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Chapter 4: Identity and Intercultural Communication

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

Chapter 4

Identity and Intercultural Communication

Study Objectives

After studying the material in this chapter, students should be able to accomplish the following

objectives.

1. Explain how identities are developed through our communicative interaction with others.

2. Identify some of the ways in which people communicate their identity.

3. Explain how the context of the larger society contributes to the formation of identity.

4. Identify some of the major social and cultural identities that are manifest in our

communication.

5. Explain differences in how identities are developed for minority versus majority group

members in the United States.

6. Explain identity development of multiracial people.

7. Describe the relationship between identity and language.

Key Terms

• Age identity

• Class identity

• Constructive identity

• Culture shock

• Encapsulated identity

• Ethnic identity

• Gender identity

• Global nomads

• Hyphenated Americans

• Identity

• Intercultural personhood

• Majority identity development

• Minority identity development

• Multicultural identity

• National identity

• Personal identity

• Physical ability identity

Chapter 4: Identity and Intercultural Communication

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

• Racial identity

• Regional identity

• Religious identity

• Self

• Sexual identity

• Third culture kids (TCKs)

• U-curve theory

• Whiteness

Detailed Chapter Outline

I. Introduction

• Identity plays a key role in intercultural communication, serving as a bridge between

culture and communication.

• Identities do not carry equal value across cultures, but they are important to

communication, because it is through communication that people express or hide some of

their identities from others.

II. Understanding Identity

• Self is what people are born with, their gender, their physical characteristics; their identity

is created by the development of the “self” (self-concept), in spurts, through

communication over a long period of time.

A. Identities Are Created Through Communication

• Identities emerge when communication messages are exchanged between persons; they

are negotiated, cocreated, reinforced, and challenged through communication.

• Different identities are emphasized depending on who people are communicating with

and what the conversation is about.

• Communication is probably most successful when the person one is talking with

confirms the identity that one thinks is most important at the moment.

B. Identities Are Created in Spurts

• Identities are created not in a smooth, orderly process but in spurts. Certain events

provide insights into who people are, but these are framed by long periods during which

people may not think much about themselves or their identities.

Chapter 4: Identity and Intercultural Communication

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• Communication is crucial to the development of identity.

C. Identities Are Multiple

• It makes more sense to talk about people’s identities than their identity. Because people

belong to various groups, they develop multiple identities that come into play at

different times, depending on the context.

D. Identities Are Influenced by Society

• Peoples identities are formed through communication with others, but societal forces

related to history, economics, and politics also have a strong influence.

o People can be pigeonholed into identity categories, or contexts, even before they

are born.

• The identities that others assign to people are socially and politically determined.

• People with disabilities often have the experience of being stereotyped as helpless.

Many people with disabilities view themselves as public educators—determined to

redefine people’s perceptions concerning disabilities and resisting stereotypes.

• Societal influences establish the foundations from which interactions occur.

E. Identities Are Dynamic

• The social forces that give rise to particular identities are always changing. For

example, the identity of “woman” has changed considerably in recent years in the

United States.

o Historically, being a woman has variously meant working outside the home to

contribute to the family income or to help out the country when men were fighting

wars, or staying at home and raising a family.

o Today, there are many different ideas about what being a woman means—from

wife and mother to feminist and professional.

F. Identities Are Developed in Different Ways in Different Cultures

• In the United States, young people often are encouraged to develop a strong sense of

identity, to “know who they are,” to be independent and self-reliant.

• In many African, Asian, and Latino/a societies, the experience of childhood and

adolescence revolves around the family. In these societies, then, educational,

occupational, and even marital choices are made with extensive family guidance.

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

• However, if the dominant idea of individual identity development is presented as the

only alternative, it can make members of some cultural groups in the United States feel

inferior or even question their psychological health.

III. Social and Cultural Identities

• People can identify with a multitude of groups based on such things as gender, age, and

ethnicity, as well as on occupational interests, sports (as spectators or participants), leisure

activities, and special abilities.

A. Gender Identity

• When newborns arrive, they may be greeted with clothes and blankets in either blue or

pink. To establish a gender identity for a baby, visitors may ask if it’s a boy or a girl.

But gender is not the same as biological sex. This distinction is important in

understanding how people’s views on biological sex influence gender identities.

• As a culture changes, so do notions of what is masculine or feminine. Even the popular

image of the perfect male body changes.

o In the 1860s, the middle-class view of the ideal male body type was lean and wiry.

o By the 1890s, however, the ideal male body type was bulky with well-defined

muscles. These popular notions of the ideal male (or female) body are largely

determined by commercial interests, advertising, and other cultural forces.

