Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 454
Treating everyone the same is a cultural choice
DMIS distinguishes ways of construing cultural difference so learning can be matched to the distinctions a learner can currently make
Premise
Intercultural difficulty is not produced only by differences between cultures. Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) focuses on how cultural difference is experienced. A person who barely differentiates cultural variation faces a different learning problem from someone who recognizes multiple cultural frames but cannot yet shift perspective or behavior among them.
DMIS therefore describes developmental complexity in construing difference, not a ranking of cultures, intelligence, morality, nationality, or human worth. It is a learning framework rather than a national-culture taxonomy. Memorizing customs can leave the underlying orientation unchanged.
What the model is: Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity in Knowledge →
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- FamilyModel
- CategoryAnalytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
- DomainAcross Cultures
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Analytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
Organizes dimensions, distinctions, types or questions so that a situation can be examined systematically. A framework supplies structure, a typology distinguishes forms, and a heuristic offers a usable way to orient judgment.
- KnowledgeDevelopmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
- Related briefIntercultural Sensitivity Scale: Examine Readiness Without Certifying Competence
- Related briefIntegrative Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation: Share the Work of Adaptation
- Key conceptEthnorelativism
- Key conceptIntegration in DMIS
- Key conceptMinimization of cultural difference