TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DIVISION OF LINGUISTICS, CULTURE & LITEATURE

CHAPTER 6

Cultural Identity and

Cultural Biases

Designed by Vu Cong Danh

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 CONTENTS

• 6.1. Cultural Identity

• 6.2. Cultural Biases
• 6.3. Identity, Biases, and Intercultural Competence

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 CULTURAL IDENTITY

1. The nature of identity

2. The formation of cultural identity

3. Characteristics of cultural identity

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 THE NATURE OF IDENTITY

• Cultural identity: sense of belonging

to a culture or ethnic group

• Accepting traditions, heritage,

language, religion, ancestry, social
structures, etc.

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 THE NATURE OF IDENTITY

• Social identity: consequence of memberships in

particular groups within one's culture
• Personal identity: people's unique characteristics

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 THE FORMATION OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

1. Unexamined cultural identity: cultural characteristics

taken for granted

2. Cultural identity search: exploring, questioning,

learning one’s culture

3. Cultural identity achievement: acceptance and

internalization of one's cultural identity
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 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURAL
IDENTITY
• Central to sense of self
• Linked to self-concept
• Active under specific circumstances
• Dynamic
• Multifaceted

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 CULTURAL BIASES

1. Social categorizing
2. Ethnocentrism
3. Stereotyping
4. Prejudice
5. Discrimination
6. Racism

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 SOCIAL CATEGORIZING

• Human cognitive tendency

• Organize perceptual cues
• Impose meaning
• Use familiar, previous experiences

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 ETHNOCENTRISM

• Common human tendency

• Learned belief in cultural superiority
• Perceive the world in same way
• Use categories of their cultural experiences
when judging
 Ethnocentrism

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 STEREOTYPING

• Selection process used to

organize, simplify
perceptions of others
• Take a category of people
• Make assertions about the
characteristics of all people
“Not all the Chinese are
Bruce Lee”

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 PREJUDICE

• Negative attitudes toward people, based on

faulty, inflexible stereotypes
• Irrational feelings of dislike
• Hatred for certain groups
• Biased perceptions and beliefs

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 DISCRIMINATION

• Behavioral manifestations of
prejudice
E.g. Segregation, unequal
treatment, etc.

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 RACISM

• Tendency to categorize by
physical traits
e.g. skin color, hair color, facial
structure, eye shape
• Deny the existence of the culture
of a particular group

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 RACISM

Forms of racism:
• Symbolic racism
• Tokenism
• Aversive racism
• Genuine likes and dislikes
• Unfamiliarity

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 IDENTITY, BIASES, AND
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

• Build positive motivations, emotional reactions to

intercultural interactions
• Take honest ways to categorize people
• Explore various cultural experiences without
prejudgment

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 HOMEWORK

Read the assigned materials :

[2] Pages: 161 – 217
[3] Pages: 227 – 237
[5] Pages: 52 – 66

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