Chapter 9

Culturally Diverse Interpersonal Relationships

Relationships Across Cultures

Interpersonal relationship – the state of our being mutually or reciprocally interested in one or more individuals for social or business reasons (p 155)

The Johari Window

Self-disclosure

The degree to which an individual reveals personal information to another person (156)

Collectivist societies differ from individualist on what, how much, and how quickly things should be disclosed

Self-disclosure and the internet (myspace, facebook, chat, etc)

Uncertainly Avoidance

In order to lessen anxiety and uncertainty, people desire formal rules. Strategies to reduce uncertainty:

1. Passive – discreetly observing behavior of people we want to know more about

2. Active – seek information from other sources

3. Interactive – ask questions directly to the person

Face

A public self image (p 158) Collectivist societies strongly value faceWe lose face when we make a mistake

in public or don’t live up to the image that we want to portray in public

What implications may face have for intercultural communication?