial, defense, minimization)
to ethnorelativism (acceptance, adaptation, integration) through
intercultural encounters (Bennett, 2012)
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Activity: A mosque in Sleepyville
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Activity: A mosque in Sleepyville
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCES
− valuing/respect of other human beings
− valuing/respect for cultural difference and diversity
− intercultural behavior
− communicative awareness
− critical thinking
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
− To experience real conflicts that can arise in meeting the needs of
diverse communities
− To explore the right to freedom of religion and belief
− To develop skills of debate and analysis
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Intercultural Communicative Competence
̶ Byram’s (1997, 2008): Ability to communicate effectively and
appropriately in various cultural contexts
̶ The basis of intercultural competence is in the motivation (intrinsic
vs. extrinsic) of the person to interact with people from other cultures
̶ Attributes:
Savoir (knowledge of self and other, of interaction);
Savoir être (attitudes: relativising self, valuing other);
Savoir comprendre (skills of interpreting and relating);
Savoir apprendre/faire (skills of discovering and interacting);
Savoir s’engager (critical cultural awareness)
̶ Internal outcomes: Empathy, flexibility and adaptability
̶ External outcomes: Efficient intercultural communication behaviors
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Spitzberg &
Changnon (2009)
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Knowledge
̶ Sociolinguistic Awareness: Awareness of the diversity of
language across situations and contexts, ability to contextually
think about their language (e.g., gendered language differences,
regional differences, and social class related language use)
̶ Cultural Self-Awareness: Recognition of one's own cultural
influences upon values, beliefs, and judgments (Winkelman, 2005)
̶ Culture-Specific Knowledge (vs. General): Information or
knowledge that is unique or specific to a particular culture
̶ Cultural Awareness: Being cognizant, observant, and conscious
of similarities and differences among and between cultural groups
(Goode, 2001)
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Spitzberg &
Changnon (2009)
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Spitzberg &
Changnon (2009)
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Intercultural attitudes
̶ Relativising (decentring) self: Critical questioning of one’s self,
less subjective and non-judging stance towards the self which is
understood as a construction rather than a fact
̶ Motivation to interact beyond one’s culture
̶ Openness and curiosity: Willingness to move beyond one’s
comfort zone, approaching the unfamiliar with imagination, see
things from the eyes of the other, avoiding judgment
̶ Respect: Consideration for the others, active listening, showing
that they are appreciated and valued
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Spitzberg &
Changnon (2009)
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Skills
Skills to discover and interact, exploring cultures by:
̶ Observing
̶ Listening
̶ Analyzing
̶ Evaluating
Skills to interpret and relate
̶ Interpreting facts from other cultures by
̶ Relating them to own culture
̶ Developing new perspectives through comparison and contrast
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Next meeting
̶ 20.12.2023
̶ Think through responses to these three questions:
1. Have I ever been discriminated?
2. Have I witnessed discrimination of other people? From which
groups and in which form?
3. Have I ever discriminated anyone, however good my intentions
might have been?