3-14
WORLD-MINDEDNESS
• World-mindedness is your ability to demonstrate acceptance and respect toward other cultures’
beliefs, values, and customs. You can practice world-mindedness in three ways:
o Accept others’ expression of their culture or co-culture as a natural element in their
communication, just as your communication reflects your culture.
• Practicing world-mindedness can be challenging when differences seem impossible to bridge or when
the other person’s beliefs, attitudes, and values conflict with your own.
o It means more than just tolerating cultural differences that you find perplexing or problematic.
• Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own cultural beliefs, attitudes, values, and practices are
superior to others’; it is the opposite of world-mindedness. You can be culturally proud, or nationally
patriotic, and not be ethnocentric.
• Ethnocentric people view their own culture or co-culture as the standard against which all other
cultures should be judged; they often do the following:
ATTRIBUTIONAL COMPLEXITY
• Attributional complexity is acknowledging that other people’s behaviors have complex causes. You
can develop this ability by doing the following:
3-15
o Observing others’ behavior and analyzing the various forces influencing it.
o Routinely using perception-checking to avoid attributional errors.
o Regularly demonstrating empathy to identify with others.
o Considering the motivations behind their communication.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Consider your views of sex and gender prior to reading this chapter. How are they
different/similar to what you learned about sex and gender? Discuss the difference between
gender and sex.
• Discuss some of the students’ prior beliefs regarding the differences and similarities between sex
and gender. Discuss possible reasons for these beliefs. Make sure students clearly understand the
2. Explain gender roles. What are some examples of gender roles? How can gender roles differ in
different cultures? Have you had an experience where there was an expectation of you based on
your gender that was not in sync with your expectations? What are some negative effects
associated with gender role expectations?
3-16
• Discuss gender roles with students. Explain that because these roles are defined by society they
can be different in different cultures. Discuss your personal experience of an expectation of you
3. Discuss the differences between benevolent and hostile prejudice. How can benevolent prejudice
be as destructive as hostile prejudice?
• Make sure students clearly understand the differences between the two forms of prejudice.
Provide some examples of benevolent prejudice to help clarify. Consider discussing the term
benevolent and why they think this form of prejudice acquired that name. As you discuss
4. If you were asked to travel outside of the United States to secure a large contract for your
company, how would you culturally prepare for your trip to ensure your sales pitch would be
most effective? A translator will be provided throughout your visit, so language barriers won’t
be a concern.
• Explain to students that an effective salesperson must thoroughly research a culture prior to a
sales trip. Discuss how many factors can affect how the culture receives the salesperson, giving a
5. Discuss how power distance affects how we communicate during conflict. Do you identify with
high power-distance or low power-distance more? How can understanding these differences
improve how we handle conflict?
3-17
• Help students understand that other people don’t necessarily view confrontations in the same way
and that such differences can lead to greater conflict and confusion. Ask students to imagine a
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Gender Polarization and Gender Continuum
Goal: To aid students in understanding gender polarization and gender continuum.
Time: 30 minutes
1. Divide the class into groups of three to four students depending on class size.
2. Ask students to draw a line down the center of a sheet of paper.
5. Place the two categories on a whiteboard or chalkboard. Have students to fill in their group’s
answers.
6. Discuss the behaviors that are ascribed to each group and whether they are stereotypical.
2. The Media and Gender Roles
Goal: Ask students to reflect on how the media influences our expectations for each gender.
Time: 30 minutes
1. For homework, ask students to print a picture of a character from a popular television show or
movie who is a representation of societal expectations of a specific gender.
3-18
3. Defining Culture Skits
Goal: To help students understand that cultures are learned, communicated, layered, and lived.
Time: 60 minutes
1. Divide the class into four groups.
2. Assign each group one of the following topics:
a. Culture is learned.
b. Culture is communicated.
4. Have students perform their skits for the class, and then discuss how each concept plays out in
daily communication.
4. Kidney Transplant Committee
Goal: To aid students in understanding how their own stereotypes affect their communication, decision-
making process, and priorities.
Time: 30 to 45 minutes
1. Make copies of the Kidney Transplant Committee handout below for your class. You will need
one copy of the handout for each committee you assign in Step 2.
2. Assign the students into five-member Kidney Transplant committees. Give each committee a
copy of the handout.
3-19
four candidates in order of priority. Each committee must to be prepared to justify their choices.
This should take about 15–20 minutes.
6. Once the class has reached their decision, discuss the process they used to select their final four
candidates. Discuss whether or how stereotypes affected their decision-making process. If time
permits, strategize other less biased ways to make the same decision.
