1. Dr. Karen S. Walch
Cross-cultural
Communication

2. Key Terms
• Diversity
• Ethnocentrism
• Stereotypes
• Negative Treatment

3. Diversity= Difference
Ethnicity
Marital Status
Color
National Origin
Race Income Age Work Experience
Job Function Veteran Status
Physical Ability
. Diversity of Thought
Learning Style
Parental Status
Education
Religion Sexual Orientation
Communication Style Gender
and MANY more . .

4. Ethnocentrism
• Ethnocentrism is the UNCONSCIOUS
belief that one’s own group is superior
to and a standard for judging other
groups. Exists among:
• states
• people
• countries

5. Racism
• A belief that race is the primary
determinant of human traits and that
racial differences produce an inherent
superiority of a particular race.

6. Ethnocentrism Vs Racism
• Difference between ethnocentrism and racism:
* racism is more of a conscious process
* ethnocentrism is wholly unconscious
“Nothing moves us to act more strongly than those
processes within us that are unconscious.”
-Colin J. Irwin-

7. Ethnocentrism
It is a continuum--
3. pride in one’s country;
4. tears at hearing our national anthem;
5. willingness to go to war for our country;
6. our way is the best or only way;
7. strangers should go home;
8. immigrants are taking our jobs . . .

8. Stereotypes
• a commonly held, often negative,
assumption about a person based upon
perceptions of the group to which that
person belongs.

9. What is the problem?
• In fact, stereotyping often prevents us
from obtaining information about who
this person really is--his/her feelings,
skills, experience and capabilities.
• Stereotypes limit how we think about
others.

10. What is the problem?
• Many stereotypes suggest that some
groups “don’t have what it takes” to
contribute to the organization and do
not have the capacity to learn and
develop.

11. What is the problem?
• Managers may feel absolved of any
responsibility to get them into the
learning loop.
• This is how people who have been
stereotyped are often excluded from the
meaningful work of the company.

12. What is the problem?
• Negative stereotypes, whether
conscious or not, generate negative
emotional reactions and negative
treatment toward people who are
different in some culturally significant
way.

13. What is the problem?
• “Filters” screen out suggestions,
interests
• Can be bypassed and create less
psychological resistance
• Holding attention, focusing, and
providing lasting suggestions
• Increased trust

14. Negative Treatment
• This is especially true if the judgment is
about something we view as fixed and
unchangeable, such as intelligence.

15. Key Learning Points:
1.
2.
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4.