The
similarity principle, according to the textbook, is when people are attracted
to people they perceive to be similar to themselves (Martin & Nakayama
2013). This was certainly very true when it comes to one of my best friends
Alex Smith. Arriving in the USA from England, the only real knowledge I had
about this place came from stereotypes and Hollywood, so really, pretty much
every relationship that I’ve cultivated here can be called “inter-cultural.”
However, perhaps it is because of me knowing nothing about Americans that the
similarity principle comes into play.
Alex and I got
along since we first met, his easy going nature certainly helped to curtail the
problems that come with pretty much every inter-cultural relationship, namely
overcoming stereotypes. Both he and I had pre-conceived notions about the
other, but the important thing was that he was willing to learn more about
British culture and so was naturally curious. This in turn, helped me not only
to talk about where I was from but also get to learn about America in general.
Perhaps the thing that surprised me most was that we shared similar interests
in music and other things despite coming from two very different backgrounds.
We have similar opinions and views on a lot of things, along with a shared
sense of humour that definitely helped the two of us get along.
I consider my
friendship with Alex to be one of the most important things that helped me get
settled into my new surroundings. Moving from one continent to another is
certainly not very easy and doing it twice made things a lot harder. Of all the
friends I’ve made since, Alex was probably the only one with which I had the
least amount of problems when it came to communication. But despite the
problems, the amount of knowledge we both gained from our friendship convinced
me that having friends from different cultures is essential to helping someone
grow.
Work Cited
Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K.
Nakayama. Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print.
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