The Assumptions of a Culture-centered Perspective: Paul B. Pedersen 

The assumptions of a culture-centered perspective: Culture is complicated and complexity is your friend You belong to more than one culture at the same time Behavior is not meaningful data out of context

The "New Psychological Rules" in a multicultural context: Social significance more than statistical significance Predicting consequences more than causation Interpretation of data more than statistical elegance Language and discourse more than simple answers Holistic perspective more than atomistic

The "New Psychological Rules" in a multicultural context (continue) Particularities more than universals Context based more than context free analysis Subjectivity more than objectivity Tolerance of ambiguity more than dissonance reduction Complementary alternatives rather than orthodoxy

Cultural encapsulation occurs more now than ever before: Overemphasizing diversity into hostile stereotypes Overemphasizing universals by a dominant culture Polarizing diversity/universalist alternatives Defining reality according to monocultural assumptions Being insensitive to cultural variations

Cultural encapsulation occurs more now than ever before (continue) Protecting unreasoned assumptions against challenge Preferring a technique-oriented simple solution Reluctance to evaluate alternative viewpoints fairly Following the fundamental attribution error Preferring exclusion to inclusion

The "Up-side" of a culture-centered perspective: Accurate assessment, meaningful understanding and appropriate interventions Constructive conflict management based on common ground shared positive expectations Articulate awareness of the thousand "culture teachers" accumulated in a lifetime Healthy socio-ecosystems with a diversity of culturally different choices for each decision Protection from a monocultural encapsulation by our own self reference criterion

The "Up-side" of a culture-centered perspective (continue): An opportunity to rehearse adaptive functioning skills for our multicultural futures Providing multiple perspectives toward social justice and multicultural moral development Applying the quantum metaphor by emphasizing both cultural similarities and differences Expanding learning through inclusionary growth to increase synergy and enhance discovery

The "Up-side" of a culture-centered perspective (continue): To enhance spiritual completeness by linking culturally different spiritual perspectives Developing pluralistic systems for building pluralistic organizational structures Strengthening psychological intervention theories by making culture central rather than marginal.

Developing multicultural awareness: Becoming aware of one's culture teachers presence Constructing your own cultural identity Understanding how culture controls behavior Learning to be comfortable with diversity Accepting that all situations are multicultural Identifying culturally learned assumptions

The Intrapersonal Cultural Grid

Developing multicultural knowledge: What you do and don't do is political Knowing about other specific cultures Learning how other cultures perceive you Understanding all things as symbolic Comprehending that nothing happens by accident

Culturally learned assumptions of the dominant culture: The fixed definition of normal The universal importance of individualism The encapsulation of professional boundaries The dependence on abstract jargon The universal pathology of dependence

Culturally learned assumptions of the dominant culture (continued): The relative unimportance of support systems The primacy of linear thinking The necessity for individuals to adjust The irrelevance of history The presumption of self awareness

Developing multicultural skill: Generating a diversified response repertoire Sending and receiving messages accurately Taking the perspective of others Changing the system when appropriate Changing the individual when necessary Recovering when you have made a mistake

Negative multicultural conflict: Different behaviors presume negative expectations Each partner tries to get back or get even The more powerful will force others to adapt Potential friends become enemies

Positive multicultural conflict: Behaviors are perceived in their cultural context Different behaviors are lined to Positive expectations Behaviors interpreted according to positive expectations Harmony of different behaviors becomes an asset

The cultural context gives meaning to behavior: Similar behaviors have different meanings Different behaviors have similar meanings Out of context behavior has no fixed meaning Judging behavior out of context is dangerous

Conclusion: Complexity is your friend Cultural assumptions are the foundation of awareness Cultural facts are the structure of knowledge Cultural actions are the opportunities for skill