Seminar paper from the year 2024 in the subject Psychology – Miscellaneous, grade: 2, 7, University of Applied Sciences Essen, course: Intercultural Psychology, language: English, abstract: In a world characterized by migration, demographic change and increasing globalization, societies are faced with personal diversity. In recent years, the Arab region has increasingly become the focus of German companies. This is not only related to geographical location, but also to mineral resources such as black gold. The United Arab Emirates, in particular, has huge development potential. For example, in less than half a century, modern Dubai has grown from a pearling center to the most important trading center in the Arab world. Growing economic strength and investment capacity mean that German companies are interested in long-term business relationships.
Intercultural competence as a key qualification in the field of intercultural movement (including Lüsebrink 2008, Bolten 2005) refers to the capability to adequately handle, communicate and understand people from a foreign culture, i.e. suit their value system and communication style. Comprehension, a dimension of intercultural competence, refers to the ability to read, understand, and interpret the values and symbolic codes of other cultures. As an interpretive process, intercultural understanding has cognitive, knowledge-based (knowledge of foreign languages, knowledge of a specific culture) and affective (patterns of emotional responses to foreignness) dimensions (cf. Lüsebrink 2008).
In cases where the culture of the target countries, where employees are deployed, diverges significantly from Western European culture, ‘intercultural awareness’ becomes instrumental in preventing premature termination of assignments. This safeguards against disruptions in communication with business partners in the Arab region.
Another crucial aspect of intercultural training for Arab countries is the unbiased presentation of the Islamic religion, particularly the cross-religious values, norms, and cultural standards that have shaped public and private life throughout the region.
When conveying information about cultural specifics in seminars, there should be elements of traditional cultural studies, including history, economics, political institutions, legal systems, religions, geography, and minorities (Volkmann/Stierstorfer/Gehring 2002).
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