Keep in mind that developing intercultural communication competence does not mean you surrender your culture’s values, beliefs, and behaviors.

Recall from this chapter that everyone is, to some degree, ethnocentric.

Liking and supporting your group is not wrong. But keep in mind that adherence to your culture’s values, beliefs, and behaviors does not mean that you thwart another group’s values, beliefs, and behaviors. On the other hand, there may be times when you will need to or should criticize another culture’s values, beliefs, and behavior (e.g., dowry deaths). To find the balance is to become interculturally competent.