Chapter 3

Communication and Culture

• Define and explain culture and its impact on your communication

• Delineate seven ways that cultural variables affect communication

• Describe the communicative power of group affiliations

Chapter Outcomes

Chapter Outcomes (cont.)

• Explain key barriers to competent intercultural communication

• Demonstrate behaviors that contribute to intercultural competence

• Culture:– A learned system of thought and

behavior that belongs to and typifies a relatively large group of people

– The composite of their shared beliefs, values, and practices

Understanding Culture

• We learn culture through communication with others.

• We express our culture through communication.

• Your personal worldview is the framework through which you interpret the world and the people in it.

Culture Is Learned

• The communication between people from different cultures who have different worldviews

• Necessary in our diverse, mobile society

• Mediated communication gives us regular exposure to people from other cultures.

Intercultural Communication

• Cultural variations play out along a continuum and are not absolute.

• High-context cultures use contextual cues to both interpret meaning and send subtle messages– Cues: time, place,

relationship, situation

Communication and Cultural Variations

• Low-context cultures use direct language and rely less on situational factors.– Examples: U.S., Canada, northern Europe

• Collectivistic cultures perceive selves primarily as members of a group; use hyperbole.– Examples: Arab and Latin American

cultures, China, Japan

Communication and Cultural Variations (cont.)

• Co-cultures within a larger culture

Communication and Cultural Variations (cont.)

• Individualistic cultures value individuality, communicate autonomy and privacy, and downplay emotions.– Examples: U.S., Great Britain, Australia,

Germany

• High uncertainty avoidance cultures adapt behavior to avoid risk and use formal rules to communicate.– Examples: Portugal, Greece, Peru, Japan

Communication and Cultural Variations (cont.)

• Low uncertainty avoidance cultures have a higher tolerance for risk and ambiguity and use fewer formal rules to communicate.– Examples: Sweden, Denmark, Ireland,

U.S.

• Power distance is the way in which cultures accept the division of power among individuals.

Communication and Cultural Variations (cont.)

• Masculine cultures place value on assertiveness, achievement, ambition, and competitiveness.– Examples: Mexico, Japan, Italy

• Feminine cultures value nurturance, relationships, and quality of life.– Examples: Sweden, Norway

Communication and Cultural Variations (cont.)

• Time orientation: the way that cultures communicate about and with time– Monochronistic cultures are time-

conscious; include U.S., Great Britain– Polychronistic cultures have a more

fluid approach to time; include Latin America, Asia

Communication and Cultural Variations (cont.)

• In monochronistic cultures, time is a valuable resource that is not to be wasted. Polychronistic cultures have a more fluid approach to time and deal with various projects and people simultaneously.

Communication and Cultural Variations (cont.)

• Co-cultures: Members share some of the general culture’s system of thought and behavior, but have distinct unifying characteristics.– Include race, gender, sexual

orientation, religion– Include generations

Understanding Group Affiliations

• Social Identity Theory includes– Personal identity – Social identity from your group memberships

• Intergroup communication – How communication occurs within and

between groups and affects relationships– We communicate differently with people in

ingroups versus outgroups.

Understanding Group Affiliations (cont.)

• Anxiety• Ethnocentrism• Discrimination

– Behavioral affirmation– Behavioral confirmation

Intercultural Communication Challenges

• Changing thinking (cognition)• Changing feelings (affect)• Changing behavior• Being mindful (intercultural

sensitivity)• Desiring to learn about other

cultures

Improving Intercultural Communication

• Overcoming intergroup biases– Intergroup contact theory:

interaction between members of different social groups generates a possibility for more positive attitudes.

Improving Intercultural Communication (cont.)

• Accommodating appropriately– Convergence involves shifting

language or nonverbal behaviors toward each other’s way of communicating.

– Avoid overaccommodation, or going too far in making changes based on stereotypes about another group.

Improving Intercultural Communication (cont.)

• Listen effectively.• Think before you speak or act.• Be empathic.• Do the right thing.

Practice Your Skills