Intercultural Development Inventory

Intercultural Development Inventory Dr. John Brenner Southwest Virginia Community College BIE-China Presentation April 25, 2009

Background Information • Teach Sociology and am Global Education Coordinator at Southwest Virginia Community College • Include the global perspective in the Principles of Sociology and Social Problems courses

Background Information • Associates degree from Parkland College • Undergraduate degree in Education from University of Illinois • Master’s of Asian Studies from University of Illinois with concentration in 20th China • Doctorate from ETSU in Educational Leadership

Travel Information • 1977—Fulbright Group Grant to India for 3 months to study art and religion of India • 1978—Office of Education Group grant to West Africa to study drought, desertification and USAID assistance to drought victims…visited Senegal, Mali, Borkina Fasso and Ivory Coast

Travel Information • 1981—England—two weeks • 1987—Japan for two weeks with Honda Corporation • 1998—China for two weeks—Beijing, Xian, Nanjing and Shanghai with the Friendship Force • 2001—Faculty Exchange to England for two weeks--Winchester

Travel Information • 2002-2004—Three trips to Russia as Grant Evaluator for SWCC’s New Independent States Grant with Ivanovo State Power University, Ivanovo, Russia • 2005—Faculty Exchange with Stevenson College in Edinburgh, Scotland • 2006—Visited colleges in Copenhagen, Denmark; Tunis,Tunisia; and Recife, Brazil

Travel Information • Since 2006---I video conference with the school in Recife, Brazil on work, society, culture and current events • I have also made several trips to Canada and Mexico in the past

Culture - Definition • A comfortable term to people • We all know it and feel we understand it • It is the way of life of a people (Ting-Toomey, 1999) • It is the way people deal with their environment

Culture • Ferrante (2008 p. 60) states that culture includes • Human-created strategies for adjusting to the environment • It has clear boundaries • We tend to think in differences among people • We identify certain people within a culture • It exists within a society

Culture • Trask and Hamon (2007-p. 4) state that culture has to be viewed in the context of family through a dynamic process passed from generation to generation • Culture is a learned behavior that revolves around beliefs, practices, behaviors, symbols, attitudes of a particular group of people

Culture - Features • Brislin (1993 p, 23) offers an extensive checklist of features of culture that include: • Ideals, values, and assumptions about life • Transmitted ideas that come from parents, teachers, religious leaders and respected elders of a society • Involves childhood experiences • Aspects rarely discussed by adults because it is the accepted and shared concepts

Culture - Features • Brislin continued…culture • Becomes clearest when there are clashes between cultures • Allows people to explain events • Cultural values are seen as a constant • It allows for emotional reactions • There can be rebellions---as in the youth • Changes require time and can be difficult

Culture Competency Defined as the… “ability learn from and relate respectfully to people of your own culture as well as people from other cultures” (Trask and Hamon, 2007 p. 128)

Cultural Competency “Intercultural competence is a key goal of internationalization because it indicates an awareness and understanding of culturally diverse others and situations, as well as the presence of behaviors that promote productive and effective communication among and across cultures” (Emert and Pearson, 2007 p. 68)

Cultural Competency “Global education programs that provide intercultural competence and knowledge, promote continued learning through both informal and formal means, and provide contested knowledge about the fate of a global perspective will enhance students’ ability to be both productive and responsible citizens of the world” (Zeszotarski, 2001 p. 76)

Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) • 60 question survey taken online • Developed by Hammer and Bennett that measures intercultural sensitivity • Based on Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) • Understands the fundamental cognitive structures that act as orientations to cultural difference

Intercultural Development Inventory • Assumes an individual’s world view goes from a scale of ethnocentric to ethnorelative • “The underlying assumption of the model is that as one’s experience of cultural difference becomes more complex and sophisticated, one’s potential competence in intercultural relations increases” (Hammer, Bennett, Wiseman, 2003. p. 423)

Intercultural Development Inventory The first three dimensions of the DMIS are ethnocentric, meaning one’s culture is experienced as central to reality. • Denial– one’s own culture is the only real one—others are seen as foreign or different • Defense– one’s own culture is the only viable one-thus they are more threatened by difference—us against them attitude. Another form of this is: • Reversal– the other culture is seen as superior to one’s own..it is still us vs them but the culture is not a threat

Intercultural Development Inventory • Minimization– the view that one’s own cultural experience and that of others are similar • The idea that all cultures are the same • Men are Men! Women are women! Anywhere • These people expect people to be similar as in the idea of universals • They may insist that others correct their behavior to match the perceived expectations • “Act like a man!”

