UNIT 1

Directly quoted from Neuliep, J. W. (2009). Intercultural communication: A contextual approach (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.  Note, your professor may select a different textbook for you to read in this course, which you will use in addition to this lecture material.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Marshall McLuhan's vision of a global village is no longer considered an abstract idea but a virtual certainty. Technological and socio-political changes have made the world a smaller planet to inhabit. The technological feasibility of the mass media to bring events from across the globe into our homes, businesses, and schools dramatically reduces the distance between peoples of different cultures and societies.

Telecommunication systems link the world via satellites and fiber optics. Supersonic jets carry people from one country to another faster than the speed of sound. Politically, the end of the cold war has brought decades of partisan tensions to an end. Countries that were once bitter enemies are now joining forces. Mass migrations force interaction between people of different races, nationalities, and ethnicities. Noted historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Arthur Schlesinger warns us that history tells an ugly story of what happens when people of diverse cultural, ethnic, religious, or linguistic backgrounds converge in one place.

The hostility of one group of people against another, different group of people, is among the most instinctive of human drives. Schlesinger contends that unless a common goal binds diverse people together, tribal hostilities will drive them apart. By replacing the conflict of political ideologies that dominated in the twentieth century, ethnic and racial strife will usher in the new millennium as the explosive issue. Only through intercultural communication can such conflict be managed and reduced. Only by competently and peacefully interacting with others who are different than ourselves can our global village survive.

Directly quoted from Neuliep, J. W. (2009). Intercultural communication: A contextual approach (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Note, your professor may use a different book for the course, although you are still responsible for lecture information.

The cultural context in which human communication occurs is perhaps the most defining influence on human interaction. Culture provides the overall framework wherein humans learn to organize their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in relation to their environment. This is the “famous trilogy.” There is a cognitive, affective and behavioral component to culture.

In any particular culture there is an order, or a pattern, or a regularity to how people think, feel, and behave. Although people are born into a culture, it is not innate. Culture is learned. Culture teaches one how to think, conditions one how to feel, and instructs one how to act, especially how to inter-act with others; in other words, communicate.

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1. Interview a person from another culture. This person may be an immigrant, international student, seasoned traveler, visitor from another county, or someone belonging to different microcultural group. Tell the person about an intercultural communication concept from this unit. Ask him or her how the concept fits into the person’s experience. Discuss your interview in the Discussion Board.

2. Find a video on the Internet, which demonstrates a principle discussed in the unit. In the discussion board, give the link so that other students can view the video. Describe how the video demonstrates a principle you learned in the unit.

3. Find two definition of culture (from sources other than the dictionary) to bring to the class discussion board. Compare and contrast the definitions.

4. If you traveled or lived abroad, think about and describe your experiences on the Discussion Board. Recount what you perceived as the biggest difference and similarity of the other culture to US culture.

5. Advertising slogans and product names reflect cultural values. Seek out advertisements from other cultures and bring them to the Discussion Board. If you use an Internet site or video, be sure to give the link.

Welcome to you all! THERE'S A DROPDOWN MENU WITH DAYS AS GUIDELINES FOR WHEN TO POST.  Please post to threads using multiple days during the week. Engage with other students by (a.) discussing concepts you learned in this week's reading and materials, (b.) explaining how you are applying what you learn, and (c.) responding to the ideas of other students. The response should be about ideas, and more than just "I agree" or "good point," although those comments are welcome too. For more information, please take a look at the Discussion Rubric under Course Home.

PREREADING (Wednesday)

This week you will examine the concept of communication and culture. What do you want to know or need to learn about this topic?

FACT QUESTIONS (Friday)question is in the unit link called "Fact Questions." Your professor may assign a number to you for the term so you answer the same numbered question each week (different questions). In that case, answer that question number each week. If there are fewer questions than your number, count through the list twice until you reach your assigned number.

MEASURE (Sunday)

Complete an assessment measure from the reading. What were your results? What are the implic

Read the textbook assignment before you discuss an idea from the chapter reading. You will find the

ations for your multicultural communication strengths and needs?