• There are implications for intercultural communication as well. Gender means different

things in different cultures.

o U.S. students who travel abroad often find that their movements are more

restricted.

B. Sexual Identity

• One’s sexual identities should not be confused with one’s gender identities. Sexual

identity is complex, particularly since different cultures organize sexualities in different

ways.

• The difficulty that researchers have had with sexual identity across cultures is reflected

in their own difficulties categorizing and understanding other ways of organizing

sexualities.

• The language people use to self-identify can also complicate sexual identity.

• Sexual attraction, of course, makes sexual identities even less categorizable. Not only

are sexual desires quite complex, but they are also influenced by attraction to those of

other cultures, racial/ethnic backgrounds, ages, and cultural identities.

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

C. Age Identity

• As people age, they tap into cultural notions of how someone their age should act, look,

and behave; that is, they establish an age identity.

• The United States is an age-conscious society. Children will proudly tell their age—

until about the mid-20s when people rarely mention their age. In contrast, people over

70 often brag about their age. Different generations often have different philosophies,

values, and ways of speaking.

• Certain ages have special significance in some cultures.

o Latino/a families sometimes celebrate a daughter’s 15th birthday with a

Quinceañera party— marking the girl’s entry into womanhood.

o Some Jewish families celebrate with a Bat Mitzvah ceremony for daughters and a

Bar Mitzvah for sons on their 13th birthday.

• Age identity, however, is not simply about how people feel about their age. It is also

about how others treat them based on their age. Due to the practice of discrimination

against older workers, the U.S. government enacted the Age Discrimination in

Employment Act of 1967, which protects people who are 40 and older from

employment discrimination.

• While in the United States, old age is demeaned, in other societies it is revered.

D. Racial and Ethnic Identity

• In the United States today, the issue of race seems to be pervasive. It is the topic of

many public discussions, from television talk shows to talk radio.

• The roots of current debates about race can be located in the fifteenth century, when

European explorers encountered people who looked different from themselves.

• Later, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the scientific community tried to

establish a classification system of race based on genetics and brain size. However,

these efforts were largely unsuccessful.

• Most scientists now agree that there are more physical similarities than differences

among so called races and have abandoned a strict biological basis for classifying racial

groups.

• Several arguments have been advanced to refute the physiological basis for classifying

racial groups.

o First, racial categories vary widely throughout the world.

o Second, U.S. law uses a variety of definitions in determining racial categories.

o Third, as their fluid nature indicates, racial categories are socially constructed.

Chapter 4: Identity and Intercultural Communication

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

• Racial identities, then, to some extent are based on physical characteristics, but they are

also constructed in fluid social contexts. The important thing to remember is that the

way people construct these identities and think about race influences how they

communicate with others.

• One’s ethnic identity reflects a set of ideas about one’s own ethnic group membership.

• It typically includes several dimensions: self-identification, knowledge about the ethnic

culture (traditions, customs, values, behaviors), and feelings about belonging to a

particular ethnic group.

• Ethnic identity often involves a common sense of origin and history, which may link

members of ethnic groups to distant cultures in Asia, Europe, Latin America, or other

locations.

• For some Americans, ethnicity is a specific and relevant concept. These people define

themselves in part in relation to their roots outside the United States—as “hyphenated

Americans” (Mexican-American, Japanese-American, and Welsh-American—although

the hyphen often is dropped)—or to some region prior to its being part of the United

States (Navajo, Hopi, Cherokee).

• Scholars dispute whether racial and ethnic identities are similar or different. Some

scholars emphasize ethnic identity to avoid any racism inherent in a race-centered

approach; others reject this interpretation.

• On the one hand, discussions about ethnicity tend to assume a “melting pot” perspective

on U.S. society. On the other hand, discussions about race as shaped by U.S. history

allow for racism.

• For most White people, it is easy to comprehend the sense of belonging in an ethnic

group. White culture is more elusive. It can be difficult to identify the cultural practices

that link White people together.

• People’s sense of racial or ethnic identity develops over time, in stages, and through

communication with others. These stages seem to reflect phases in the development of

their self-understanding.

E. Physical Ability Identity

• People have a physical ability identity because of varying degrees of physical

capabilities. People are all disabled in one way or another—by their height, weight, sex,

or age—and they all need to work to overcome these conditions.

