4.5 Intercultural Intelligence
4.5.5 An Intercultural Analysis Framework
Figure 38 Fourth Culture (adapted from Kleinschmit, 2005) brain fully in gear (Open Clip Art Library)
Some famous quotes with intercultural implications
Our problems begin when we go out the door.
Paraphrase of "J'ai découvert que tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre."
(Pascal, Blaise, Pensées, Thoughts on Mind and Style, 139: Diversions)
"You Can't Go Home Again"
The title of a novel by the American writer Thomas Wolfe (published posthumously in 1940) implies that once you leave home, you will never
experience it the same way when you go back. (Wikipedia, n.d.)
Figure 39 Famous Intercultural Quotes
4.5.5 An Intercultural Analysis Framework
How do we describe the differences or similarities between two cultures? Do we say things like: "Oh, they eat snails and we don't" or "They have big families and we have small families"? Or maybe, "They kiss with their noses!" or "Isn't it terrible that they are so corrupt?"
The commonality in all of these observations (and judgments!) is values.
When we need to describe "the other guy", especially if he's really different from us, we often resort to sweeping generalities (e.g., "The French eat frogs."), or stereotypes ("Politicians are crooks."), which categorize people as a group while ignoring their individual differences. To some measure, we cannot describe "the other" without generalizing. Generalizations reveal our own values and what we perceive to be the values of others.
Generalizations and stereotyping help us organize our thinking and are not necessarily negative. They become negative when they represent ungrounded beliefs that limit our behavior ("Americans are rich and selfish so I don't want to have anything to do with them!"). Generalizations that dictate our attitudes and behavior are prejudices; they are an almost inevitable result of stereotyping, which is why it is dangerous. It can cause strong dislikes and hatred that are the basis for racism.
4.5.6 "The Ladder of Inference"
Intercultural situations provide us with almost limitless occasions to find ourselves "climbing 'The Ladder of Inference' ". The ladder describes the
"pathway" wherein a person selects some aspect (fact) from an observed behavior and then adds meaning (value), which leads him to adopt a new belief about the world. Once the belief is adopted, it acts as a kind of filter that will accept only the data that reflect and support the belief. Finally, the person takes action based on the belief. This handy visual image, developed by Harvard professor Chris Argyris (1990), helps us become aware of our thinking patterns – and alter them – before we reach extreme stages of prejudice and racism.
Here are the rungs of the ladder, starting at the bottom:
1. A behavior is observed (fact).
The French are known for their cuisine.
2. A narrow selection of one aspect of the observed behavior is preferred.
(This filtering process is called "cherry picking".) The French eat frogs.
3. Meaning is attached to the aspect of the behavior. (Value is added.) Frogs are slimy and disgusting.
4. An assumption is made based on the subjective meaning. If the French eat slimy, disgusting frogs, the French must be poor or strange, or both.
5. A conclusion about the behavior based on the assumption and meaning ascribed to it. French cuisine is for poor, weird peope.
6. The conclusion leads to a new belief, which is then applied generally in the world. I do not like weird people so French food must be disgusting.
7. Future action is based on the new belief. I hate French food and will not eat it.
Figure 40 Ladder of Inference, Argyris, C. (1990)
People who "climb the ladder" rapidly and frequently have severely limited flexibility and tolerance, especially in the area of interculturality. They use straightjacket thinking by setting up rigid boundaries of their model of the world. They use rule words like must, necessary, should, can't, won't and limiting words like all, always, every, none, never, each, etc.
The purpose of intercultural study and training is to loosen those "rules" and
"limits" as well as to help people stay off the "Ladder of Inference". One way to stay off the ladder is to remember to qualify any generalizations with words like
"most", "many", "often" and "in my experience".
Here are some hypothetical examples:
"In my experience, most Argentine men are jealous." (I do not know that they all are but every Argentine man I have ever met, with one exception, is.)
"In my experience, many French are shy." (I do not know that they all are, but this could explain why I always have to initiate conversation and no French person ever asks me anything about myself.)
"In my experience, Africans are often late." (I do not know that all Africans from all over Africa are always late, but those whom I have met are
consistently late.)
Another way we can avoid drawing incorrect and unpleasant conclusions that may lead us up the ladder of inference to racism is to look beyond behavior and appearances to discover the motivating factors. Those motivating factors are called values.