Cultural communication

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Cultural communication is the practice and study of how different cultures communicate within their community by verbal and nonverbal means. [1] Cultural communication can also be referred to as intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication. Cultures are grouped together by a set of similar beliefs, values, traditions, and expectations which call all contribute to differences in communication between individuals of different cultures. [2] Cultural communication is a practice and a field of study for many psychologists, anthropologists, and scholars. The study of cultural communication is used to study the interactions of individuals between different cultures. Studies done on cultural communication are utilized in ways to improve communication between international exchanges, businesses, employees, and corporations. Two major scholars who have influenced cultural communication studies are Edward T. Hall and Geert Hofstede. Edward T. Hall, who was an American anthropologist, is considered to be the founder of cultural communication and the theory of proxemics. The theory of proxemics focuses on how individuals use space while communicating depending on cultural backgrounds or social settings. The space in between individuals can be identified in four different ranges. For example, 0 inches signifies intimate space while 12 feet signifies public space. [3] Geert Hofstede was a social psychologist who founded the theory of cultural dimension. In his theory, there are five dimensions that aim to measure differences between different cultures. The five dimensions are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, and Chronemics. [4]

Contents

Overview

Intracultural miscommunication draws on the fact that all humans subconsciously reflect their cultural backgrounds in day to day communication. Culture does not just lie in the way one eats or dresses, but in the manner in which people present themselves as an entity to the outside world. Language is a huge proponent of communication, as well as a large representation of one's cultural background. Cultural miscommunication often stems from different and conflicting styles of speech and messages. A perfectly normal intonation pattern for a native German speaker may seem angry and aggressive to a foreign listener. Connotations of words, as well as meanings of slang phrases, vary greatly across cultural lines, and a lack of tolerance and understanding of this fact often results in misinterpretations.

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is different cross culturally and one must take the time to study different cultures so as to fully understand the messages being transmitted because 70% of communication is not verbal, while only 30% is verbal. [5] Different aspects of non-verbal communication can include facial expressions (happy, sad, angry, confused), which are interpreted differently around the world, [6] eye contact (direct, no eye contact), body language (slouching, arm positioning, leg positioning, rocking motion, standing still), gestures (hand gestures, small gestures, big gestures, no gestures), touching (reaching out to someone, touching arm), and proxemics (distance between each other). Just how verbal language is different in every culture, non-verbal language is different as well. All aspects of language are culturally influenced based on what you observed and experienced when growing up, which is different in different parts of the world. Being able to combine the meanings of what is communicated verbally and non-verbally will give people the ability to fully understand what is occurring in an interaction with someone. Facial expressions can be useful in showing peoples emotions while they are talking, or even while they are not saying anything. Knowing what different emotions look like as facial expressions will help people in understanding what is being communicated to them without the use of words.

An example that can be used to explain how different non-verbal communication is in different areas of the world is eye contact. In the West, eye contact is used as a way of showing where your attention is, along with as a sign of being respectful to who is talking to you. In some Western societies, eye contact can be seen as confrontational. [7] The meanings of the various aspects of non-verbal communication are different cross-culturally in different societies and areas of the world. Differences in non-verbal communication can cause cultural miscommunication if you aren't educated on the practices of another culture when visiting, or talking to someone from that culture.

Power Distance

Power distance is a cultural theory that measures how individuals in cultures view the unequal balance of power. Power distance can be divided into two concepts which are high power distance and low power distance. High power distance refers to a culture in which people of certain societal status have higher power and are revered and respected for having that power. In high power distance cultures, individuals who are considered to have higher power are given great deference and respect by those considered to have lower power, and they are often treated with great privilege in society. In low power distance cultures, those considered with high power such as managers or owners may try to level themselves with those considered lower power such as employees or interns by interacting with them and getting opinions on certain matters since the distribution of power is expected to be more equal. [8] Power distance can be measured by the Power Distance Index. This index measures the degrees of inequality between different cultures. This scale ranges from 0 which would be considered low power distance cultures to 100 which is considered high power distance cultures. According to the index created by Geert Hofstede countries ranking higher on the power index scale are the Philippines, Venezuela, India, France, and Belgium. The countries that rank lower on the scale are Canada, Sweden, the United States, Norway, and Finland. [9] Power distance has been studied in various ways by scholars, psychologists, and communication experts. A study was done by multiple communication experts from across the globe to show how power distance has an effect on voice tone variation and projection among different cultures. The study showed that individuals in a lower power distance culture had a negative reaction to lower voice levels than in high power distance cultures. The study also shows that voice control in those who have higher-level positions has an effect on an individual's power distance on beliefs towards, employees’ work attitudes, and work performance. Louder projection and certain tones have negative impacts on employees in low power distance cultures while those same projections and tones are normal for those in high power distance cultures. [10] Another study was conducted to show the difference in justice perceptions such as work procedures and work interactions among employees and those in managerial positions. This study showed that Chinese employees (high power distance culture) react less negatively to criticism from those in managerial positions than American employees (low power distance culture). Americans expressed more frustration and negative justice perceptions than the Chinese employees. [11] It is reasoned these findings are because China is considered to be a high power distance culture, so for individuals from a high power distance cultures tolerance is higher for inequality while the United States has a lower tolerance for inequality and those in a higher power. Power distance can be studied in a wide variety of ways to show how different cultures react to different levels of power. Travelers, businesses, employees, managers, and corporations use these studies to better understand how to communicate with different cultures in correct and appropriate ways.

