Cultural Awareness And Cultural Intelligence

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When communicating with others with differing cultures, it is important that both parties are able to communicate effectively while keeping in mind differing culture. Developing and understanding of the concepts of cultural self-awareness and cultural intelligence are an integral part of effective cross-cultural communication (Quappe & Cantatore, 2003). The following essay will briefly explore these concepts, and examples of where they can be applied. Specifically looking at how the development of cultural intelligence relies heavily on an understanding and development of cultural self-awareness. The importance of Cultural self-awareness and the development of cultural intelligence will be seen by discussing the important role it plays in allowing …show more content…

Taipale (2012) states that people must make a daily choice to use their knowledge of differing cultures to be inclusive. This can difficulty as personal choice depends entirely on an individual’s choice rather than being able to be monitored or supported by infrastructure. Growing up in an extremely conservative church I was taught there was a very specific way of living and behaving. One example of this was that women were not allowed to wear pants; this behaviour was not unusual for anyone in my church, and it was not something that affected me, until I was placed in public school. I wore a long skirt the first day because I was raised to believe this was the most modest option for a girl. At school all the girls were wearing pants, and I immediately judged them and made assumptions that they were immodest due to this. Brislin et al (2006) highlights that many people engaging in school or business activities in a different environment find that if there is a lack of cultural intelligence, then these ventures may have negative outcomes. These judgements and misinterpretations often arise due to a lack of self-awareness of how and culture dictates values and beliefs (Quappe & Cantatore, 2005). Over the years, I have come to a better understanding of myself and I can see how I must make a daily choice to ensure any lack of self-awareness and intelligence does not dictate my behaviour when faced with those different to

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