ACTIVITY--APPLICATION (Sunday)

See the Activity link and complete an Activity so you apply the principles from the reading. Discuss how you are improving your multicultural communication skills.

PROFESSOR'S CHOICE
General discussion, alternative points of views, stories, videos to watch, and media links.  If the provided link doesn't work, conduct an Internet search to find your own choice for an interesting link about exemplary multicultural communication.

Read the textbook assignment before you discuss an idea from the chapter reading. Your professor may assign a number to you for the term. In that case, answer that question number each week. If there fewer questions than your number, count through the list twice until you reach your assigned number.

1. List and discuss the benefits of intercultural communication.

2. Give statistics and discuss the increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S. population.

3. Identify and discuss the eight dimensions of communication.

4. Assess your degree of communication apprehension.

5. Define and discuss the nature of culture.

6. Discuss the five contexts of intercultural communication.

7. Discuss the relationship between intercultural communication, uncertainty, and anxiety.

8. Assess your degree of intercultural communication apprehension.

9. Identify and discuss the five fundamental assumptions of intercultural communication

10. Assess your degree of ethnocentrism.

11. Compare and contrast individualism and collectivism.

12. Identify some cultures that are individualistic and some that are collectivistic.

13. Compare and contrast high and low context cultures.

14. Identify some cultures that are high context and some that are low context.

15. Compare value orientations among cultures.

16. Compare and contrast high and low power distance cultures.

17. Identify some cultures that are high power distance and some that are low power distance.

18. Compare and contrast high and low uncertainty avoidant cultures.

19. Identify some cultures that are high uncertainty avoidant and some that are low uncertainty avoidant.

20. Assess your degree of individualism/collectivism, high/low context, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance.

What is cross-cultural or intercultural communication?

Culture is a group of people in a social system that influences the way those people live.  Culture can refer to a disability group (e.g., deaf culture), religious group (e.g., Amish), ethnicity (e.g., Turkish American, age (e.g., youth), sexual orientation (e.g., lesbian), nationality (e.g., Norwegian passport), immigration status (e.g., first generation American), social class (e.g., working class), geographical area (e.g., from the US west coast), gender (e.g., masculine), first language (e.g., grew up speaking Spanish), and more. Cultural influences affect the way we learn, process, communicate, and understand the world.

Communication is the process of connecting meaning from one person to another. Communication is an extremely complex and limited process.  The chances of one person attaching exactly the same meaning to something else is virtually impossible.  A major reason is because each person brings his or her own perspective to the communication context.  The context is the environment or situation where the communication occurs.

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Intercultural communication is when the people involves people from different major cultures (e.g., national group) or different microcultures (co-culture, such as Hispanic American).  Cross-cultural communication implies that the communication is creating a crisscross communication, coming or going to two different places.  Effective cross cultural communication is when you have sensitivity to the context and perspective of the other person, who comes to the communication from a different cultural perspective.

So, to communicate across cultures, one must be open, nonjudgmental, and see to see the other person's perspective.  The key is approaching other people as equals.  No individual's culture is better than anyone else's, just different.  Each person sees the world is the way that is accurate and truthful for that individual.  People do not have to agree with each other's perceptions.  If they want to communicate with people of other cultures, however, they need to accept the validity of the other person's point of view as just as valid as their own.  That sounds easy, but the process can be extremely complicated and difficult.

Directly quoted from Neuliep, J. W. (2009). Intercultural communication: A contextual approach (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.  Note, your professor may require a different textbook for this course.

I. The Need for Intercultural Communication

A. The Benefits of Intercultural Communication. International tensions in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and Eastern Europe are striking examples of the need for effective and competent intercultural communication. In addition to demonstrating the need for competent intercultural communication, the initial part of the chapter emphasizes that while the challenges of an increasingly diverse world are great, the benefits are even greater.

 1. Healthier communities

 2. Increased international, national, and local commerce,

 3. Reduced conflict, and

 4. Personal growth through increased tolerance.

B. Diversity in The United States. This part of the chapter demonstrates that the United States is becoming increasingly diverse. One need not travel to far away countries to experience the benefits of intercultural communication described above.

