ABSTRACT
The basic premise of this chapter is that there are many ways to be human, and that the cultural competence model is a useful theoretical framework for analyzing and understanding cross-cultural differences in optimal human functioning. It proposes a contingency model of cultural competence to analyze and understand optimal human functioning from a cross-cultural perspective. Optimal human functioning has been examined from the numerous perspectives using various psychological constructs including subjective well-being, optimism, emotional intelligence, wisdom, and creativity. The chapter accepts White's proposition that human beings are motivated toward competence, in addition to the usual motives of thirst, hunger, and sex, then the competence model can serve as a useful theoretical framework for us to examine optimal human functioning from a cross-cultural perspective. The Group dimension has been the domain of both cross-cultural psychology, as well as ethnic minority psychology and the study of gender differences.
