Intercultural Competence

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Intercultural competence is the ability to interact successfully and appropriately with individuals and groups from other cultures , in the narrower sense the ability to deal with people of different cultural orientations in a mutually satisfactory manner.

This ability can already exist at a young age or can also be developed and promoted within the framework of enculturation (direct and indirect upbringing). This process is known as intercultural learning . The basis for successful intercultural communication is emotional competence and intercultural sensitivity .

Interculturally competent is a person who, when working with people from foreign cultures , grasps and understands their specific concepts of perception , thinking , feeling and acting . Previous experiences are included and expanded as far as possible free of prejudice , while at the same time an attitude of openness and learning is necessary during intercultural contact.

Intercultural competencies are not defined in terms of fixed cultures, but rather relate to cultural differences that occur in different ways in every group of people. As a rule, mixed forms can always be assumed.

background

Everyone has their own history, their own life in different worlds , and therefore - to a greater or lesser extent - their own culture (including geographical , ethnic , moral , ethical , religious , political , historical ) or culture . cultural affiliation or cultural identity .

In interpersonal dealings, this concerns on the one hand differences between (classical) cultures, regions , continents or countries, but also between companies or their respective departments, between social or biological genders , between minority groups (including subcultures ), between different classes or strata , or below members of the same family , provided various cultural here values apply.

These culture-related and culture-related differences are not only relevant in the interaction, but also in the development of one's own competence. A general definition of intercultural competence is not very meaningful in relation to specific application situations. Area or occupation-specific definitions are e.g. B. for the development of intercultural competence in schools better able to specify the concrete requirements for certain groups (e.g. teachers).

Legal Definitions

With the Participation and Integration Act of December 15, 2010, the State of Berlin adopted a legal definition of intercultural competence that dispenses with the designation of cultures as "foreign" or "different" and offers room for interpretation. Paragraph 4, paragraph 3 of the law stipulates: "Intercultural competence is a form of professional and social competence based on knowledge of culturally shaped rules , norms , values and symbols . The acquisition of and further training in intercultural competence are for all employees through further training offers and to ensure qualification measures. Intercultural competence should always be taken into account when assessing suitability, qualifications and professional performance in the context of recruitment and advancement of public sector employees. "

In North Rhine-Westphalia , intercultural competence is defined in Section 4 of the "Act to Promote Social Participation and Integration in North Rhine-Westphalia" of February 24, 2012 as follows: "Intercultural competence within the meaning of this law includes 1. the ability, in particular in to be able to act successfully and to mutual satisfaction in professional situations with people with and without a migrant background, 2. the ability to assess the various effects on people with and without a migrant background in projects, measures, programs etc. and to be able to act accordingly, and 3. the ability to to recognize and overcome the effects of discrimination and exclusion that hinder integration. "

requirements

The basic prerequisites for intercultural competence are sensitivity and self-confidence , the understanding of other behaviors and thought patterns and also the ability to convey one's own point of view transparently, to be understood and respected, to show flexibility where it is possible and to be clear or clear where it is necessary.

It is therefore a situationally adapted balance between:

  1. Knowledge and experience of other cultures , people , nations , behaviors, etc.
  2. Curiosity, openness and interest in getting involved with other cultures, people and nations
  3. Empathy , the ability to put yourself in the other person's shoes, and the recognition and correct interpretation of the feelings and needs of others
  4. Self-confidence , self-confidence , knowledge of your own strengths, weaknesses and needs, and emotional stability
  5. Critical handling and reflection of one's own prejudices / stereotypes towards other cultures, people, nations, behaviors, etc.

Models of intercultural competence

There are different models with the help of which intercultural competence can be described and recorded. These are primarily list models, structural models, process models and phase models.

List models

This type of model usually non-hierarchically lists all competencies that are relevant in the context of intercultural competence. These include empathy, tolerance of ambiguity , openness , polycentric thinking , tolerance , role distance , flexibility, meta-communication skills and many more.

Structural models

Most structural models divide intercultural competence into three sub-areas. These are often named differently, but it mostly boils down to the three areas of affective, cognitive and behavioral (or conative) competencies. The affective dimension describes the competence, which mainly affects feeling and emotionality (e.g. tolerance, curiosity). The cognitive dimension describes knowledge and competency capable of consciousness (e.g. knowledge of culture, knowledge of one's own culture). The conative dimension describes action-related competence (e.g. flexibility, communication skills).

