Is it disrespectful to make assumptions about people based on their ethnic or cultural background?
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As you get older, you’ll meet a wider range of people from diverse cultures – not just from around the world, but sometimes within your own town or country! If you haven’t met many people whose backgrounds are very different from yours, it can be hard to know how to respectfully engage with their culture. This guide offers some tips for learning more about them, and about yourself.‘Culture’ is a complex idea. We often use the term to refer to things like food, holidays, clothing, music, and religion, but it also goes much deeper than that. Behaviours, customs, beliefs,
and values are also part of your culture. So when we meet people from different backgrounds, we can sometimes find that there are big differences in how we see the world, even if we dress in a similar way or speak the same language. Know your own culture One of the best ways to understand other people’s cultures is to first examine your own. Most of us take our background for granted, and don’t even realise that our customs and beliefs might seem strange to someone else. If you think of your own way of life as the default and everyone else’s as a strange variation, it’s hard to approach those differences with respect. What are your beliefs about the world, and about how people should treat each other? Are any of them informed by your own culture and the way you were brought up? What behaviours define you, and would any of them seem odd or unusual to someone with a different culture? For example: do you take your shoes off when you go inside? It’s a simple thing, but it’s a huge marker of culture! In Japan, you would never go inside without swapping your outdoor shoes for slippers, whereas in the United States, many people don’t bother taking their shoes off when they come in. These aren’t always easy questions to answer, but stopping to think about them is so important to understanding your place in the world, which will help you understand other people better, too. Learn Maybe you’ve recently met someone from a different culture that you find interesting, or you’re just curious to learn about how different people live. There are so many ways to learn about different
The more you learn, the more accustomed you get to greeting cultural differences with curiosity rather than suspicion. Don’t stereotype Sometimes, learning a lot about a different culture through books, movies, or even travel and friends can lead you into a different trap: stereotyping. You may think you know a lot about a culture or place, and sometimes that can make it tempting to show off your knowledge when you meet someone from that background… but it’s a problem to assume that everyone from one particular culture has the same perspectives and experiences. These assumptions can be pretty small and harmless - for example, not every Jewish person was raised observing kosher dietary restrictions, and not every English person loves football - but they can also be harmful, if your assumptions about someone’s traditions or beliefs lead you to pre-judge or discriminate against them. These assumptions make people feel like you don’t see them as a human or an individual, just as a representative of an exotic culture. You’d be annoyed if someone thought they knew everything about you based on where you’re from or who your parents are, so don’t
do it to other people - even if you think you understand their culture really well. Appreciate the differences Differences between us are what make life so interesting. So embrace the differences between yourself and your friends from different cultures - but remember that what is a fascinating difference to you is just their normal life! The best way to respect people from other cultures is to strike a balance between curiosity and appreciation: ask questions if your friends are open to it, but also learn how to just silently observe and appreciate the differences that make us unique. What is the most appropriate way to react when a patient responds rudely?What is the most appropriate way to react when a patient responds rudely to your attempts to provide care? Ask yourself what might have caused this reaction. The most important reason for dressing conservatively at the workplace is to: increase patient confidence.
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