As the world progresses to greater sophistication and advancement, the global society
also increases in diversity. As such, people with different backgrounds and beliefs increase their
interaction, which creates the need for increasing intercultural contact to avoid any wrong
recognition about cultures and respect other cultures from different countries and settings.
Otherwise, the globe will become unstable, and inharmonious, preparing a recipe for a chaotic
world.
Globalization is an example of forces that pull us together. Under the influence of
globalization, rapid and dynamic intercultural communication and interactions between groups
with varying backgrounds increase (Iheanacho, 2016). In this context, it is crucial to understand
the need to consider the various aspects of different cultures that affect intercultural
communication, such as beliefs, knowledge, values, behaviour, laws, and morals. A globalized
society facilitates formidable and harmonious interaction amidst the diversity in the global
community.
On the other hand, tribalism is among the forces that separate the society and hinder
harmonious interaction. Tribalism often sets the stage for social hierarchies that creates frictions
between groups preventing frictionless contact between individuals of different groups (Hong &
Cheon, 2017. Besides, this cultural phenomenon determines how individuals behave within
group settings to attain some level of conformity. These forces affect intercultural contact when
an individual steps out of the tribe to engage with other groups whose values do not match your
own.
The recognized theory posits that diversity of perspectives in the society results in greater
creativity and innovations when advancing intercultural contact. In this regard, establishing a
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common ground rather than leveraging diversity allows an individual to the process of
developing adequate common ground that sets the foundation for working relationships (Hong &
Cheon, 2017. A common ground implies a set of mutually known assumptions, beliefs,
knowledge, although not necessarily shared, about what is acceptable and what is not. In the
attempts to understand other groups in the global society leads to the development of more
personalized common grounds, which makes the varying cultural backgrounds of others less
critical. Taking shortcuts in establishing common grounds will erode the benefits of diversity in
the society as dominant groups try to impose their views, resulting in a dysfunctional
organization that does not achieve its potential.
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References
Hong, Y., & Cheon, B. K. (2017). How does culture matter in the face of
globalization? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 810-
823. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617700496
Iheanacho, N. (2016). Globalization and intercultural communication:. Intercultural
Communication and Public Policy, 51-64. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh8qzvr.9