Process models

Process models focus on the "interdependency relationships between cognitive, affective and conative competencies". Process models understand intercultural competence as "successful holistic interplay of individual, social, professional and strategic action in intercultural contexts." These intercultural situations can only be foreseen to a limited extent and are rarely unambiguous, whereby intercultural competence enables targeted action in view of this uncertainty. Intercultural competence is therefore not only to be located in the area of soft skills , but takes into account methodical and technical sub-competencies that are applied in intercultural action contexts.

Phase models

Phase models (also step models ) describe intercultural competence and its acquisition as a development process that is individually and situationally adapted. According to Bennett, intercultural competence increases with time and experience. The development of intercultural competence goes through six stages: Denial (denial), Defense (defense), Minimization (downsizing, trivializing), Acceptance (acceptance), Adaptation (adapting) and Integration (incorporation).

Culture-specific vs. cross-cultural competence

In the intercultural studies it is discussed whether intercultural competence is culture-specific (i.e. country-specific) or cross-cultural (i.e. generally valid) . The former would make the term intercultural competence obsolete and lead, for example, to a specific USA or Swiss competence. According to this approach, the above-mentioned cognitive competencies (i.e. knowledge of a culture) are primarily focused and adapted to behavior. In view of the fact that people with successful intercultural experiences can adapt more quickly to new intercultural contexts, however, the culture-specific approach alone is considered "unhelpful". An understanding of intercultural competence as universal cross-cultural competence, on the other hand, focuses on the ability to adopt reflective attitudes, act flexibly and find appropriate manners even in unpredictable or implausible situations.

Cultural differences

There are different approaches and procedures to capture culture (s) and thus to work out differences and similarities. Consequently, the term culture assessment approach is appropriate for such approaches and models . First and foremost, it is important to distinguish between etic and emic approaches.

Etic approaches

Etic approaches (such as the cultural dimensions according to Geert Hofstede ) try to identify general, ie universal criteria that exist in every culture and then to relate them to one another. The advantage of this approach lies in the resulting comparability of different cultures. A disadvantage or the price for comparability lies in the - necessary - generalization or "overlapping" of indicators on cultures without these playing a special role there.

Emic approaches

Emic approaches (such as the cultural orientations of Prof. Karl-Heinz Flechsig ), on the other hand, try to describe and understand cultures from within themselves. Since every "culture" represents a highly complex and unique system, it also requires a unique description of the same and thus the use of indicators that are usually not found in other cultures (for example, in the English language there is no synonym for comfort ). The advantage of these approaches is to be able to describe cultures more precisely and appropriately and to use terms that adequately describe the realities of the situation. The disadvantage is that comparability is difficult or impossible due to the different terms used. Would you like For example, to measure how high the need for cosiness is in several cultures, one would have the difficulty of determining whether this concept even exists in other cultures and, if so, whether it is actually one to one comparable.

Analysis of cultural diversity

In the analysis of cultural characteristics, a distinction can be made between different aspects. According to Geert Hofstede's approach of cultural dimensions (see main article: Intercultural cooperation ), these are 6 different dimensions:

  • Individualism (individual incentives; consideration above all for yourself and your next of kin) and collectivism (group incentives; identification as part of a group)
  • Femininity (conflict resolution through the principle of equality, orientation towards totality and quality of life) and masculinity (conflict resolution through fair struggle, competitive orientation )
  • Avoidance of uncertainty (need for or resistance to formalism; rejection / acceptance of uncertainty or flexibility)
  • Power distance (actual or perceived difference between hierarchical levels and acceptance that these hierarchical levels exist)
  • Long-term and short-term orientation (long-term orientation: including planning, appreciation of education as a success concept; short-term orientation including preservation of traditions, skepticism towards change).
  • Restraint (control; social norms) and indulgence (devotion; enjoyment; few social norms) - See here also Michael Minkov's concept "Freedom of movement against restriction"

According to Michael Minkov:

  • Exclusionism versus universalism (ethnocentric / exclusive versus universal / tolerant)
  • Monumentalism towards flexibility and modesty / devotion (is steadfastness / immutability rewarded or follow-through / opportunism)
  • Freedom of movement against restriction. This category contrasts societies with more free gratification from instincts with those with greater self-restraint. The extremes are West Africa versus East Europe and South Asia.

