Intercultural Communication Paper (and INCA Survey) Instructions

They actively seek the other’s perspectives and evaluations of phenomena which are taken for granted in their environment, and take up the other’s perspectives in order to contrast and compare with the dominant views in their own society vi) EMPATHY The significance Although respect for otherness is a basic condition for successful interaction, it has to be complemented by the skills of taking up another perspective, of being able to grasp the ideas, feelings and intentions of other people. It is possible to accept and respect other people’s beliefs, values and behaviours without grasping the impact this may have on their actions and the way they respond to our beliefs, values and behaviours. People have to take into consideration in real situations that the same situation is often perceived and evaluated by people from different cultures in very different ways, and they have to be able to show empathy towards people from other cultures by applying the skills of changing perspective and showing real interest in what other people feel and how they perceive situations. Empathy is the ability to project oneself into another person’s perspective and their opinions, motives, ways of thinking and feelings. Empathic persons are able to relate and respond in appropriate ways to the feelings, preferences and ways of thinking of others. Empathetic persons have the skills to describe what others feel in certain situations. They observe others carefully, are able to notice emotions that are hardly made explicit and are able to understand them. They are able to see the relationship with their own feelings and thoughts, the similarities and differences, and to analyse the possible effects of different perspectives on the mutual understanding between themselves and their partners. In their own actions, they consider the perspectives of others and avoid hurting them. People with low degrees of empathy cannot recognise and describe the feelings of other people. They are not interested in how other people think or feel and are thus unable to detect when others don’t feel at ease in a certain situation. They cannot emulate the way others think and how they perceive a situation. They cannot imagine how their own behaviour could impact others,

INCA – Intercultural Competence Assessment – www.incaproject.org 11