Individualism versus collectivism

Knowing how different cultures interact through language allows for cultural awareness and understanding. A major aspect of cultural communication is individualism versus collectivism. People in individualistic cultures value independence and tend to focus on those closest to them. People in collectivistic cultures think more as a group rather than as a single person. [12] Individuals in individualistic cultures value their own wants, needs, and goals while individuals in collectivistic cultures value the wants, needs, and goals of the group above their own individual needs. Geert Hofstede who created the dimensions of national culture, conducted a study to determine the different cultural preferences of various nations to see where exactly countries sit on a scale. The scale ranges from 0 being a strong collectivistic country to 100 being a strong individualistic country. The scale also showed that the countries considered to be closer to 100 on the scale are statistically connected to the country's wealth. [13] Countries considered to be high individualistic cultures are the US, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Countries considered to be low individualistic cultures are Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama, and Columbia. The countries listed here are considered to be poorer and the countries listed earlier are considered to be more affluent. Usually, societies and cultures that have a lot of freedom are considered to be individualistic, in these cultures people are expected to take care of and worry about themselves and look after their own families. In collectivistic cultures, individuals are expected to look after their entire group, village, or community rather than only looking after themselves. In collectivistic cultures, individuals see themselves as part of a collective and link themselves into groups and prioritize their groups’ goals over their own goals. While individualistic cultures can be a part of groups these individuals separate themselves from the group and consider themselves to be more independent from the group. [14] Those in individualistic cultures think in terms of “me and I.” While those in collectivistic cultures think in terms of “we.” Both individualistic and collectivistic cultures involve how they work in groups and how they prioritize relationships and goals. Psychologists, scholars, and communication experts utilize the differences between cultures and individualistic versus collectivistic cultures to better understand language and the different dynamics of cultures. [15]

Related Research Articles

Proxemics is the study of human use of space and the effects that population density has on behavior, communication, and social interaction. Proxemics is one among several subcategories in the study of nonverbal communication, including haptics (touch), kinesics, vocalics (paralanguage), and chronemics.

Cross-cultural communication is a field of study investigating how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communication is a related field of study.

Gerard Hendrik (Geert) Hofstede was a Dutch social psychologist, IBM employee, and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, well known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural groups and organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonverbal communication</span> Interpersonal communication through wordless (mostly visual) cues

Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact (oculesics), body language (kinesics), social distance (proxemics), touch (haptics), voice (paralanguage), physical environments/appearance, and use of objects. When communicating, we utilize nonverbal channels as means to convey different messages or signals, whereas others can interpret these message. The study of nonverbal communication started in 1872 with the publication of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin. Darwin began to study nonverbal communication as he noticed the interactions between animals such as lions, tigers, dogs etc. and realized they also communicated by gestures and expressions. For the first time, nonverbal communication was studied and its relevance questioned. Today, scholars argue that nonverbal communication can convey more meaning than verbal communication.

Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication. It describes the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally appear within an organization or social context made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. In this sense, it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate, and perceive the world around them. Intercultural communication focuses on the recognition and respect of those with cultural differences. The goal is mutual adaptation between two or more distinct cultures which leads to biculturalism/multiculturalism rather than complete assimilation. It promotes the development of cultural sensitivity and allows for empathic understanding across different cultures.

In cross-cultural psychology, uncertainty avoidance is how cultures differ on the amount of tolerance they have of unpredictability. Uncertainty avoidance is one of five key qualities or dimensions measured by the researchers who developed the Hofstede model of cultural dimensions to quantify cultural differences across international lines and better understand why some ideas and business practices work better in some countries than in others.According to Geert Hofstede, "The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: Should we try to control it or just let it happen?"

Power distance is the unequal distribution of power between parties, and the level of acceptance of that inequality; whether it is in the family, workplace, or other organizations.

Cultural psychology is the study of how cultures reflect and shape their members' psychological processes.