According to Edward T. Hall:

  • monochronous (fixed in time, “one after the other”) and polychronic (many things at the same time) aspects
  • High-context communication (with many hints and allusions) vs. Low-context communication (direct)
  • Structural features (e.g. value orientation, time and space experience, selective perception, non-verbal communication and behavioral patterns )

According to these and other criteria, countries, regions, companies, social groups, but also individual persons can be recorded, analyzed and assessed in many compatible or less compatible combinations and in some cases compared (etic model).

The chances of success in the cooperation, especially in negotiations , cooperations , mergers, etc., can be realistically assessed, the responsible persons can be selected according to the necessary criteria and trained and prepared in a targeted manner.

Criticism of the cultural dimension and culture standard theory

Since the 1990s, the approach of distinguishing cultures as homogeneous national cultures has been increasingly criticized. Instead, approaches are pursued according to which cohesive structures (based on the sense of community of a group) instead of congruent (viewed from the outside appear similar), cultural mixed forms ( hybridity , multicollectivity ) and mutual relationships (including fuzzy cultures ) are examined.

Examples of cultural differences

Examples of cultural dimensions (based on Geert Hofstede)

(The three countries with the highest or lowest values ​​are listed)

  • Countries with a high value for individualism are the US, UK, and Australia; Countries with a high value for collectivism are Guatemala, Ecuador, and Panama.
  • Countries with a high femininity score are Sweden, Latvia, and Norway; Countries with a high value for masculinity are Slovakia, Japan, Hungary.
  • Countries with a high value for uncertainty avoidance are Greece, Portugal and Guatemala; Countries with a low value for uncertainty avoidance are Singapore, Jamaica, and Denmark.
  • Countries with a high power distance score are Slovakia, Malaysia, and Guatemala; Countries with a low power distance score are Austria, Israel, and Denmark.
  • Countries with a high score for long-term orientation are Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea; Countries with a low value for long-term orientation are Puerto Rico, Ghana, and Egypt.
  • Countries with a high restraint score are Pakistan, Egypt and Latvia; Countries with a high score for indulgence are Venezuela, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

Examples of cultural dimensions (after Edward Hall)

  • Low-Context-Communication: Germany; High-context communication: China

Examples of cultural standards (after Alexander Thomas)

“ According to Thomas, cultural standards are all types of perception , thinking , evaluating and acting that the majority of members of a certain culture regard as normal , self-evident, typical and binding for themselves and others . The behavior of one's own and that of others is judged on the basis of these cultural standards. "

  • In Germany, communication is more explicit and direct than in many other countries.
  • In the Czech Republic there is not such a clear separation between different private and professional worlds.
  • Time planning plays a less important role in China than in Germany.
  • In the USA, the desire for strong authorities is less pronounced than in Germany.
  • In France, the degree of self-determination and responsibility of employees is less pronounced than in Germany.

Ethnic "cultural compatibility"

“The civilized and the savage” - this cliché from earlier times should be a thing of the past, but unfortunately it is still not taken for granted today.

Under the catchphrase “cultural compatibility ” (not to be confused with the cultural impact assessment in the EU, which mainly relates to “art and culture”) , some ethnologists under the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Diversity are competent and respectful dealing with Members of traditionally living cultures are challenged. This applies to tourism, journalism, ethnological field work, health care, development policy or other intercultural areas in which there are contacts to such communities. The requirement is based on the assumption that modern Western culture can have a dominant effect on many other cultures. Apparently harmless behaviors can therefore lead to a culture change that can hardly be corrected with negative consequences for those affected.

Examples of negatively initiated cultural change

Photo safari on Yanomami women

Western clothing and intrusive photographs of bare-breasted girls by tourists or the spreading of Christian "norms of decency" by missionaries can create shame that was not there before. This encourages the desire for western clothing. That takes money. Earning money may require a departure from the traditional subsistence economy and therefore an increased use of nature. The direct introduction of money by visitors who unsuspectingly hand out alms has the same consequences.

