TCKs have an innate open-mindedness and cross-cultural awareness that significantly helps them to cope with their unique cultural make-up and use it to their advantage. They usually come from globally mobile groups such as expatriate communities, the military, governmental bodies or missionaries.
When parents decide to accept an international assignment they must consider the long-term impact that exposure to multiple cultures will have on their children. Unlike adults, children and teenagers can be more deeply affected by their experiences abroad. Why? Because, unlike their parents, they are in a natural process of developing their identity. Exposure to multiple cultures at an early age means that each new experience will be embedded in their identities for life. This is a key characteristic of TCKs and a massively potential tool for their future professional lives.
The TCK community is vast. Every TCK possesses a unique multicultural identity but they are all able to lay claim to a common TCK identity. Common behavioural characteristics of TCKs might include the ability to:
- Build cultural bridges easily
- Integrate well into new surroundings
- Adapt well to unfamiliar situations
- Pick up new languages with ease
- Adopt an open-minded and flexible approach with others
- Demonstrate maturity at an earlier age than their non-TCK peers
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