In anthropology, High-context and low-context cultures are ends of a continuum of how explicit the messages exchanged in a culture are and how important the context is in communication. The distinction between cultures with high and low contexts is intended to draw attention to variations in both spoken and non-spoken forms of communication. The continuum pictures how people communicate with others through their range of communication abilities: utilizing gestures, relations, body language, verbal messages, or non-verbal messages.

Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, behavioural, and linguistic skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures. Intercultural or cross-cultural education are terms used for the training to achieve cultural competence.

Cross-cultural psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes, including both their variability and invariance, under diverse cultural conditions. Through expanding research methodologies to recognize cultural variance in behavior, language, and meaning it seeks to extend and develop psychology. Since psychology as an academic discipline was developed largely in North America and Europe, some psychologists became concerned that constructs and phenomena accepted as universal were not as invariant as previously assumed, especially since many attempts to replicate notable experiments in other cultures had varying success. Since there are questions as to whether theories dealing with central themes, such as affect, cognition, conceptions of the self, and issues such as psychopathology, anxiety, and depression, may lack external validity when "exported" to other cultural contexts, cross-cultural psychology re-examines them. It does so using methodologies designed to factor in cultural differences so as to account for cultural variance. Some critics have pointed to methodological flaws in cross-cultural psychological research, and claim that serious shortcomings in the theoretical and methodological bases used impede, rather than help, the scientific search for universal principles in psychology. Cross-cultural psychologists are turning more to the study of how differences (variance) occur, rather than searching for universals in the style of physics or chemistry.

According to some theories, emotions are universal phenomena, albeit affected by culture. Emotions are "internal phenomena that can, but do not always, make themselves observable through expression and behavior". While some emotions are universal and are experienced in similar ways as a reaction to similar events across all cultures, other emotions show considerable cultural differences in their antecedent events, the way they are experienced, the reactions they provoke and the way they are perceived by the surrounding society. According to other theories, termed social constructionist, emotions are more deeply culturally influenced. The components of emotions are universal, but the patterns are social constructions. Some also theorize that culture is affected by the emotions of the people.

Display rules are a social group or culture's informal norms that distinguish how one should express oneself. They function as a way to maintain the social order of a given culture, creating an expected standard of behaviour to guide people in their interactions. Display rules can help to decrease situational ambiguity, help individuals to be accepted by their social groups, and can help groups to increase their group efficacy. They can be described as culturally prescribed rules that people learn early on in their lives by interactions and socializations with other people. Members of a social group learn these cultural standards at a young age which determine when one would express certain emotions, where and to what extent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Face negotiation theory</span> Theory in social science

Face negotiation theory is a theory conceived by Stella Ting-Toomey in 1985, to understand how people from different cultures manage rapport and disagreements. The theory posited "face", or self-image when communicating with others, as a universal phenomenon that pervades across cultures. In conflicts, one's face is threatened; and thus the person tends to save or restore his or her face. This set of communicative behaviors, according to the theory, is called "facework". Since people frame the situated meaning of "face" and enact "facework" differently from one culture to the next, the theory poses a cross-cultural framework to examine facework negotiation. It is important to note that the definition of face varies depending on the people and their culture and the same can be said for the proficiency of facework. According to Ting-Toomey's theory, most cultural differences can be divided by Eastern and Western cultures, and her theory accounts for these differences.

Conversational Constraints Theory, developed in Min-Sun Kim, attempts to explain how and why certain conversational strategies differ across various cultures and the effects of these differences. It is embedded in the Social Science communication approach which is based upon how culture influences communication. There are five universal conversational constraints: 1) clarity, 2) minimizing imposition, 3) consideration for the other's feelings, 4) risking negative evaluation by the receiver, and 5) effectiveness. These five constraints pivot on the notion of if a culture is more social relational, or task oriented.

Cross-cultural psychology attempts to understand how individuals of different cultures interact with each other. Along these lines, cross-cultural leadership has developed as a way to understand leaders who work in the newly globalized market. Today's international organizations require leaders who can adjust to different environments quickly and work with partners and employees of other cultures. It cannot be assumed that a manager who is successful in one country will be successful in another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory</span> Framework for cross-cultural communication

Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory is a framework for cross-cultural psychology, developed by Geert Hofstede. It shows the effects of a society's culture on the values of its members, and how these values relate to behavior, using a structure derived from factor analysis.