1.The results of the 2000 census profile the remarkable racial and ethnic diversity that has been a hallmark of American society. From 1990 to 2000, the U.S. population growth of 33 million people was the largest census-to-census increase in American history. In early 2008, there were approximately 303 million people in the United States (i.e., roughly 4.5% of the world’s population). Of these people, nearly 70% were White non- Hispanics, approximately 13% were Hispanic and 13% were Black non-Hispanic, 4% were Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1% were American Indian.

2. Overall, from 2000 to 2004 the U.S. population grew 4.3%. But different racial and ethnic groups grow at different rates. For example, White non-Hispanics make up nearly70% of the U.S. population today. But Census Bureau data suggest that by the year 2050,the non-Hispanic White population will shrink to approximately 50% of the population. Conversely, the Hispanic population will grow to nearly 25% of the population and the Asian population will grow to about 8%. The Black population is estimated to remain relatively stable at about 15% of the population by 2050

3. An increasing number of groups are revitalizing their ethnic traditions and promoting their cultural and ethnic uniqueness through language. Language is a vital part of maintaining one’s cultural heritage. According to 2003 data, nearly one in five people in the United States (i.e., 47 million) speak a language other than English at home. Of those 47 million, nearly 30 million speak Spanish at home. Ten percent speak an Indo-European language, and about 7% speak an Asian or Pacific Islander language. Interestingly, most of the people who speak a language other than English at home report that they speak English very well. When these people are combined with those who speak only English at home, more than 92% of the U.S. population has no difficulty speaking English.

4. Although the United States prides itself as a nation of immigrants, there is a growing sense of uncertainty, fear, and distrust between different cultural, ethnic, and linguistic groups. These feelings create anxiety which can foster separatism rather than unity.

5. Many Americans are frustrated, confused, and uncertain. Only through intercultural communication can such uncertainty be reduced. Only when diverse people come together and interact can they unify rather than separate. Unity is impossible without communication. Intercultural communication is a necessity.

C. Human Communication. Communication is everywhere. Even when they are alone, people are bombarded with communication. Human communication--that is, the ability to symbolize and use language--separates humans from animals. Communication with others is the essence of what it means to be human. Communication is the vehicle by which people initiate, maintain, and terminate their relationships with others.

II. The Nature of Human Communication

A. Process. A process is anything that is on-going, ever-changing, and continuous.

B. Dynamic. The terms "process" and "dynamic" are closely related. Part of what makes communication a process is its dynamic nature. Something that is dynamic is considered active and/or forceful.

C. Interactive-Transactive. Communication is interactive and transactive because it occurs between people. Communication requires the active participation of two people simultaneously sending and receiving messages.

D. Symbolic. A symbol is an arbitrarily selected and learned stimulus that represents something else. Symbols can be verbal or nonverbal. Symbols are the vehicle by which the thoughts and ideas of one person can be communicated to another person.

E. Intentional. Perhaps one of the most debated issues regarding the communication process centers around intentionality. Intentional communication exists whenever two or more people consciously engage in interaction with some purpose. Unintentional communication may exist, however. In this book, the of type communication that will be discussed is intentional communication.

F. Contextual. Communication is dependent on the context in which it occurs. A context is the cultural, physical, relational, and perceptual environment in which communication occurs.

G. Ubiquitous. That communication is ubiquitous simply means that communication is everywhere, done by everyone, all of the time. Humans are constantly bombarded with verbal and nonverbal messages. Wherever one goes there is some communication happening.

H. Cultural. Culture shapes communication and communication is culture bound. People from different cultures communicate differently. The verbal and nonverbal symbols we use to communicate with our friends and families are strongly influenced by our culture.

III. Human Communication Apprehension

A. Many people experience fear and anxiety when communicating with others, particularly in situations such as public speaking, class presentations, a first date, or during a job interview. The fear or anxiety people experience when communicating with others is called communication apprehension (CA)

B. There are four types of CA, including traitlike CA, context-based CA, audience-based CA, and situational CA.

1.Traitlike CA is an enduring general personality predisposition where an individual experiences CA most of the time across most communication situations.

2. Context-based CA is restricted to a certain generalized context, such as public speaking, group meetings, or job interviews. Persons with context-based CA experienced anxiety only in certain contexts and not others.