Intercultural Development Inventory The next three DMIS orientations are more ethno-relative, meaning one’s own culture is experienced in context with other cultures Acceptance– people are seen as different but equally important—they see how culture differences operate in human interactions—they do not necessary agree/disagree but understand the differences

Intercultural Development Inventory Adaptation– this orientation means that the individual can shift his or her frame of reference to the individual culture—the person has developed empathy Integration– here the orientation is such that one can move in and out of different cultural worldviews—perhaps held by the “global nomads” or long-term expatriates (Hammer, Bennett and Wiseman, 2003. p. 425).

Results of the IDI Profile

IDI Profile for Intercultural Sensitivity EthnocentrismEthnorelativism DIMENSIONS

IDI Profile for Intercultural Sensitivity EthnocentrismEthnorelativism SCALES

Finding: The larger the gap between the Perceived Score (PS) and the Developmental Score (DS), the greater the need for the development of intercultural sensitivity. Non-Students scores have a 24.59 difference:

The non-students perceived themselves to be at 124.10 which means they are in the acceptance/adaptation mode that has a mid-range of 130. • Their over all developmental intercultural sensitivity score was at 99.51 which is at the mid-range of minimization (100). • The intercultural development is needed to fill in that difference of 24.59.

Finding: The larger the gap between the Perceived Score (PS) and the Developmental Score (DS), the greater the need for the development of intercultural sensitivity. Students scores have a 29.28 difference:

The students perceived themselves to be at 121.18 which means they are in the acceptance/adaptation mode that has a mid-range of 130. • Their over all developmental intercultural sensitivity score was at 91.90 which is at the mid-range of minimization (100). • The intercultural development is needed to fill in that difference of 29.28

Intercultural Sensitivity • For both of the groups the numbers indicate a difference between the perceived sensitivity and actual sensitivity. • Both groups are in the Minimization range which means they have resolved denial/defense or reversal aspects. • The IDI would indicate that each group is in-transition in the minimization range.

…indicating that the person was notably In Transition in its Minimization worldview.

Minimization There is no class in the United States “All the race that matters is the human race!” “Customs differ, of course, but when you really get to know them they’re pretty much like us.” “I have this intuitive sense of other people, no matter what their culture.” “If people are really honest, they’ll recognize that some values are universal”. “Technology is bringing cultural uniformity to the developed world”. “It’s a small world, after all”. Bennett, J.M. & Bennett, M. J. 2004 Developing Intercultural Competence: A Reader. www.intercultural.org

Findings: M Scale Group Profile A profile in the “unresolved” third of the scale indicates that the group members’ experience of other cultures is heavily oriented toward underlying commonality. The profile suggests 1. you may have a strong commitment to the idea that people from other cultures are basically “like us” or that people of other cultures should share the same set of “universal” values you have 2. you may have difficulties in identifying important cultural differences that influence intercultural relations 3. you need to resolve these issues before you can exercise your greatest potential of intercultural competence (Bennett & Bennett, 2002)

Minimization American Cultural Patterns Matt Christensen, 2008 American’s feeling of dominance Feeling superior to other countries and cultures Wanting to be the “best” We will help other nations whether they want it or not Individually—dominate others/teams/politics This can be seen as arrogance

Minimization Values Americans Live By L. Robert Kohls He lists 13 values—he notes that Americans believe they have only been slightly influence by family, church and schools They assume they have personally chosen their own values to live by The values of Americans would be sharply different than those of people from other countries and we are only 5% of the World.