• According to recent reports, about one in four Americans who are 20 years old will

become disabled before they retire, and about 15 percent of the world’s population (or

more than a billion people) are disabled.

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• People with disabilities see themselves as a cultural group and share many perceptions

and communication patterns. Part of this identity involves changing how they see

themselves and how others see them.

• For people who become disabled, there are predictable stages in coming to grips with

this new identity.

o The first stage involves a focus on rehabilitation and physical changes.

o The second stage involves adjusting to the disability and the effects that it has on

relationships; some friendships will not survive the disability.

o The final stage is “stigma incorporation,” when the individual begins to integrate

being disabled into his or her own definition of self.

• Communication related to issues of identity often is difficult between nondisabled

people and those with disabilities. Nondisabled people may not make eye contact and

otherwise restrict their communication with people with disabilities.

F. Religious Identity

• Religious identity is an important dimension of many people’s identities, as well as a

common source of intercultural conflict. Often, religious identity gets confused with

racial/ethnic identity, which means it can be problematic to view religious identity

simply in terms of belonging to a particular religion.

• Some religions are defined by national boundaries, as is the case for various Christian

Orthodox churches (e.g., the Russian, Bulgarian, or Greek Orthodox church). Some

religions are defined by biology, where one is a member by DNA (e.g., Judaism is

matrilineal—passed down through the mother—or one may become a member by a

special ritual of “rebirth”). Other religions define membership by lineage—where a

teacher, guru, or Master can initiate devotees into a “divine” line by instruction on the

path to enlightenment (e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism).

• When one religion is acknowledged over other religions in public places, controversy

can ensue. Intercultural communication among religious groups also can be

problematic.

• Some religious communities communicate and mark their religious differences through

their dress and other consumer practices.

• Even though religious convictions (or the lack thereof) are viewed as private matters in

the United States, they have implications for intercultural communication.

G. Class Identity

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

• People seldom think about socioeconomic class as an important part of their identity—

especially those in the middle class. As with race, there is invisibility associated with

this dominant or normative class identity.

• People use various strategies to locate individuals in the class hierarchy, as directly

asking someone may be seen as impolite and may yield inaccurate information.

o Language and communication style also reflect class status.

• Working-class individuals who aren’t upwardly mobile are often portrayed on TV

shows (Shameless, The Simpsons) and in the movies as happy but unintelligent or

unwilling to do what they have to do to better their lot in life.

• Race and class, and sometimes gender, identities are interrelated. For example, being

born African American, poor, and female increases one’s chances of remaining in

poverty. At the same time, however, race and class are not synonymous; there are many

poor Whites and increasing numbers of wealthy African Americans.

H. National Identity

• National identity, or nationality, refers to one’s legal status in relation to a nation.

• People’s national identity influences the way they look at the world and the way they

communicate with people of other nationalities.

• National identity is often influenced by how one’s country is perceived on the world

stage.

• National identity may be especially complicated when a nation’s status is in doubt. For

example, the Civil War erupted over the attempted secession in the mid-1800s of the

Confederate States of America from the United States.

I. Regional Identity

• Closely related to national identity is the notion of regional identity. Many regions of

the world have separate but vital and important cultural identities.

• In the United States, regional identities remain important. Southerners, for example,

often view themselves and are viewed by others as a distinct cultural group.

• Some regional identities can lead to national independence movements, but more often

they are cultural identities that affirm distinctive cuisines, dress, manners, and

sometimes language. These identities may become important in intercultural

communication situations.

J. Personal Identity

• Each person has a personal identity, but it may not be unified or coherent.

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• Sometimes one’s personal identity is largely defined by outside forces. At other times,

how people behave and communicate to others helps construct their personal identity.

IV. Identity Development

A. Minority Identity Development

• Minority group members in the United States tend to develop a stronger sense of racial

and ethnic identity than do majority group members.

• In its four stages, Minority identity development focuses on racial and ethnic

identities but may also apply to other identities such as class, gender, or sexual

orientation. It is important to remember that, as with any model, this one represents the

experiences of many people, but not everyone moves through these stages in exactly the

same way.

• Some may spend more time in one stage, may experience a stage in different ways, or

remain stuck in one of the early stages.

o Stage 1: Unexamined Identity

▪ This stage is characterized by the lack of exploration of ethnicity. Minority

members may initially accept the values and attitudes of the majority

culture, including negative views of their own group. They may have a

strong desire to assimilate into the dominant culture, and they may express

positive attitudes toward the dominant group.

o Stage 2: Conformity

▪ In this stage, individuals may have a strong desire to assimilate into the

dominant culture and so internalize the values and norms of the dominant

group. These individuals may have negative, self-deprecating attitudes

toward themselves, as well as toward their group in general.

o Stage 3: Resistance and Separatism

▪ Many kinds of events can trigger the move to the third stage, including

negative events, such as encountering discrimination or name calling.

