“What makes someone good at dealing with other cultures?” This is not an easy question, and there are two ways of approaching it.
Here are some general qualities that make a person well-suited:
- boundless curiosity
- the ability to be flexible and adaptable
- being sure of who you are, and of your own cultural roots
- excellent communication skills
- fluency in a number of languages
- a high tolerance of ambiguity
- a belief in difference as a resource, not a barrier
- the ability to read between the lines
- a high degree of ‘emotional intelligence’
- a developed and broad sense of humor
Another way is to measure a person’s natural cultural style, behavior and values, and see where they fit in globally. One researcher in the intercultural field has 3 categories: linear, multi-active and reactive. Whatever culture you are from, for example, if your personal qualities are mainly linear, you are likely to find things easier with Americans, Germans, and Nordics. If you are largely multi-active, you will probably feel more at home with Latin cultures. And if you are reactive, then you may tend to prefer working with Far Eastern cultures.
Someone with a balance of the three qualities will tend to have empathy at some level with most cultures they come into contact with. It is interesting that Indians very often fall into that middle area of the cultural triangle – and Indians have been remarkably successful at operating out of their home environment.
Clearly, there are also cases where people who are dominant in one category manage excellently with their opposites, but they rely on a good dose of the qualities listed at the beginning! What do you think makes someone good at dealing with other cultures?
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I wonder if anyone ever comes ‘naturally’ to those qualities listed at the top? I think we (most of us anyway) get those qualities, to the extent we ever do, by being tossed into a new environment and forced to deal with it.
My ‘tossed into’ experience came when I went from being a provincial high school graduate from Bangor, Maine to a freshman on scholarship at Yale where my classmates were uniformly from elite prep schools, where everyone but me knew what a ‘cordial’ was, where the clothing they wore wasn’t even sold in my hometown, and where my ‘hick’ accent stood out like a red flag. Talk about a tough first semester!
I survived, but as a result of that baptism I never again suffered culture shock even as I travelled the world, lived in various countries, and learned to deal with a really ‘foreign culture’ like PC/W!
Certainly being tossed in such a new and different environment helps one in later transitions and it sounds like even though you had a tough transition it helped you deal with your experiences in PC later on! I couldn’t agree with you more.
Empathy ranks high as well. Realistically, I was missing a number of these other virtues when I went to country. I learned more about myself dealing with HCNs. I did not need American Studies, World Affairs and Communism (affectionately referred to as ASWAC) demanded by the Congress to defend or state our own short comings, e.g., segregation, to communicate positively with HNCs. In fact, my admittance of some of our societal shortcomings enabled HNCs to express their societies shortcomings, which enabled me to avoid stepping on cultural toes, and incorporating these into my disseration..
Empathy and being observant to others are crucial. You mentioned about learning more about yourself by interacting with HCN’s– that is exactly what happens– we tend to learn more about ourselves and our culture by interacting with others who are different– what’s the best way to learn about your own culture and your own value system? leave it..
And you have peeked my curiosity….what is your disseration on?
After learning to live with the people of 17 different countries I guess I must have some ability to adapt to other cultures. However, I still reflect on the folk wisdom contained in the old saying, “familiarity breeds contempt.” By living with another people do we become mutually more receptive or do we confirm prejudices?
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