The theory suggests a relationship between inter-cultural competence and cultural identity. The theory deals with the study into how individuals use communicative processes to construct and negotiate their cultural group identities and relationships in particular contexts. According to the theory, culture is one of the many identities expressed in communication encounters. Cultural identity becomes evident through social comparison. Speakers compare the status position of their own groups to those of other groups. An individual’s message during interaction will contain multiple cultural identities such as nationalist, racist, ethnic, class related, sex, gender based, political and religious. Because individuals enact multiple identities all voices within a group do not speak in the same way or have the same recognition by others.