Sometimes, a growing awareness that not all the values of the dominant

group are beneficial to minorities may lead to this stage. This stage may be

characterized by a blanket endorsement of one’s group and all the values

and attitudes attributed to it.

o Stage 4: Integration

▪ According to this model, the ideal outcome of the minority identity

development process is the last stage, an achieved identity. People who

reach this stage have a strong sense of their own group identity (based on

gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and so on) and an appreciation for

other cultural groups. In this stage, individuals realize that racism and other

Chapter 4: Identity and Intercultural Communication

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

forms of oppression occur but try to redirect any anger from the previous

stage in more positive ways.

B. Majority Identity Development

• Two influential educators or scholars describe majority identity development for

members of the dominant group. The following model differs somewhat from the

minority identity model in that it is more prescriptive.

o Stage 1: Unexamined Identity

▪ The first stage is the same as for minority individuals. People may be aware

of some physical and cultural differences, but they do not fear other racial or

ethnic groups or feel a sense of superiority.

o Stage 2: Acceptance

▪ The second stage represents the internalization and acceptance of the basic

racial inequities in society. This acceptance is largely unconscious, and

individuals have no conscious identification with the dominant White

culture. However, some assumptions, based on an acceptance of inequities

in the larger society, are subtly racist (minority groups are culturally

deprived and need help to assimilate; White culture—music, art, and

literature—is “classical”; works of art by people of color are folk art or

“crafts”).

o Stage 3: Resistance

▪ This stage represents a major shift, from blaming minority members for

their conditions to blaming the social system as the source of racial or ethnic

problems. Resistance may be passive, with little behavioral change, or

active—an ownership of racism. Individuals may feel embarrassed and

ashamed at this stage, avoiding or minimizing their communication with

other Whites and seeking out interactions with persons of color.

o Stage 4: Redefinition and Reintegration

In the fourth stage, as in minority identity development, people begin to refocus

their energy to redefining Whiteness in nonracist terms and are finally able to

integrate their Whiteness into all other facets of their identity.

C. Characteristics of Whiteness

• It may be difficult for most White people to describe exactly what cultural patterns are

uniquely White. According to Whiteness experts (scholars who study inequalities

among racial groups), there are at least three characteristics that many White people in

the United States share.

o An advantage of race privilege

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o A standpoint from which White people view themselves, others, and society

o A set of cultural practices, largely unrecognized by White people

V. Multicultural Identity

• Multicultural people, a group that is currently dramatically increasing in number, are those

who live “on the borders” of two or more cultures.

• Some have multicultural identities as a result of being born to parents from different

racial, ethnic, religious, or national cultures, or they were adopted into families that are

racially different from their own family of origin.

A. Multiracial People

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2010, the United States had an estimated 9

million multiracial people—that is, people whose ancestry includes two or more races—

and this number is increasing.

• Racial identity development for biracial children is different from others, since they

don’t fit into a neat racial category.

o The first stage of identity development for multiracial children is “awareness of

differentness.”

o The second stage involves a struggle for acceptance, in which these children

experiment with and explore both cultures. They may feel as if they live on the

cultural fringe, struggling with two sets of cultural realities and sometimes being

asked to choose one racial identity over the other.

o The final stage is self-acceptance and assertion, in which the children find a more

secure sense of self. This exposure to more than one culture’s norms and values

often causes difficulty for biracial children—they may find themselves rejected

alternately by both groups (not Black enough or White enough). However, most

biracial children want to embrace both parents’ racial/ethnic groups.

B. Global Nomads

• Individuals develop multicultural identities for other reasons. For example, global

nomads or third culture kids (TCKs) grow up in many different cultural contexts

because their parents move around a lot (e.g., missionaries, international business

employees, or military families).

• According to a recent study, these children have unique challenges and unique

opportunities. They move an average of about eight times, experience cultural rules that

may be constraining (e.g., in cultures where children have less freedom), and endure

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periods of family separation. At the same time, they have opportunities not provided to

most people—extensive travel, living in new and different places around the world.