3. Audience-based CA is triggered not by the specific context, but by the specific person or audience with whom one is communicating. Hence, persons with audience-based CA experience anxiety when communicating with strangers, or their superiors.

4. Situational-based CA, experienced by virtually everyone, occurs with the combination of a specific context and a specific audience. For example, students may only feel anxious interacting with professors when they are alone with the professor in the professor's office.

IV. The Nature of Culture

In this book, culture is defined as an accumulated pattern of values, beliefs, and behaviors, shared by an identifiable group of people with a common history and verbal and nonverbal symbol system.

A. Culture as an Accumulated Pattern of Values, Beliefs and Behaviors. Cultures can be defined by their value and belief systems and by the actions of their members. People who exist in the same culture generally share similar values and beliefs. The values of a particular culture lead to a set of expectations and rules prescribing how people should behave in that culture.

B. Culture as an Identifiable Group of People with a Common History. Because the members of a particular culture share similar values, beliefs and behaviors, they are identifiable as a distinct group. In addition to their shared values, beliefs and behaviors, the members of a particular culture share a common history.

C. Culture as a Verbal and Nonverbal Symbol System. The verbal and nonverbal symbols with which the members of a culture communicate are culture bound. Although two cultures may share the same verbal code they may have dramatically different verbal styles. Nonverbal codes systems vary significantly across cultures also.

D. Microcultural Groups. Within most cultures there are groups of people, or microcultures, that coexist within the mainstream society. Micro-cultures exist within the broader rules and guidelines of the dominant cultural milieu but are distinct in some way, perhaps racially, linguistically, or via their sexual orientation, age, or even occupation.

V. A Contextual Model of Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication occurs whenever a minimum of two persons from different cultures or micro-cultures come together and exchange verbal and nonverbal symbols. A central theme throughout this book is that intercultural communication is contextual.

A. Intercultural communication occurs within a variety of contexts, including a cultural, micro-cultural, environmental, perceptual, and socio-relational context. The general theme of this book, as represented in the model, is that intercultural communication is defined by the interdependence of these various contexts. See the diagram in your textbook.

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B. Intercultural Communication and Uncertainty. When we interact with someone from a different culture we are faced with a lot of uncertainty. Uncertainty about the other person may make us feel nervous and anxious.

1. Some types of communication situations may be more or less anxiety producing than others. Initial interaction with someone, or interacting with someone from a different culture may produce heightened anxiety. If we are too anxious about interacting with strangers, we tend to avoid them. This type of communication anxiety can be labeled intercultural communication apprehension; that is, the fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated interaction with people from different groups, especially different cultural or ethnic groups.

C. Intercultural Communication Apprehension. Successfully interacting with someone from a different culture requires a degree of communication competence. Most models of communication competence include a cognitive, affective, and behavioral component.

1. The cognitive component refers to how much one knows about communication.

2. The affective component includes one's motivation to approach or avoid communication.

3. The behavioral component refers to the skills one has to interact competently.

VI: Fundamental Assumptions About Intercultural Communication

A. Assumption #1: During intercultural communication, the message sent is usually not the message received.

1. Whenever people from different cultures come together and exchange messages they bring with them a whole host of thoughts, values, emotions, and behaviors that were planted and cultivated by culture. This process of encoding, decoding and interpreting is filled with cultural noise. To this extent, all intercultural exchanges are necessarily, to a some extent, charged with ethnocentrism.

B. Assumption #2: Intercultural communication is primarily a nonverbal act between people.

1. Some researchers have suggested that as much as 90 percent of all communication is nonverbal. Cultural values, the expression of intimacy, power, and status and among communicators is typically accomplished nonverbally through paralinguistic cues, proxemics, haptics, oculesics, and olfactics.

C. Assumption #3: Intercultural communication necessarily involves a clash of communicator style.

1. In the United States we value, and employ, a very direct and personal style of verbal communication. Personal pronouns are an essential ingredient to the composition of just about any utterance. Many cultures, however, prefer an indirect and impersonal communication style. In these cultures, there is no need to articulate every message. True understanding is implicit, coming not from words but from actions in the environment where speakers provide only hints or insinuations.

