Intercultural Communication Paper (and INCA Survey) Instructions

i) TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY The significance In interaction with people of other cultures, people often have concrete aims they wish to achieve such as agreeing a contract, and in this case otherness is not only interesting but also a potential barrier. People who are ‘tolerant of ambiguity’ are able to meet this challenge and accept ambiguity, whilst finding a solution – and enjoying the experience of otherness. Tolerance for ambiguity is the ability to accept ambiguity and lack of clarity and to be able to deal with this constructively. Since members of foreign cultures show different ways of behaviour, have different standards and have different opinions, a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability emerges for an individual. The person who is acting in such an intercultural situation often does not know which behaviour is expected and how behaviour is evaluated. For instance, the temporal order of action or the division of labour in other cultures differ from those of one’s own culture. Tolerance for ambiguity means to be able to accept such uncertainties and ambiguities, and to find solutions to problems which they might create. In contrast, persons with a low degree of tolerance for ambiguity experience unstructured and ambiguous situations as unpleasant and threatening. They either try to avoid such situations or to get out of them as soon as possible. If this is impossible, they feel visibly uncomfortable, misinterpret unclear situations and simplify ambiguities. When trying to solve such problems, they often neglect a part of the problem and search for simple solutions. When confronted with contradictory and ambiguous opinions they search for a compromise and prefer a very clear and definite way of proceeding. Motivation When persons with a high degree of tolerance for ambiguity are confronted with values, opinions, and ways of behaviour that contradict their own, they consider this situation interesting and a challenge. Persons with tolerance for ambiguity consider ambiguity as something positive and are interested in managing such situations in a constructive way. Knowledge/skills They are able to consider several perspectives and opinions when looking at a problem and they are able to find a solution that satisfies all the people involved.

INCA – Intercultural Competence Assessment – www.incaproject.org 4