C. Identity and Adaptation

• People who maintain long-term romantic relationships with members of another ethnic

or racial culture and children of foreign-born immigrants may also develop multicultural

identities. There seem to be some common patterns of adaptation to a new culture,

described as the U-curve theory of adaptation.

o In the first phase, they experience excitement and anticipation, especially if they

moved to the new culture voluntarily (study-abroad students, missionaries).

o The second phase, culture shock (the bottom of the U-curve), happens to almost

everyone in intercultural transitions. Culture shock is a relatively short-term

feeling of disorientation, of discomfort due to the unfamiliarity of surroundings

and the lack of familiar cues in the environment. However, people who are

isolated from the new cultural context may experience culture shock minimally.

o The third phase is adaptation, in which individuals gradually learn the rules and

customs of the new cultural context.

• Although the U-curve seems to represent the experiences of many short-term

sojourners, it may be too simplistic. It might be more accurate to think of long-term

cultural adaptation as a series of U-curves, where one alternates between feeling

relatively adjusted and experiencing culture shock.

D. Living “On the Border”

• The multicultural person is someone who comes to grips with multiple cultural realities,

whether from being raised in a multiracial home or through adaptation to a new culture.

This multicultural identity is defined not by a sense of belonging but by a new sense of

self.

• Multicultural individuals may become “culture brokers” who facilitate intercultural

interaction. However, it is important to recognize that there are stresses and tensions

associated with being multicultural. These people may confuse the profound with the

insignificant, lose sight of what is really important, feel fragmented, or feel a lack of

authenticity.

• Some people, trapped by their own multiculturalness, become “encapsulated”; others

who seem to thrive on living on the border could be labeled “constructive.”

Multicultural people with an encapsulated identity feel torn between different cultural

identities. They have difficulty making decisions, are troubled by ambiguity, and feel

pressure from both groups.

Chapter 4: Identity and Intercultural Communication

• By contrast, multicultural people with a constructive identity thrive in their lives on the

margins of two cultures. They see themselves, rather than others, as choice makers.

They recognize the significance of being “in between,” as many multicultural people do.

• Related to this idea of constructive identity is Communication scholar Young Yun

Kim’s notion of intercultural personhood. Kim suggests that more and more people,

like April, who live on cultural borders undergo a gradual process of intercultural

evolution—where one can see oneself and others as unique individuals (rather than as

stereotypical categories) and at the same time as part of a larger common humanity.

E. Post-Ethnicity

• In the post-ethnic United States, identities are very fluid and driven by personal identity

preferences.

• As two writers for the Washington Post recently observed, “Post-ethnicity reflects not

only a growing willingness—and ability—to cross cultures, but also the evolution of a

nation in which personal identity is shaped more by cultural preferences than by skin

color or ethnic heritage.”

Discussion Questions

1. What are some of the ways in which we express our identities?

2. How do you feel when someone does not recognize the identity that is most important to

you?

3. What are the reasons for people to identify themselves with particular groups and not

others? Why?

4. How does popular culture create or influence certain identities?

5. How does being White affect people’s experiences in the United States?

6. List some of the ways in which members of the minority cultures and of majority cultures

develop their cultural identities?

7. If we neglect race and talk only about ethnicity, can we consider the effects and influences

of racism?

8. What does it mean to be “middle class” vs. “working class” in American society?

9. Why do people who make cultural transitions often experience culture shock?

10. Why are some adaptations to cultures difficult for some people and easier for others?

11. What do we mean when we say that our identities are negotiated through communication?

12. Can you think of a time when you resisted a negative identity that was assigned to you?

What did you do or say? Were you successful?

13. Are people comfortable talking about race? Why, or why not?

14. What are some terms that you hear in everyday interactions that mark class differences?

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

15. How might a biracial individual decide which culture to put down on a college registration

form? How would one make the decision of selecting one culture over the other?

16. Do the stages outlined in the U-curve model reflect any travel or intercultural contact that

you’ve experienced?

17. Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt that you were living “on the border”?

18. At what stage are you in your identity development? Why?

19. What experiences or people influenced your identity development?

20. What might be some reasons that we are not living in a post-ethnic society?

Classroom Exercises and Chapter Activities

1. Multiple Identities Exercise: Have students list labels they would use to identify who they

are to others. Ask several students to read their lists, and ask the class what they notice

about those lists. Explain to students that these labels represent multiple identities they

have. In which contexts are some identities more important to students than others? (You

might ask them what happens to their identities when they go back home to visit their

parents.)

