is taking on the traits of another culture, leaving the culture of origin behind.

describes a person’s or group’s reaction to contact with a different cultural group. The decision is whether to maintain relationships with (members of) other groups and whether to maintain cultural identity and characteristics. Assimilation, integration, separation, marginalisation are acculturation styles that can be distinguished.

means being aware of the influence of culture on human behaviour. One can distinguish (1) own-culture-awareness, (2) other-culture-awareness and (3) an awareness of the process and the effects of intercultural encounters (intercultural awareness).

are all forms of thinking, evaluating and acting that the majority of members of a particular culture perceive as being normal, natural, typical and binding for both themselves and others.

is a view of the world in which one’s own cultural group constitutes the centre of everything, and all others are ranked and rated with reference to it. In most cases ethnocentrism leads to overrating one’s own culture and demeaning others.

are groups a person is a member of.

describes any forms of exchange between individuals or groups of different cultural origin.

is a form of social learning which leads to an increased awareness of one’s own culture and that of others, to a reduction in prejudice and stereotyping, to an enjoyment of cultural diversity and to skills which enable one to deal successfully with intercultural situations. Intercultural learning involves experiencing and comparing cultural differences.

is an organised and structured activity undertaken to promote intercultural competence and intercultural learning.

can be the result of preventing a person accessing goods and positions or as an acculturation strategy, marginalisation can also mean abandoning one’s culture of origin without establishing any relationship to a new cultural environment.

refers to many cultures. Multicultural describes a setting in which members of different cultural groups are located in close proximity to each other. It does not necessarily mean that there is constructive contact between members of the different cultures. The maintenance of a peaceful atmosphere in such a setting does however require accepting the differences of others.

are groups a person is not a member of.

means differentiating people in terms of their worth on the basis of their cultural heritage.

are assumptions and beliefs about the traits of a group. They are generalisations, meaning that they deny individuality. In most cases – but not always - the contents of a stereotype are negative, i.e. demean the object of the stereotype.