Culture is a strong part of people’s lives. It influences their views, their values, their humor, their hopes, their loyalties, and their worries and fears. So when you are working with people and building relationships with them, it helps to have some perspective and understanding of their cultures.

10 Ways to Learn More about Other Cultures

1. Ask the Employee.
2. Ask Colleagues from Other Cultures.
3. Tap Community Resources.
4. Read About Different Cultures.
5. Observe Without Judgment.
6. Share in Staff Meetings What You Have Learned.
7. Conduct Focus Groups.
8. Use Employee or Customer Survey Information.

As a system of meaning and shared beliefs, culture provides a framework for our behavioral and affective norms. According to findings from cultural neuroscience, the mechanism has to do with the brain’s plasticity, or the brain’s ability to adapt to long-lasting engagement in scripted behaviors (i.e. cultural tasks).

• Make friends. Get to know your friends’ families and see how their customs and traditions differ from yours.
• Talk to people. When you meet people from a different culture, ask them about their lives.
• Read.
• Watch movies.
• Listen to radio shows and podcasts.
• Travel.

Culture shapes our identity and influences our behaviors, and cultural diversity makes us accept, and even to some extent, integrate and assimilate with other cultures. Cultural diversity has become very important in today’s world.

Different cultures benefit lots of people, and should be respected. This is because: Different culture means different approaches to fundamental ideas in your society. A different group might be able to help your community learn something new.

Receiving respect from others is important because it helps us to feel safe and to express ourselves. Respect means that you accept somebody for who they are, even when they’re different from you or you don’t agree with them. Respect in your relationships builds feelings of trust, safety, and wellbeing.

Answer: our attitude should be soft spoken for other countries and we should always be friendly with them.

—Clifford Geertz, The Interpretations of Cultures. In his seminal work, Beliefs, Attitudes and Values (1968) Rokeach defines an attitude as “a relatively enduring organization of beliefs around an object or situation predisposing one to respond in some preferential manner” (p. 112).

Other suggestions for promoting positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors follow:

1. Be a good role model.
2. Celebrate linguistic diversity.
3. Invite cultural informants to come to the classroom so that students can see firsthand how members of a cultural group view certain events and experiences.

(1999, p. 291) define UDO as “a social attitude characterized by awareness and acceptance of both the similarities and differences that exist among people.” The measure of UDO relies on a three-dimensional scale (Fuertes and Brobst, 2002, Fuertes et al., 2000, Miville et al., 1999).

An example of cultural conflict is the debate over abortion. Ethnic cleansing is another extreme example of cultural conflict. Wars can also be a result of a cultural conflict; for example the differing views on slavery were one of the reasons for the American civil war.

They may be caused by differences between tourists themselves (Reisinger and Turner 2003) or associated with historical and geopolitical intercultural relations (Stein 2008). Furthermore, stereotypes, prejudice, and culture shock are important factors which may lead to conflict (Hottola 2004).

Cultures are embedded in every conflict because conflicts arise in human relationships. Cultures affect the ways we name, frame, blame, and attempt to tame conflicts. Whether a conflict exists at all is a cultural question.

Here are 5 ways to overcome cultural barriers and embrace cultural difference:

1. Ensure clear and polite communication.
2. Learn about different cultures.
3. Work towards accommodating cultural difference.
4. Share knowledge.
5. Employ diversity training.

Here are a few tips for navigating cross-cultural business:

1. Do your research.
2. Don’t jump to conclusions or make judgements.
3. Read the room.
4. Know the difference between the cultural and the personal.
5. Give everyone time to speak.
6. Prioritise transparent communication.
7. Be united in your mission and vision.

The reason is primarily that cultures are characterized by different behaviors, communication styles, and norms. As a result, when negotiating across cultures, we bring different perspectives to the bargaining table, which in turn may result in potential misunderstandings.