Attributional Discrepancies and Bias in Cross‐Cultural Interactions

Abstract

Cross‐cultural interactions are often confounded by differing interpretive frameworks through which meaning is attributed. The construction of an intercultural sensitizer revealed that the consequences of culturally mediated discrepant attributions may be confusion, misunderstanding, and conflict among interactants. Sources of attributional discrepancy and bias that contribute to failure in cross‐cultural interactions are described. Critical incidents from A Navajo Intercultural Sensitizer (Salzman, 1991) are analyzed in the light of these common sources of error.