Minimization 1. Personal control over the environment—not fatalistic and believe all things are achievable 2. Change—seen as a good condition, linked to improvement, development and progress—many other cultures view it as something to avoid at all costs 3. Time and its control—it is of the utmost importance..language is filled with references to time, rude to be late and no one should “waste” it

Minimization 4. Equality/egalitarianism…most cherished of American values. To 7/8ths of the rest of the world status, rank and authority are more desirable. We treat high level people with no deference and low status people highly 5. Individual and privacy—the individual is completely marvelous and unique. Privacy does not even exist as a word in some languages. Americans claim individualism but will almost always vote one of the two major political parties

Minimization 6. Selp-Help Control. Americans get no credit for being born into a rich family. We should be born poor and rise up on our own. Over 100 words in the dictionary described as self as in self-reliance, self-denial…many of these words are not in other languages 7. Competition and free enterprise..competition brings out the best in a person. Peace Corp workers find it hard to teach in societies that are not competition based in the classrooms

Minimization 8. Future orientation. a happy present time goes unnoticed. We are always focused on a better future. For a Moslem talking about the future is seen as futile and sinful 9. Action/work orientation. “Don’t just stand there, do something”. Action is superior to inaction and it is sinful to “waste time” to “daydream” or “sit around doing nothing”

Minimization 10. Informality. Seen as being informal to the point of being disrespectful to those in authority—the “hi” or “How are you?” Greeting 11. Directness, openness and honesty. If you come from a society that uses indirect methods to convey bad news then you will be shocked by Americans bluntness. Americans consider anything not direct as being dishonest and insincere

Minimization 12. Practicality and efficiency. Americans are viewed as extremely practical, realistic and efficient while priding themselves in not being very philosophically or theoretically oriented..if they had any it would be pragmatism 13. Materialism. Foreigners consider Americans much more materialistic than they think they are…we have material objects and periodically get rid of them to get new more efficient ones

Future Study • The IDI instrument lends itself to a pre- and post-intervention study. • The post test will indicate movement or non-movement in the cultural sensitivity ranges. • Quantitative data would help validate the findings using pre/post data.

References Brislin, R. (1993). Understanding culture’s influence on behavior. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Emert, H. A., & Pearson, D. L. (2007). Expanding the vision of international education: Collaboration, assessment, and intercultural development. New Directions for Community Colleges, 138, 67-75. Floyd, D. L., Walker, D. A., & Farnsworth, K. (2003, Fall). Global education: An emerging imperative for community colleges. International Education, 33(1), 5-21. Green, M. F. (2007). Internationalizing community colleges: Barriers and strategies. New Directions for Community Colleges, 138, 15-24. Hammer, M., & Bennett, M. (1998). The intercultural development manual. Portland: The Intercultural Communication Institute. Hammer, M. R., Bennett, M. J., & Wiseman, R. (2007). Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The intercultural development inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 421-443. Raby, R. L. (2007). Internationalizing the curriculum: On- and off-campus strategies. New Directions for Community Colleges, 138, 57-66. Sherif-Trask, B., & Hamon, R. R. (2007). Cultural diversity and families. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ting-Toomey, S. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York: The Guilford Press. Zeszotarski, P. (2001). Eric Review: Issues in global education initiatives in the community college. Community College Review, 29(1), 65-77.

References • Kohls, L. R. The values americans live by. The Washington International Center. Washingston, D.C. http://web1.msue.msu.edu/intext/global/americanvalues.pdf • Body ritual among the nacirema https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html • Christenson, Matt. American Cultural Pattes Ezine articles

China • Review the history of China from “Culture Smart” • Pay close attention to the achievements of the Tang Dynasty • Note the last dynasty Ch’ing or Manchu which ended in 1911

China • Note that China suffered Civil War and major attacks from the Japanese in the first half of the 20th Century • The Civil War was between Chiang Kai-shek of the Koumingtang Party (KMT) who was supported by the USA • Mao Zedong lead the peasant movement of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) supported by USSR

China • October 1, 1949 China is declared the People’s Republic of China (PRC) • Tremendous growth in China due to peace • Mao distributed the land to the peasants based on a new analysis of social worth • In 1955, he communalized the countryside effectively taking away private property

China • In 1959, Mao began the Great Leap Forward, for two years the people worked double time to increase steel output • Poor planning and famine stopped this effectively putting Mao into the background of authority in society

China • Great Cultural Revolution 1966-1976 • Mao wanted all parts of society to be equal • He did not care that his plan would disrupt growth in China • He encouraged the youth (Red Guards) to attack old ideas, old thoughts and old values • This effectively shut down China, most colleges were closed

Intercultural Development Inventory