Cultural competence/Behavioral Assessment Scale for Intercultural Communication Effectiveness

Koester & Olebe (1988) the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Intercultural Communication (BASIC) effectivenes

Ruben's 7 dimensions

This work is based on Ruben (1976;1985) who depart from personality and attitudinal approaches in order to center on on specific communications behaviors during intercultural encounters.

Participants are observed and rated by judges.

Ruben identified seven dimensions (summary by Koester & Olebe (1988:236)

• display display of respect (the ability to express respect and positive regard for another person);
• interaction posture (the ability to respond to others in descriptive non-evaluating and non-judgmental ways);
• orientation to knowledge (the terms people use to explain themselves and the world around them);
• empathy (the capacity to “put oneself in another’s shoes” or to behave as if one could)
• role behavior (including task roles or behaviors that involve the initiation of ideas related to group problem-solving activities, relational roles or behaviors associated with harmonizing and mediation in a group, and individualistic roles which highlight the actions, needs, and behaviors of the individual in a group);
• interaction management (skill in governing contributions to an interactive situation to meet the needs and desires of participants);
• tolerance for ambiguity (the ability to react to new and ambiguous situations with little visible discomfort).