Social And Economic Trends - Assignment Example

Cultural self-awareness has multiple definitions that are coined from the words culture, self, and awareness. The National Center for Cultural Competence defines cultural awareness as the “cognizant, observant, and conscious” sensitivity to the differences and similarities that exist between different cultures. Lum supports this definition in his perspective that recognizes “cognitive and sensory” knowledge of the relationship between self and culture. These perspectives integrate to the definition that cultural self-awareness is an individual’s knowledge of own culture and the interaction of the culture and other cultures to influence aspects of life.

Different definitions also exist for cultural intelligence. Ang and Dyne define the concept as the potential to operate and manage self in a multi-cultural set up (2008, p. 3). This is consistent with Bertagni, La Rosa, and Salvetti’s definition of the capacity to integrate one’s self in interpersonal situations in which cultural contexts are influential (2010, p. 80). Cultural intelligence has three dimensions that develop its relationship with cultural self-awareness. The cultural self-awareness that defines knowledge of an individual’s culture and that of other cultures, therefore, is therefore important to the emotional dimension of cultural intelligence because it forms a basis for influencing a person’s attitude than eventually determine ability to manage factors in a cultural context.