Points of Attention

The literature and the stories from practice show hundreds if not thousands points of attention in dealing with cultural differences between states and lower levels. However, even a superficial reading of these points would result in quite some confusion. What works for the one, might not work for the other; what is nice in theory, might not work in practice and so on. Ultimately you need to build up your own list, bottom-up from experience; what works for you! This list needs to be simple (three to five catchwords), enabling an appropriate reaction in any situation of cultural conflict.

On the website www.culturalcompetence.eu dozens of points from research are mentioned. Smith and Bond (1988) for instance investigated the application of social psychology in different cultures. The first point of attention is gathering information on the other. In a next step people try to learn more about one another through passive means (observation: external appearances, way of speaking, behaviour), active

means (interaction with the environment but not with the stranger) and interactive means (direct interaction).

The key points of communication across cultures may be summarised in the list below. However, they are still rather general and need to be adapted to you as a person and the situation you are in.

▼ Know yourself!

▼ Try to know the other.

▼ Show respect, in particular by

not judging different behaviour

immediately and to see it just

being different.

▼ Equality as human beings.

▼ Empathy

▼ Dialogue!

▼ Study background, history et

cetera