Pellegrino Riccardi highlights the difference between cultures and offers a different perspective on cross-cultural beliefs and values. The video mainly informs on cross-cultural communication and the factors that have to be considered while interacting with the culture. The meaning of the video’s content is dependent on his definition of culture, which he defines as “a system of behavior that helps us to act in an accepted or familiar way.”
The speaker has a lot of experience in differences in the culture having experienced three different cultures extensively in his life. The author argues that people often approach different cultures from the wrong frame of mind, instinctively choosing to focus on the other culture rather than themselves, and their approach to the culture. This approach may be problematic since people tend to believe theories about different cultures if the definitions appear in accepted and familiar terms. He maintains that rather than seeing aspects of a culture from an observer’s perspective, people should assume an active role and try to experience different cultures from the other party’s perspective. An example of this would be fraternity hazing rituals which are interpreted differently because what is accepted and familiar varies according to individuals. To properly convey a message across different cultures, the communicators need to adopt the perspective of the other party or they risk failing to convey their message or even worse, communicate something different from what they intended.
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Similarly, to properly understand why some cultures practice some activities or prefer one way of doing things instead of another, it is important to understand what the values of the culture are. The social and societal structures of an environment also affect the culture of its population and what is considered acceptable and familiar. A set of behaviors that I might familiar to my culture might come across as strange when a person from a different culture, or a culture with a different set of known behavior traits does the same thing. This may be evident in a case where a foreigner and a local say the same catch phrase although it becomes strange to hear it from the outsider since the context and values may not be well matched.
The speaker, however, offers the solution to these cross-cultural problems, which is through curiosity. For example, I might offer a seemingly innocent and typical response in my culture but this might be misinterpreted by an outsider. Riccardi refers to this as a misperception. A culture might also have a standard way of responding to a situation, I might complain about rather than just address a concern since my culture uses this to determine the priority that the case should be given. This may be taken out of context by an outsider. As mentioned, to fully understand a culture, a person has to find its underlying values. This may only be discovered by being curious and having an inquisitive approach to the cultural practices as this is the best way to avoid miscommunication. This has to be topped up with an approach that tends to positively interpret the behaviors and values rather than to judge or condemn (Unity Lunch, 2019). To properly integrate yourself into a culture, or even to simply understand it, it is important for a person to socialize with the people while showing curiosity and respect for their values and practices.
References
Riccardi, P. (2019). Cross-cultural communication [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMyofREc5Jk
Unity Lunch. (2019). Cultural diversity: Why we should respect other cultures. Retrieved 17 September 2019, from https://www.unity-lunch.org.uk/news/cultural-diversity-why-we-should-respect-other-cultures
