Stages to becoming a Global Citizen
Milton J. Bennet

A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity:

This model by noted interculturalist Milton Bennett puts ethnocentricity, the idea that one's own culture is superior, at one end of a spectrum with "ethnorelativism," a successful blending of more than one culture, at the other end. The model has many stages and people often move subconsciously through these stages as their international and intercultural experiences grow.

Ethnocentric States
I. Denial of Difference. No recognition of cultural difference because of isolation or intentional separation. Attribution of deficiency in intelligence or personality to culturally deviant behavior. Tendency to dehumanize outsiders.

II. Defense against Difference. Recognition of cultural difference coupled with negative evaluation of most variations from native culture - the greater the difference, the more negative the evaluation. Evolutionary view of cultural development with native culture at the acme. A tendency towards social/cultural proselytizing of "underdeveloped" cultures.

III. Reversal. Tendency to see another culture as superior while maligning one's own.

IV. Minimization of Difference. Recognition and acceptance of superficial cultural difference such as eating customs, etc., while holding that all human beings are essentially the same. Emphasis on the similarity of people and commonality of basic values. Tendency to define the basis of commonality in ethnocentric terms (i.e. everyone is essentially like us).

V. Physical Universalism. Emphasis on commonality of human beings in terms of physiological similarity.

VI. Transcendent Universalism. Emphasis of commonality of human beings as subordinate to a particular supernatural being, religion, or social philosophy.
Ethnorelative States
I. Acceptance of Difference. Recognition and appreciation of cultural difference in behavior and values. Acceptance of cultural differences as viable alternative solutions to the organization of human existence. Cultural relativity.

II. Adaptation of Difference. The development of communication skills that enable intercultural communication. Effective use of empathy, or frame of reference shifting, to understand and be understood across cultural boundaries.

III. Integration of Difference. The internalization of bi-cultural or multicultural frames of reference. Maintaining a definition of identity that is "marginal" to any particular culture.

References:

Bennett, Milton J. "A Developmental Approach to Training Intercultural Sensitivity." International Journal of Intercultural Relations. Vol. 10 (2). Summer 1986.

-- . "Towards Ethnorelativism: A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity." in Paige, Michael (Ed.). Cross-Cultural Orientation: New Conceptualizations and Applications. University Press. Lanham, MD. 1986.