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© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill

Chapter 6 Cultural Identity

• Cultural Identity

• Cultural Biases

• Intercultural Contact

• Intercultural Communicator


Cultural Identity

• Nature of Identity– Cultural identity: belonging to a particular

culture or ethnic groupEthnic Identity: generally defined on the basis

of cultural criteria (customs, language)Racial Identity: generally defined on the basis

of physical criteria (skin color, facial features)


Identity

Social Identity: Memberships that are particular to cultural identity

Personal Identity: Activities that differ from cultural identity; Sexuality; individuality


Identity

Gender identityPink or Blue?Nature or Nurture?Brain Research: Color, texture, motion, Language

Age Identity Infant/ChildAdolescentAdultMiddle AgeSenior Citizen

Mixed Identity


Identity

• Religious identity

• Socioeconomic Identity

• National/Regional Identity


Identity Development

• Unexamined Cultural Identity

• Cultural Identity Search

• Cultural Identity Achievement


White Privilege

• Normative Race Privilege– Dominant culture– Individual Identity– Guilt for being white– Perceptions of Privilege– Loss of privilege

– (reading)


Ethnocentrism

The tendency people have to evaluate others according to their own standards and experience

While this tendency can help bind people together, it can also present serious obstacles to cross-cultural interactions

(c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e


Categorization

Categorization is the cognitive process by which all human beings simplify their world by grouping similar stimuli

Our categories give meaning to our perceptions

A prototype image best characterizes the meaning of a category

Example: for the category “bird,” we usually think of robins, not chickens



Stereotypes

Stereotypes are socially constructed categories of people

They usually obscure differences within groupsThey are frequently negative and play to

ethnocentric ideas of “the other”



Understanding Prejudice and Racism

Ethnocentrism leads people to believe that their own “ways” are good and “natural”

Prejudice implies a lack of thought or care in making a judgment about others

While racial and ethnic prejudice can be expressed both positively and negatively, in the United States it is most often negative



Extreme Cases of Prejudice Racism—the transformation of prejudicial attitudes

through the use of power directed toward those one regards as inferior

Hate Groups—any organized body that denigrates select groups of people based on ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation

White Privilege—the largely unconscious acceptance by dominant groups of privileges denied to oppressed groups

Racial Profiling—law enforcement practices aimed at those who “fit” a particular profile—usually age, ethnicity, and/or race



Acculturation and Identity

Acculturation refers to the changes that take place as a result of continuous firsthand contact between individuals of different cultures

The degree of mobility and the degree of choice in acculturating groups are both important



Outcomes of Intercultural Contact


Cultural Adaptation

• Models of Cultural Adaptation

1. The Anxiety and Uncertainty Management Model (Gudykunst, 1995):

The goal of effective communication is met by reducing anxiety and uncertainty (uncertainty reduction).

a. predictive uncertainty

b. explanatory uncertainty


Cultural Adaptation

• Models of Cultural Adaptation, cont.

2. The U-Curve theory

a. Stage 1: Excitement and anticipation

I b. Stage 2: Culture shock

c. Stage 3: Adaptation


Cultural Adaptation

• Models of Cultural Adaptation, cont.

3. The Transition Model

a. Fight approach

I b. Flight approach

c. Flex approach


Cultural Adaptation

Models of Cultural Adaptation, cont.

4. The Communication-System Model (Kim)

a. Adaptation is a communicative process requiring interpersonal communication competencies


Cultural Adaptation

Models of Cultural Adaptation4. The Communication-System Model,

cont.

b. Process of stress, adaptation, and growth

c. Frequent communication leads to more culture shock but better adaptation


Cultural Adaptation

4. The Communication-System Model, cont.

d. Three options:

i. Reject new idea

ii. Incorporate into existing framework

iii. Change framework


Cultural Adaptation

4. The Communication-System Model, cont.

e. Three stages:

i. Taking for granted

ii. Making sense

iii. Coming to understand


Cultural Adaptation

• Individual Influences

Several individual characteristics may influence adaptation:

- age

- gender

- preparation

- expectations


Cultural Adaptation

• Context and adaptationContextual influences on adaptation include:

- receptivity of culture- status and power- class issues- discrimination- conflict between recent and long-

term immigrants


Cultural Adaptation

• Outcomes of adaptation- Psychological health

- Functional fitness

- Intercultural identity


Identity and Adaptation

• Migrants develop multicultural identities based on three issues: 1. The extent to which they want to maintain their own identity, language, and way of life;2. The extent to which they want to interact

with others in the new culture; and3. The ownership of political power.



• Adapting on Reentry

1. When sojourners return to their original cultural contexts, they may experience reentry shock.

2. W-curve theory of adaptation

3. Differences between first and second U-curve: personal change and expectations.



• Living on the Border 1. Transnationalism calls into question

notions like nation-states, national languages, and coherent cultural communities.

2. When people frequently go back and forth between cultures, they may

develop a multicultural identity.


Types of adaption

• Assimilation– Integration: occurs when migrants have an interest in

maintaining their original cultures and maintaining daily interactions with other groups.

– Separation:– a. voluntary separation– b. segregation

SeclusionMarginalization: occurs when there is little interest in

maintaining cultural ties with either the dominant culture or the migrant culture.


Assimilation

• Assimilation – the migrant/person wants relationships with other groups, and:

a. is welcome in the host culture

b. gives up aspects of his/her culture


Assimilation

1. Assimilation

c. Conflicts may arise if forced on migrants by the dominant culture.

d. discrimination over time can discourage maintenance of one's native cultural heritage.


Culture Shock

• Culture shock is a relatively short-term feeling of disorientation and discomfort due to the unfamiliarity of surroundings or the lack of familiar cues in the environment.


• Most migrants experience culture shock.

• People are less likely to experience culture shock if they separate themselves from the new environment.

Culture Shock


• Long-term adaptation is difficult for most people, and people generally resist it in the short term.

• Some people adjust to only some parts of a new culture.

Culture Shock


Something to Think About

“One of the higher callings for young people in the coming century will be working to increase intercultural understanding. Such people will be the missionaries of the age, spreading light among groups. . .by giving them a modern vision of the new global community.”

—Carl Coon


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