There are several ways I can exhibit, acknowledge, address, and assess cultural differences in various settings within my community. For instance, as we once discussed with a few other students from my college, a way to overcome cultural differences is by increasing one’s multicultural competence. Multicultural competence can be defined as a capability to operate across cultures which can be obtained by increasing an individual’s intercultural sensitivity (Varela, 2019).
For example, I can exhibit cultural differences by improving intercultural sensitivity within my social groups by focusing on empathy and understanding behaviors that reflect other cultures (Varela, 2019). Increasing the level of intercultural sensitivity is also helpful in acknowledging cultural differences by educating individuals that their culture is not the only one existing and is not the only notable one (Varela, 2019). Differences between cultures can be acknowledged and exhibited by developing insight into specific features of other cultures and understanding their value.
Increased intercultural sensitivity can also help to address and assess cultural differences. To address discrepancies between cultures, people have to realize that each culture is unique and learn how to show respect for diverse worldviews (Varela, 2019). A way to assess cultural differences is by adopting some people’s points of view and analyzing how they differ from others (Varela, 2019). Overall, by increasing the level of intercultural sensitivity, people, myself included, can learn to appreciate other cultures and obtain multicultural competence to overcome differences between cultures.
Reference
Varela, O. E. (2019). Multicultural competence: An empirical comparison of intercultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence. European Journal of International Management, 13(2), 177-197. Web.