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Understanding Cross-Cultural Awareness (Ethnocentric vs. Ethnorelative)

It may be a cliché but it is undeniably true; studying abroad will change you. It will not only change your view of yourself and help you grow, but it will also change how you look at the world. You begin to view your own home culture in different ways, while simultaneously adapting to a new culture. This is the development of cross-cultural awareness, of gaining a greater sensitivity to your surroundings and the world around you.

As your awareness of culture increases, your attitude toward cultural difference likewise evolves. Below is a thought-provoking model based on a design by Milton Bennet which portrays various phases of how we think and view culture. The model puts ethnocentricity, the idea that one's own culture is superior, at one end of the spectrum with "ethnorelativism," a successful blending of more than one culture, at the other end. People often move subconsciously through these various stages as their international and intercultural experiences grow.

Ethnocentric States:

I. Denial of Difference - No recognition of cultural difference because of isolation or intentional separation. People in this stage don't really believe in cultural differences; they think people who are behaving differently don't know any better. One tends to impose their own value system on others, knowing that they're "right "and these other people are "confused."

II. Defense against Difference - Recognition of cultural difference coupled with a negative reaction. Unlike people in the denial stage, those in the defense stage believe in cultural difference and have accepted the reality of it, but they are deeply threatened by it and believe that other cultures are decidedly inferior.

III. Reversal - The tendency to see another culture as superior while maligning one's own. This view of another culture is often based on positive stereotypes, everything in the other culture is "good" while all in your own culture is "bad."

IV. Minimization of Difference - Recognition and acceptance of superficial cultural difference such as eating customs, etc., but minimizing them. This view emphasizes the similarity of all people and commonality of basic values. However, the tendency is to trivialize differences and to define the basis of commonality in ethnocentric terms (i.e. everyone is essentially like us).

Ethnorelative States:

I. Acceptance of Difference- Recognition and appreciation of cultural difference in behavior and values. One accepts cultural differences as legitimate alternatives and do not judge them as wrong or bad. One is neutral, not positive, about differences. Difference is a fact of life.

II. and III. Adaptation and Integration of Difference- In these stages, behavior as well as attitudes change. These people have gone from being neutral about difference to being positive. One not only accepts cultural differences, but is willing and able to adjust their own behavior to conform to different norms. There is the ability empathize with people from different cultures. In many ways, one becomes multicultural, effortlessly adjusting behavior to suit the culture of the people one is with, "style switching," in other words. It is not about giving up one's own values and beliefs, but instead integrating aspects of other cultures into it. In the integration stage, certain aspects of the other culture or cultures become a part of one's identity.

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