×

Competency Coordinates: Cultural Self-Awareness

Being aware of the effect of cultural background and norms on how myself and others interpret information and social contexts.

Do you know what it means to be Culturally Self-Aware?

  • Cultural Self-Awareness is the level of understanding about a culture and how it can impact social interactions.

  • People often consider social stereotypes that have a kernel of truth and can be used to understand people in a cross-cultural context. Research shows quite the opposite – stereotypes are misleading and relying on these for the success of a cross-cultural interaction is the recipe for failure and embarrassment.

  • Cultural Self-Awareness is a specific dimension of Cultural Intelligence called Knowledge and is rooted in social evidence (not misleading simplifications). This involves understanding cultural systems in terms of specific norms and values, and how these can have an impact in your practices and business.

  • Knowledge (along with other Cultural Intelligence dimensions) has been associated with better performance with Judgement, Decision Making and Problem Solving.

Did you know that we are often culturally biased without even noticing?

  • Having substantial explicit cross-cultural knowledge might sound enough to overcome stereotype and master cross-cultural contexts. It is easy to imagine that experienced people in a cross-cultural context are more likely to navigate according to the norms and values and to be more confident and less prejudice in their social interactions. However, explicit knowledge is only one part of what guides our behavior in a cross-cultural context. Social interactions are also often guided by implicit stereotypes.
  • Implicit stereotypes correspond to thoughts and feelings about social groups that are associated with the prevailing cultural narrative and have an unintended and uncontrolled influence in our individual behaviors. It is as if we as individuals spread the word of the cultural narrative about a social group without even noticing. For example, one explicitly defends that men and women are equally good at maths, but implicitly associate more strongly maths tasks with a man without even being aware of it.
  • Research has shown that these implicit associations are difficult to change (probably because they result from extended exposure to cultural discourses). Still, exposure to cross-cultural contexts, particularly with people contradicting the cultural stereotypes, does have an effect in reducing implicit prejudices.

Things to do to improve self-awareness

1. Actively learn about a new culture

  • You can do research about cultural characteristics, but make sure you go beyond that. Local newspapers, business, and museums are great ways to develop your own factual representation about a culture.

2. Understand implicit stereotypes

  • Visit the Project Implicit site and take a test. You can choose among a long list of social groups – take the test on a few you are confident that you are not prejudiced against. Were the results surprising?

  • Topic Podcast has a series about the TV show Cops named “Running from Cops” demonstrating how a TV show can mold the cultural narrative about social groups even when it lacks evidence.

3. Overcome implicit influences

Identify the widespread prejudices in a cultural discourse (e.g., members of group X are lazy). With these,
search and be attentive to contradictory evidence. You will see, prejudices are simplifications that are easy to rebuff if you are willing to make that exercise.


References
  • Livermore, D., Van Dyne, L., & Ang, S. (2012). Cultural intelligence: Why every leader needs it. Intercultural Management Quarterly, 13(2), 18–21.
  • Fitzgerald, C., Martin, A., Berner, D., & Hurst, S. (2019). Interventions designed to reduce implicit prejudices and implicit stereotypes in real world contexts: A systematic review. BMC Psychology, 7(1), 1–12.