Reflective Essay: Multicultural Dimensions of Society

This reflective essay, submitted by a student, explores the complexities of multiculturalism, drawing from a course on the multicultural dimensions of society. The essay begins by discussing the student's enhanced global awareness, emphasizing the importance of understanding diverse cultures and behaving empathetically. It highlights key insights such as social stratification and the distinctions between prejudice and discrimination. The student applies these concepts to their local context and considers a research project on the psychological aspects of multiculturalism. The essay concludes by addressing ethical considerations, particularly the recognition of personal biases to avoid causing offense and to promote credible engagement with social change. References to academic sources support the student's reflections.

1
REFLECTIVE ESSAY

2
Table of Contents
Global Perspective:..........................................................................................................................3
Key insights:....................................................................................................................................3
Application:.....................................................................................................................................3
Ethics and Bias:...............................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

3
Global Perspective:
From this given course, I have learnt a lot regarding diverse races, civilizations and cultural
backgrounds. This has helped me in becoming a globally conscious individual of various
cultures and moreover I have a thorough understanding of how to behave in a well-informed
way, intermingle in a multi culture group and showcase empathy that is going to beneficial for
all.
Multiculturalism has changed my thinking because this has resulted in careful usage of my
expressions for the purpose of ensuring that my words do not hurt any one’s feelings.
Multiculturalism has taught me that micro aggressions are very unpleasant and shouldn’t be
considered lightly (Taylor, 2016). Discrimination can not only be done on the basis of race but
also in terms of sexuality, age, gender, ability and similar other factors.
Key insights:
The first key insight that I have identified from this course is social stratification. It is a system
through which a society ranks categories of people in a pecking order. In this era, it is clear that
some groups possess higher status, wealth and power than other groups. It can be characterized
through economic dimension, which includes wealth and income and social dimension, which
includes occupation, gender, race, ethnic group and similar others.
Another key insight that has been identified by me from this course is the difference between
discrimination and prejudice. Prejudice deals with the irrational and inflexible opinions and
attitudes held by associates of one group about another. Discrimination highlights the behaviors
directed against another group. It usually refers to the unconstructive thoughts against something
or some individual.
Application:
Social stratification can easily be applied to my local context. I live in Mississippi and here are
some shopping malls, where individuals that belongs from the privileged group or higher class
can only enter and purchase items while, the backward classes cannot enter the premises (Plaut et

4
al., 2018).Another example is that there are some eateries where, only whites can sit down and
eat, exempting all the blacks.
One research project I would like to investigate on the topic of multiculturalism is the
psychological aspects of multiculturalism. This investigation can be very helpful for me in the
process of understanding of thepsychosomatic characteristics of multiculturalism. To the
psychologists, multiculturalism is one of the subjects of prime interests as it reveals how the
intercultural contact is viewed commonly and experienced as negative or positive and interesting
or threatening. A psychological understanding of the multiculturalism is a convergence of
intercultural interactions and perceptionsthat highly influences intercultural relations (Veresiu,
2018).
Ethics and Bias:
For the purpose of not offending anybody, while addressal of a political and public topic, it is
vital to recognizepartiality in my approach and perception. This is because; I don’t want people
to consider me a racialist, as I do not support discrimination. We all are biased and with the help
of positive social change it is possible to address those biases and ways to overcome it (Vora et
al., 2018).
It displays how the perception of race and civilization can go beyond indetermining the insight of
groups and their associates, which can give rise to racist notions. Furthermore, I can move
towards this topic in a principled approach for ensuring credibility or trustworthiness for the
purpose of enlightening myself and vigorously think before saying anything.

5
References
Plaut, V. C., Thomas, K. M., Hurd, K., & Romano, C. A. (2018). Do color blindness and
multiculturalism remedy or foster discrimination and racism?. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 27(3), 200-206.
Taylor, C. (2016). Interculturalism or multiculturalism?. In Toward New Democratic
Imaginaries-İstanbul Seminars on Islam, Culture and Politics (pp. 189-200). Springer,
Cham.
Veresiu, E., &Giesler, M. (2018). Beyond acculturation: Multiculturalism and the institutional
shaping of an ethnic consumer subject. Journal of Consumer Research, 45(3), 553-570.
Vora, D., Martin, L., Fitzsimmons, S. R., Pekerti, A. A., Lakshman, C., &Raheem, S. (2018).
Multiculturalism within individuals: A review, critique, and agenda for future
research. Journal of International Business Studies, 1-26.