8 Factors That Impact Cross-Cultural Communication in the Workplace and Beyond

In the age of globalization the workplace is becoming increasingly cross-culturally integrated making understanding and expertise in cross-cultural communication more crucial for executives, business leaders, workplace managers, and standard employees. In order to get a deeper understanding of and acquire skills in intercultural encounters at the workplace, those engaged in it must gain practical knowledge of the factors that impact cross-cultural communication. According to experts in the field of intercultural communication, some of those factors include:

1. Cultural Identity
2. Racial Identity
3. Ethnic Identity
4. Gender Role Identity
5. Individual Personality
6. Social Class Identity
7. Age Identity
8. Roles Identity

This hub presents a very basic, beginning discussion on these eight factors that impact cross-cultural communication.

Cultural identity is the first factor that impacts cross-cultural communication. Culture is the values, attitudes, and ways of doing things a person learns during the socialization process in the particular place where they were brought up as a child. The cultural identity factor impacts cross-cultural communication because the norms and practices a person acquires and practices in their country and local community will be different from and clash with the norms and practices of co-workers brought up in a different countries or societies.

The second factor to impact intercultural communication is the racial identity factor. The racial identity factor refers to how one's conscious membership in a particular race affects how they interact with folks in the workplace who come from different cultures. Like ethnicity mentioned below, racial identity is more of a factor in the United States for Asian Americans, African Americans, and Latin Americans than for European Americans.

The ethnic identity factor is the third factor that impacts cross-cultural communication. The ethnic identity factor highlights the role ethnicity plays in how two co-workers from different cultures interact with one another. In the United States, white European Americans are less likely to take their ethnicity into account when communicating, but members of other ethnic groups such as African Americans, Latin Americans, and Asian Americans are more likely to consider their ethnic backgrounds in the communication process.

Another factor that impacts intercultural communication is the gender role identity factor. This means that communication between members of different cultures is affected by how different societies view the roles of men and women.

The individual identity factor is the fifth factor that impacts cross-cultural communication. This means that how a person communicates with others from other cultures depends on their own unique personality traits and how they esteem themselves.

A sixth factor which influences intercultural communication is the social identity factor. The social identity factor refers to the level of society that person was born into or references when determining who they want to be and how they will act accordingly.

The age identity factor is a seventh factor that impacts cross-cultural communication. The age identity factor refers to how members of different age groups interact with one another. In old terms this might be thought of in terms of the generation gap. More hierarchical cultures like China, Thailand, and Cambodia pay great deference and respect to their elders and take their elders' opinions into account when making life changing decisions. Cultures like the United States are less mindful of their elders and less likely to take their advice into account when making important decisions. Such attitudes towards age cuase the age identity factor to impact intercultural communication at the workplace.

The eighth factor that affects intercultural communication is the roles identity factor. The roles identity factor refers to the different roles a person plays in his or her life including their roles as a husband or wife, father, mother or child, employer or employee and so forth. How two members of a workforce from two different cultures view these various roles influences how they will interact with their fellow colleague or counterpart.