Global leadership is the interdisciplinary study of the key elements that future leaders in all realms of the personal experience should acquire to effectively familiarize themselves with the psychological, physiological, geographical, geopolitical, anthropological and sociological effects of globalization. Global leadership occurs when an individual or individuals navigate collaborative efforts of different stakeholders through environmental complexity towards a vision by leveraging a global mindset. Today, global leaders must be capable of connecting "people across countries and engage them to global team collaboration in order to facilitate complex processes of knowledge sharing across the globe" Personality characteristics, as well as a cross-cultural experience, appear to influence effectiveness in global leaders.

Individualistic cultures are characterized by individualism, which is the prioritization or emphasis of the individual over the entire group. In individualistic cultures, people are motivated by their own preference and viewpoints. Individualistic cultures focus on abstract thinking, privacy, self-dependence, uniqueness, and personal goals. The term individualistic culture was first used in the 1980s by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede to describe countries and cultures that are not collectivist; Hofstede created the term individualistic culture when he created a measurement for the five dimensions of cultural values.

Proxemic communication deals with the ways that what is communicated in face-to-face conversations may go beyond the overt information being imparted. The communication may be influenced by the degree of proximity and by non-verbal signals including touch, and varies between different cultures. Research in this field has been carried out on cross-cultural differences, and interaction in counseling and clinical settings.

References

  1. ↑ Covarrubias, Patricia Olivia (2018-03-28), "Cultural Communication", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.172, ISBN   978-0-19-022861-3 , retrieved 2022-04-25
  2. ↑ "Johnston, Carey Ann, QC 2003", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.10000115 , retrieved 2022-04-25
  3. ↑ McCornack, Steven A. (1992-03-30). "Information manipulation theory". Communication Monographs. 59 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1080/03637759209376245. ISSN   0363-7751.
  4. ↑ Lifintsev, Denys; Fleșeriu, Cristina; Wellbrock, Wanja (2019-12-30). "A study of the attitude of generation z to cross-cultural interaction in business". Informacijos Mokslai. 86: 41–55. doi: 10.15388/im.2019.86.25 . ISSN   1392-1487. S2CID   210907541.
  5. ↑ Hull, Raymond H. (2016). "The Art of Nonverbal Communication in Practice". The Hearing Journal. 69 (5): 22. doi:10.1097/01.HJ.0000483270.59643.cc. ISSN   0745-7472. S2CID   148376452.
  6. ↑ Gendron, Maria; Roberson, Debi; van der Vyver, Jacoba Marietta; Barrett, Lisa Feldman (2014). "Perceptions of Emotion from Facial Expressions are Not Culturally Universal: Evidence from a Remote Culture". Emotion. 14 (2): 251–262. doi:10.1037/a0036052. ISSN   1528-3542. PMC   4752367 . PMID   24708506.
  7. ↑ Schueneman, Thomas (2021-05-24). "8 Nonverbal Communication Differences Between Cultures". Point Park University Online. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  8. ↑ McCornack, Steven A. (1992-03-30). "Information manipulation theory". Communication Monographs. 59 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1080/03637759209376245. ISSN   0363-7751.
  9. ↑ Hofstede, Geert (1983-06-14). "The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories". Journal of International Business Studies. 14 (2): 75–89. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490867 . ISSN   0047-2506. S2CID   16588076.
  10. ↑ Brockner, Joel; Ackerman, Grant; Greenberg, Jerald; Gelfand, Michele J.; Francesco, Anne Marie; Chen, Zhen Xiong; Leung, Kwok; Bierbrauer, Gunter; Gomez, Carolina; Kirkman, Bradley L.; Shapiro, Debra (2001-07-12). "Culture and Procedural Justice: The Influence of Power Distance on Reactions to Voice". Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 37 (4): 300–315. doi:10.1006/jesp.2000.1451. ISSN   0022-1031.
  11. ↑ Silva, Maria Rita; Caetano, António (2016-03-28). "Organizational Justice Across Cultures: A Systematic Review of Four Decades of Research and Some Directions for the Future". Social Justice Research. 29 (3): 257–287. doi:10.1007/s11211-016-0263-0. ISSN   0885-7466. S2CID   147265017.
  12. ↑ McCornack, Steven A. (1992-03-30). "Information manipulation theory". Communication Monographs. 59 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1080/03637759209376245. ISSN   0363-7751.
  13. ↑ Hofstede, Geert (1983-06-14). "The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories". Journal of International Business Studies. 14 (2): 75–89. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490867 . ISSN   0047-2506. S2CID   16588076.
  14. ↑ Triandis, Harry C. (2018-10-09). Individualism and Collectivism. doi:10.4324/9780429499845. ISBN   9780429499845. S2CID   149640798.
  15. ↑ Hofstede, Geert (1983-06-14). "The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories". Journal of International Business Studies. 14 (2): 75–89. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490867 . ISSN   0047-2506. S2CID   16588076.

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