Tourists use off-road buses to advance into increasingly remote areas, regardless of the game or the privacy of the locals. The desire for exotic dwellings is great, but inside they should offer the usual western comfort. Many tourists have a romantically transfigured idea of ​​the life of the "savages" who prefer certain rituals and objects while others are ostracized or condemned. All of this quickly leads to changed habits, needs and values ​​of the indigenous peoples, which, however, very often lead to cultural uprooting with numerous negative consequences.

Implementation and criticism

At present, however, due to the lack of concrete concepts for practical implementation, cultural compatibility is hardly more than a word. An example that illustrates the problem: While it is customary in some countries to arrest “natives” who come to cities in traditional clothing, it is hard to imagine telling tourists to adapt to the dressing habits of the indigenous people. Some scientists are skeptical of efforts to act in a way that is compatible with culture. They fear Eurocentric paternalism and artificially induced steering or hindrance of the dynamics of the “natural” cultural change to which every culture is subject anyway. The subject is a classic dilemma : Either you leave those affected to react to Western contacts - at the risk of the foreign culture becoming more and more similar to global culture and thus losing diversity. Or you can direct the contacts in the sense of the UNESCO Convention - in doing so, however, you may impair the right to self-determination that every ethnic group has or should have.

Measurement or assessment of intercultural competence

When measuring or assessing intercultural competence as an existing ability and / or the potential for it (development ability as well as prerequisites and time horizon for further development), the following areas are assessed, among others: Ambiguity tolerance, sociability, behavioral flexibility, emotional stability, motivation to achieve , empathy , polycentrism . The main test procedures used are assessment centers , tests and observations . However, the effectiveness and reliability of intercultural competence tests is controversial.

