Intercultural Competence

The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) is an assessment that examines an individual’s intercultural competence (Hammer, Bennett, & Wiseman, 2003). Bennett (2004) describes intercultural competence as one’s place on a continuum from ethnocentric to ethnorelativism. As I understand it, the IDI and intercultural competence are examining an individual’s ability to understand and accept other cultures. The IDI measures intercultural competence on a continuum that includes five stages that a person can vacillate between, which include denial, defense, minimization, acceptance, and adaptation (Bennett, 2004; Hammer et al., 2003). Moreover, Bennett (2004) indicates that the denial stage is when an individual is very ethnocentric, believes that their cultural beliefs and values are the only important ones, and thus denies cultural differences. The next stage is one in which an individual is defending against differences between cultures. The minimization stage is when an individual begins to see the similarities between cultures without taking into account the differences that may exist (Bennett, 2004). Acceptance is the next stage in which an individual begins to develop a more accurate understanding of the similarities and differences between cultures. Lastly, the adaptation stage is the final stage of the intercultural development continuum, and this stage suggests that an individual is able to shift perspectives and adapt their behaviors based on the different cultural experiences they are involved in (Bennett, 2004). Overall, the IDI measures intercultural competence on a continuum and anyone can move forward or backward along the continuum based on their experiences.

The IDI profile provides ratings of perceived orientatio...

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...situation from several perspectives. I realize that this may be difficult for me, since I tend to try to be overly positive towards other cultures given that I feel a need to because of the overly negative comments my parents tend to make towards other cultures. I hope that this will help me move more towards my leading orientation of acceptance rather than regressing back to previous stages of denial or defense.

Works Cited

Bennett, M. J. (2004). Becoming interculturally competent. In Wurzel, J. (Ed.). (2004). Toward multiculturalism: A reader in multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 62-77). Newton, MA: Intercultural Resource Corporation.

Hammer, M.R., Bennett, M.J. & Wiseman, R. (2003). The intercultural Development Inventory: A measure of intercultural sensitivity. In M. Paige(Guest Editor), International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 421-443.