Intercultural communication takes place when individuals influenced by different cultural communities
negotiate shared meanings in interaction.

1 What counts as intercultural communication depends in part
on what one considers a culture, and the definition of culture itself is quite contestable. Some authori-
ties limit the term “intercultural communication” to refer only to communication among individuals from
different nationalities.

2 Other authorities, in contrast, expand the notion of intercultural communication to
encompass inter-ethnic, inter-religious, and even inter-regional communication, as well as communication
among individuals of different sexual orientations.
 
==>In this sense, all interactions can be arrayed along some continuum of “interculturalness.”
interactions
are most highly intercultural when individuals’ group identities are most salient in determining the values,
prejudices, language, nonverbal behaviors, and relational styles upon which those individuals draw. To
the degree that interactants are drawing more on personal or idiosyncratic values, personality traits, and
experiences, the interaction can be characterized as more interpersonal than intercultural. When individu-
als from different cultural backgrounds become more intimate, their interactions typically move along the
continuum from more intercultural to more interpersonal, though intercultural elements may always play a
role. For casual or business communication, sensitivity to intercultural factors is key to success.