2. Race and Ethnicity Exercise: Ask the students to write down a definition of race, and then

have them read their definitions to the class. As they read them, write the different

definitions on the board, and explain that “race” does not have a fixed meaning but is a

socially constructed term that people use to refer to a variety of things, such as skin color,

nationality, ethnicity, region of origin, and biological differences.

3. Identity Model Exercise: This exercise is designed to help students gain a clearer

understanding of identities. Ask students to draw a picture or create a model that depicts

their various identities. Students may think of a particular situation when they develop their

model to help place them within a context. Let the students know that the models will be

shared with the class. Allow ample time for presentations and discussion.

4. Socially and Politically Assigned Identities and Self-Assigned Identities Exercise: This

exercise will help students understand the difference between socially and politically

assigned identities, self-assigned identities, and the ways people resist socially and

politically assigned identities. Invite students to compile a list of their self-assigned

identities and another list of their socially and politically assigned identities. Then have

them indicate on their lists the individuals or groups that they got their socially and

politically assigned identities from and the circumstances in which they acquired them.

Finally, ask students to indicate any actions they or others may have taken to resist any of

their socially and politically assigned identities.

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

5. Video Identity Exercise: The goal of this exercise is to have students think about and

explore their identities by showing the video Skin Deep, which is about college students

who spend a weekend exploring racial and ethnic identity issues. Have students write an

essay on or discuss in groups the character in the video whom they most identified with,

and then explain why. You may also want to have students discuss how their chosen

person communicated his or her identity during interactions with the other students.

6. Identity Awareness Activity: This activity is designed to help students think about

situations in which they become conscious of their identities. You can choose which

identity or identities you want to work with in this exercise. Instruct students to write down

the answers to the following questions, but tell them that they will not be required to hand

them in or show them to anyone. These questions focus on racial identity, but other

identities (gender, regional, and so forth) could be substituted.

• What is your racial identity?

• How did you learn that having your racial identity was different from having another

racial identity? When you learned this, how did you feel?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of having this racial identity for you

personally?

• How does this racial identity influence you in school or at work?

• How does your racial identity influence the way you communicate with people from

your own and other races?

When the students are finished, invite them to share general observations about when they

feel people learn what it means to have a racial identity, how that identity influences them

in different situations, and how people feel about their racial identities.

7. Power and Privilege Exercise, “Stand Up”: This exercise allows students to identify

themselves as belonging to a particular group or groups by standing up when a particular

statement pertains to them. The exercise is designed to bring into awareness the types of

privilege we all have depending on the context. Read each statement to the class, and allow

time for students to “stand up” in response to the statement. (Students need to stand up

only if they are comfortable doing so, and all the students should remain silent.) You can

create statements to fit a particular topic or context; the list that follows merely contains

suggestions. You may want to begin with statements that are not very personal and then

move gradually to those that require more intimate self-disclosure. The following list of

statements is designed to highlight class issues.

• You were born in the United States.

• You are an only child.

• You moved more than two times while growing up.

• You were raised in the country (rural setting).

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• You grew up in an apartment.

• Your family had few resources (students determine what “few” means).

• Your family had more than enough resources.

• Your parents are divorced.

• You have more resources than your parents.

• You are working your way through school.

After the exercise, examine each of the statements with the class, and ask students how

being a part of the group identified in the statement would affect their ability to

communicate with people from other groups. Which groups would be most comfortable

communicating with them? Which groups would be least comfortable communicating with

them?

8. Guest Lecture Exercise: Invite two individuals from the college or the community who are

immigrants to the United States or who are from the United States but have lived abroad.

Ask these students to share their experiences of adapting to another culture. During the

class period prior to their lectures, ask students to spend 5 minutes writing down questions

about the cultural adaptation process. Have them save these for the guest lecturers.

9. Simulation Exercise: See the previous discussion of simulations in chapter 2. If you have

done one of the simpler or less challenging simulations already (Barnga, the Albatross)

using either BaFa or Ecotonos, you can raise the bar on understanding cultural complexity

and culture shock.

10. Journal Entry: If you are using journals to facilitate application of the concepts from this

course, consider asking students to trace their intercultural identity development, focusing

on events or factors in their own lives that promoted or prevented their development.

11. Outcomes Assessment. At the end of the course, you may wish to ask your students to

trace their identity development (using the stage models presented in this chapter) as an

indicator of the outcome for the class for which this book was required. Ask them to

identify where they were when they entered the class and where they think they are now.

Ask them what readings, discussions, videos, and activities facilitated or helped to

maintain identity development. You may wish to ask them to indicate what they will do to

maintain or further their development after the class is over.