literature

  • Christoph Barmeyer: Taschenlexikon interculturality. V&R, Göttingen, 2012. ISBN 978-3-8252-3739-4 .
  • Thomas Baumer: Handbook Intercultural Competence. 2 volumes. Orell Füssli publishing house, Zurich, ISBN 3-280-02691-1 and ISBN 3-280-05081-2 .
  • Jürgen Bolten: Intercultural competence . State Center for Political Education, Erfurt 2007, ISBN 978-3-937967-07-3 .
  • Csaba Földes , Gerd Antos (Ed.): Interculturality: Method Problems in Research. Contributions of the international conference in the German Institute of the Pannonian University Veszprém, 7.-9. October 2004. Iudicium, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-89129-197-9 .
  • Josef Freise: Intercultural Social Work. Theoretical basics - approaches to action - exercises to acquire intercultural competence. Wochenschauverlag, Schwalbach / Ts. 2007, ISBN 978-3-89974-203-9 .
  • Béatrice Hecht-El Minshawi : Intercultural Competence - For a Better Understanding. Key factors for international cooperation. Beltz, 2003, ISBN 3-407-36114-9 .
  • Geert Hofstede: Thinking locally, acting globally. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-423-50807-8 .
  • Gerhard Maletzke : Intercultural Communication. For interaction between people from different cultures. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen, ISBN 3-531-12817-5 .
  • Stefanie Rathje: Intercultural Competence - State and Future of a Controversial Concept. In: Journal for Intercultural Foreign Language Teaching. 2006.
  • Jürgen Straub, Arne Weidemann, Doris Weidemann (eds.): Handbook Intercultural Communication and Intercultural Competence. Metzler, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-02189-2 .
  • Alexander Thomas, Eva-Ulrike Kinast, Sylvia Schroll-Machl, Sylvia Schroll-Machl: Handbook of Intercultural Communication and Cooperation . Volumes 1 and 2. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2003, ISBN 3-525-46186-0 .
  • Arne Weidemann, Jürgen Straub, Steffi Nothnagel (eds.): How do you teach intercultural competence? Theory, methods and practice in higher education. transcript, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-8376-1150-2 .
  • Hamid Reza Yousefi , Ina Braun: Interculturality. An interdisciplinary introduction. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2011, ISBN 978-3-534-23824-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Darla Deardorff: The Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization at Institutions of Higher Education in the United States . In: Journal of Studies in International Education . No. 10 , 2006.
  2. ^ Alfred Schütz, Thomas Luckmann: Structures of the lifeworld . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main.
  3. ↑ Jürgen Straub: Competence. In: J. Straub, A. Weidemann, D. Weidemann (Eds.): Handbook of Intercultural Communication and Intercultural Competence. Metzler, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-02189-2 , pp. 341-346.
  4. ↑ GVBl Berlin 2010, p. 560ff.
  5. ↑ PartIntG: § 4 Equal participation and intercultural opening. gesetze.berlin.de, accessed on September 18, 2011 .
  6. ↑ (right.nrw.de)
  7. ↑ a b c Jürgen Bolten: What does “intercultural competence” mean? Perspectives for international personnel development . In: Vera Künzer, Jutta Berninghausen (ed.): Economy as an intercultural challenge . IKO-Verlag, Berlin 2007, p. 21–42 ( uni-jena.de [PDF]).
  8. ↑ Jürgen Bolten: Introduction to intercultural business communication . 2nd Edition. UTB, Göttingen 2015, p. 165-167 .
  9. ↑ Barbara Hatzer, Gabriel Layes: Applied Intercultural Competence . In: Alexander Thomas, Eva-Ulrike Kinast, Sylvia Schroll-Machl (eds.): Handbook of Intercultural Communication and Cooperation . tape 1 . V&R, Göttingen 2010, p. 124 .
  10. ↑ M. Gertsen: Intercultural Competence and Expatriates . In: International Journal of Human Resource Management . tape 1 , no. 3 , 1992, p. 341-362 .
  11. ↑ a b Jürgen Bolten: Intercultural Competence . 5th edition. State Center for Civic Education Thuringia, Erfurt 2012, ISBN 978-3-943588-03-3 , p. 130 .
  12. ↑ Milton J. Bennett: A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity . In: International Journal of Intercultural Relations . No. 10 , 1986, pp. 179-196 .
  13. ↑ a b c Stefanie Rathje: Intercultural Competence - State and Future of a Controversial Concept . In: magazine for intercultural foreign language teaching . 2006.
  14. ↑ Petra Koeppel: Approaches to assessing culture and their integration in intercultural training. (= Focus on culture. Volume 2). 2003.
  15. ↑ Petra Koeppel: Etic and emic approaches in intercultural training. In: Developmental Ethnology. 10 (1/2), 2001, pp. 79-96.
  16. ^ Geert Hofstede: National Culture. In: Hofstede Insights. Retrieved February 18, 2019 (American English).
  17. ^ Edward Hall: The Silent Language . Anchor, New York 1959.
  18. ^ Edward Hall: Beyond Culture . Anchor, New York 1976.
  19. ^ Stephanie Rathje: The definition of culture: an application-oriented overhaul . In: Interculture Journal . tape 8 , no. 8 , 2009, p. 35-57 .
  20. ↑ Homi Bhabha: The location of Culture . Routledge, London / New York 1994.
  21. ^ Klaus Peter Hansen: Culture and cultural studies . Francke, Tübingen / Basel 1995.
  22. ↑ Jürgen Bolten: Fuzzy Cultures: Consequences of an open and multi-valued concept of culture for conceptualizations of intercultural personnel development measures. In: Mondial: Sietar Journal for Intercultural Perspectives . Annual edition, 2013, p. 4-10 .
  23. ↑ The dimension scores in the Hofstede model of national culture can be downloaded here. Retrieved February 18, 2019 (UK English).
  24. ^ Geert Hofstede: Compare Countries. Retrieved February 18, 2019 (American English).
  25. ↑ Intercultural Communication: High and Low Context Cultures. August 17, 2016, accessed February 18, 2019 .
  26. ^ Sylvia Schroll-Machl: Doing Business with Germans: Their Perceptions, Our Perceptions . V&R, Göttingen 2013, p. 33 .
  27. ↑ Alexander Thomas (Ed.): Psychology of intercultural action . Hogrefe, Göttingen 1996, ISBN 3-8017-0668-0 .
  28. ^ A b c Arnold Groh: Cultural change through travel: factors, interdependencies, dominance effects. In: Christian Berkemeier, Katrin Callsen, Ingmar Probst (eds.): Encounter and negotiation: Possibilities of cultural change through travel. LIT Verlag, Münster 2004, pp. 13–31.
  29. ^ Theresa Frank: Encounters: A critical homage to travel. Lit Verlag, Berlin 2011.
  30. ↑ Andrea Cnyrim: Intercultural Competence . Stark, Freising 2016, p. 88-92 .