The Term Culture: Artificial Objectives And Decisions And Elements (Essay Sample)

Critical Reflection
Name:
Institution Affiliation:
Instructor:
This essay explains definitions of relevant terms used to study culture. It mainly focusses on cultural awareness and intelligence. Several arguments are raised within the paragraphs which describe real-life cases, for instance, a debate about similarities and differences of cultures. The impacts of cultural beliefs, social interactions and values are discussed. By the end of the essay, one should be able to eliminate cultural barriers to success by adopting appropriate strategies.
The term culture refers to artificial objectives and decisions and elements which have assisted individuals of a certain tribe or community to survive comfortably CITATION Qua05 \l 1033 (Cantatore, 2005) both self-awareness and intelligence are essential for the community. Cultural self-awareness refers to the groundwork of conversation, and it entails the ability to stand again for ourselves and being aware of our Cultural values, beliefs and perceptions CITATION Adl05 \l 1033 (Adler, 2005). On the other hand, cultural intelligence refers to features and expertise of men and women who alter quickly, with minimal stress, once they interact substantially in cultures CITATION BRE06 \l 1033 (MACNAB, 2006)
CITATION Rus11 \l 1033 (Russel, 2011) Says cultural self-awareness is an essential element of cultural intelligence in that people should be aware that all persons are not the same. There are very many communities in the world which have distinct beliefs, regulations and perceptions CITATION Hel12 \l 1033 (Spencer-Oatey, 2012).A person should, therefore, be aware of the other communities’ culture especially when he or she visits them. Due to cultural diversity, certain aspects of life may not be the same. For example, planning and decision making may be affected by the culture. In the workplace, people should accept diversity by suspending judgments to obtain information first. Moreover, empathy, regular checking of assumptions and doing away with ambiguities are ways in which one can exercise to celebrate diversity CITATION Adl05 \l 1033 (Adler, 2005).
Cultures can have similarities as well as differences. Beginning with the similarities, all cultures are said to be the foundations of a community. The rules and beliefs are based on it. Moreover, cultures are assumed to be perpetual; they are passed from one generation to the other CITATION wor02 \l 1033 (Macnab, 2002). That means people are born, live and die but their descendants adopt the culture. Further, habits make people develop experiences. Once a person learns his or her culture, it is kept in mind, and the person hardly goes against it. However, cultures tend to be different regarding diets, dressing and worship. Misunderstandings may arise when one does not have cultural awareness and intelligence values to understand others CITATION Adl05 \l 1033 (Adler, 2005). Cultures can be said to be mono or polychromic in nature CITATION Tai12 \l 1033 (Taipale, 2012).The first one refers to the kinds of people who only do one thing at a time. For example, whenever there are burial ceremonies in most African communities, almost all people stop their operations to attend the funeral. The latter is utilized by the white people where their culture allows them to perform many tasks at the same time.
To reach the same goal, people must have cultural awareness values to perceive perspectives. Assumptions, core values and realizable artefacts have to be identified to improve on cultural intelligence CITATION Hel12 \l 1033 (Spencer-Oatey, 2012). Cultural awareness can be used to improve one’s knowledge by taking into consideration other people’s values. For example, a person may have poor communication skills such as inappropriate dialogue and gestures CITATION Del09 \l 1033 (Flanja, 2009). Secondly, speakers should have adequate knowledge of their audiences when giving speeches. This is significant since some speeches may be in contrary to the cultural beliefs of the listeners. For practical cultural intelligence, languages, social norms and arrangements have to be considered. They sum up to social interactions and cultural practices. For example, the Muslims speak Arabic, worship in mosques and have a unique dressing style CITATION Wil13 \l 1033 (Wilson, 2013). It is, therefore, wise for people to accept other cultures, especially in organizations to concentrate on the objectives of the firm. At schools, students should utilize cultural intelligence to recognize and cope up with the behaviors of others CITATION BRE06 \l 1033 (MACNAB, 2006).
Social issues such as discrimination, racism and segregation hinder individuals from reaching their goals. Cultural intelligence helps one to discover that he or she has to cope with people. Emotions, Cognitions and people’s behavior have to be regulated by the individual to create social relations with his or her colleagues. An example is demonstrated in Asia where business card exchange is practiced to encourage better social relations CITATION BRE06 \l 1033 (MACNAB, 2006). For success to be attained, appreciation of the other people’s activities is a critical element. Setting aside cultural differences, an African young person can assist an adult especially on education matters and get appreciated. People can assume some cultural activities for the purpose of success. CITATION Del09 \l 1033 (Flanja, 2009) Says the European have embraced on unity by having an official flag, currency, learning institutions and TV stations. Although they comprise of different cultures, they are brought together by unit and work towards driving their country forward. To be successful, a person has to distinguish between human nature and personality. CITATION Hel12 \l 1033 (Spencer-Oatey, 2012) Narrates by an aid of a pyramid that culture lies in between. It interlinks the two. Human nature is said to have been inherited while culture is learnt. A combination of the two gives one’s personality. To assist in achieving the goals in the daily ...