Module Two: Basic Cross-cultural Competency

     

Defining Cross-cultural Competency

Can You Identify The Cultural Misunderstandings?

Cross-cultural competency is the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures.
Image Source, accessed April 20, 2011

The relevance and influence of cultures serves as the background for developing techniques to bridge cultural divides. Cross-cultural competency is the term most commonly used to identify this skill set. Other synonyms include cultural competence, inter-cultural competency, cultural expertise and cultural literacy.¹

The U.S. Army Research Institute defines cross-cultural competency as "A set of cognitive, behavioral, and affective/motivational components that enable individuals to adapt effectively in intercultural environments."² Put more simply, cross-cultural competency is the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures.

Cross-cultural competency is a skill recognized as important not only for individual relationships, but also for corporate success in the realms of education, science, health, economic development and political relations.

Institute for International Medicine is a Missouri registered, 501c(3) recognized, non-profit corporation.
INMED is a registered trademark of the Institute for International Medicine.
All content found in the INMED Cross-Cultural Competency Self-Paced Course is copyrighted 2011. All rights reserved.
Click here to read our Privacy Policy