ACTIVITY #4 HANDOUT
Kidney Transplant Committee
Tonight, the Kidney Transplant Committee of First United Hospital meets to consider applicants for
kidney transplants. Each of the patients described below has been evaluated by the medical staff, and it
has been determined that each patient will probably die in three to six weeks without a transplant. The
best statistical estimates are that only about four donors will be available during that period. The
committee must establish a priority list of who will get the kidneys by selecting and ranking their top four
applicants. They are as follows:
1. Jeffery Little. Age 43. Married. Two children, a son 12 and a daughter 4. College graduate. Works as
a police officer. Wife also employed as an elementary school teacher.
4. Johnson Smith. Age 57. Divorced. Three children, a daughter 19 and two sons 17 and 15. High
5. Morris Johnson. Age 11. One of seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Toby Johnson. Mr. Johnson is
6. Walker Flying Hawk. Age 22. Ojibwa Indian. Twice divorced. Four children. Fourth-grade
education. No occupation.
7. Bajah Penick. Age 34. Divorced. Three children, a daughter 7 and twin sons 5, all in her custody.
Employed as a secretary in a car dealership. Receives no child support from her ex-husband, whose
whereabouts are unknown.
9. Juan Morales. Age 47. Married, eight children. Migrant worker. Wife and three oldest children also
work as migrant workers.
5. Discrimination Do-Over
Goal: To help students understand that prejudice and discrimination come in a variety of forms and
learn how to apply the communication accommodation theory.
Time: 25 minutes
1. This activity will work best if you begin by telling the class a personal story that involves
discrimination. Review the concept of the communication accommodation theory: people are
3-21
2. Divide class into groups of four.
3. Each group member should tell the group a personal story that relates to one of the following:
4. Ask each group to pick one of their stories and rewrite the situation using the communication
accommodation theory.
5. Have each group share their chosen story and then their “improved” version.
6. If the World Was a Village of 100 People
Goal: To help students understand the concept of world-mindedness and ethnocentrism.
Time: 20 minutes
1. Divide the class into groups of three.
2. Ask students to imagine that the world is comprised of 100 people and then have them estimate
the numbers for the questions listed on the Activity #6 Handout. Give the groups about 10
minutes to answer the questions.
ACTIVITY #6 HANDOUT
a. Out of 100, how many would be from which major regions of the world?
_______ would be Asian
_______ would be African
3-22
_______ would be European
_______ would be from the Americas
b. Out of 100, how many would speak what languages?
_______ would speak Hindi or Urdu
_______ would speak Spanish
_______ would speak Russian
c. Out of 100, how many would practice what religions?
_______ would be Christians
_______ would not be aligned with a religion
_______ would be Muslims
d. Out of 100, how many would have what degree of education?
_______ would have a college education
e. Out of 100, how many would own or share a computer?
_______ would own or share a computer
3-23
f. Out of 100, how many would be malnourished?
_______ would be dying of starvation
g. Out of 100, how many would not have access to clean, safe drinking water?
_______ would not have access to clean, safe drinking water
ACTIVITY #6 HANDOUT ANSWER KEY
a. Out of 100, how many would be from which major regions of the world?
60 would be Asian
15 would be African
b. Out of 100, how many would speak what languages?
12 would speak Chinese
5 would speak Spanish
5 would speak English
3 would speak Arabic
3 would speak Hindi
3-24
c. Out of 100, how many would practice what religions?
33 would be Christians
22 would be Muslims
d. Out of 100, how many would have what degree of education?
7 would have a college education
f. Out of 100, how many would be malnourished?
1 would be dying of starvation
15 would be undernourished
21 would be overweight
g. Out of 100, how many would not have access to clean, safe drinking water?
13 would not have access to clean, safe drinking water
MEDIA RESOURCES
1. Gender, Sex, and Sexuality
This eight-minute video features Dee Hurlburt of the Michigan State University LGBT Resource
3-25
2. Misunderstanding of Gender
This five-minute video covers a scene from the TLC show I Am Jazz. In this video, Jazz Jennings and
3. Gender Roles in Society
This eleven-minute TEDx by Ria Chinchankar discusses gender roles, their origins, and effects.
4. Bend It Like Beckham (Kintop Pictures, 2002)
This movie provides a glimpse into difficulties of blending traditional Indian culture with modern
English beliefs. An 18-year-old girl struggles with her dream of becoming a football (soccer) player
5. The Power of Vulnerability
This twenty-minute TED Talk by Brene Brown discusses the importance of understanding empathy in