The 10 Lenses: Are you a Culturalcentrist?

Culturalcentrists seek to maintain or improve the well-being of their cultural identity group by focusing on their history, traditions, and community. Culturalcentrists come from every culture and identity group and are not limited to minority groups or people of color. They argue that institutions that are separated from the mainstream are an essential ingredient to the success of their culture because they encourage cultural pride and create a support network and a safe environment where intolerance and prejudice are not daily issues.

STRENGTHS

• They promote a sense of self-empowerment and self-esteem within their culture
• They support efforts to expand acceptable norms
• They build community and trust within their culture
• They demonstrate and encourage cultural pride
• They provide unique expression in a highly assimilated/globalized environment
• They recognize and highlight opportunities to tap perspectives from within their cultural group
• Articulate organizational and social barriers for their group

WEAKNESSES

• They can isolate themselves from members of different cultural groups, i.e., mentors, colleagues and other potential supporters.
• They can exclude other cultural groups
• They can criticize members of their cultural group who do not share Culturalcentrist views
• They can overprotect members within the group
• They may be inflexible in adapting to organizational norms and standards
• They may miss opportunities to build community and leverage synergies across cultural groups

Learn About the 10 Lenses

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