D. Assumption #4: Intercultural Communication is a Group Phenomena Experienced by Individuals.

1. Whenever we interact with a person from a different culture we carry with us assumptions and impressions of that other person. The specific verbal and nonverbal messages that we exchange are usually tailored for the person based on those assumptions and impressions. Often times such assumptions and impressions are based on characteristics of the other person by virtue of his/her membership in groups such as his/her culture, race, sex, age, and occupation group. In other words, we have a tendency to see others, not as individuals with unique thoughts, ideas, and goals, but rather as an “Asian,” or a “woman,” or an “old person,” or “a cab driver.” In other words, we do not see the person, we see the groups to which the person belongs.

E. Assumption #5: Intercultural Communication is a Cycle of Stress and Adaptation.

1. When we come together with a person from a different culture, we may feel uncertain, apprehensive, and anxious. Such feelings are stressful. We can learn and adapt to such stress and eventually grow. During intercultural communication we have to be mindful that the communication strategies we use with persons with whom we are familiar may not be effective with persons from other cultures. Thus, we have to learn to adapt and adjust our communication style.

Directly quoted from Neuliep, J. W. (2009). Intercultural communication: A contextual approach (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Note, your professor may require you to read a different book for the course. 

I. Individualism Collectivism

A. The most relevant feature of individualism is valuing personal independence. Valuing personal independence involves putting an emphasis on personal responsibility and freedom of choice, personal autonomy and achieving self-fulfillment. Moreover, individualists strive to maintain distinctive personal attitudes and opinions and prefer self-directed behavior and independence of groups. Individualists tend to see themselves as unique from others. Emphasis is placed on individuals' goals over group goals. In individualistic cultures, social behavior is guided by personal goals, perhaps at the expense of other types of goals. Individualistic cultures stress values that benefit the individual person. The self is promoted because each person is viewed as uniquely endowed and possessing distinctive talent and potential. Individuals are encouraged to pursue and develop their abilities and aptitudes.

B. The central ingredient of collectivism is the assumption that groups bind and mutually obligate individuals. Collectivism is linked to a sense of duty to group, interdependence to others, harmony, and working with the group. In collectivistic societies group goals have precedence over individual goals. Collectivistic cultures stress values that serve the ingroup by subordinating personal goals for the sake of preserving the ingroup. Collectivistic societies are characterized by extended primary groups such as the family, neighborhood, or occupational group in which members have diffuse mutual obligations and expectations based on their status or rank. In collectivistic cultures people are not seen as isolated individuals. People see themselves as interdependent with others (e.g., their ingroup) where responsibility is shared and accountability is collective.

C. Although they sound like opposite dimensions of cultural variability, individualism and collectivism are not mutually exclusive; that is, they can coexist within a person of any culture. The degree of individualism or collectivism within an individual may be triggered by the social context and one’s social relations. Individuals can be characterized by specific combinations of individualist and collectivist tendencies. A person may find that individualist relations may be motivated in particular situations, such as in business relations, whereas with family members the relationship is collectivist.

Variation can be seen in individualist and collectivist attitudes in different types of relationships such as with one’s spouse, parent, neighbor, or coworker. Recent research suggests that competitiveness is not a necessary feature of individualism, however. Americans generally score higher in individualism than Japanese. But when competitiveness is included in the measurement of individualism, the difference between Americans and Japanese disappear (i.e., they score the same on measures of individualism.

D. Because there can be considerable within country-variation, labeling a particular country or culture as individualistic or collectivistic is difficult and may lead to overgeneralizations. Are Americans (i.e., European Americans) more individualistic and less collectivistic than others groups? In general, the answer is yes, Americans are more individualistic and less collectivistic than other groups. In comparison with nearly 50 other countries, Europeans Americans are more individualistic than all but twelve. Regarding collectivism, Europeans Americans were lower in collectivism as well. There were exceptions, though, where Americans were higher in collectivism than New Zealand, France, Singapore, Tanzania, Egypt, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.

 Intercultural Conversation Between Individualist and Collectivist Cultures

1. In this exchange, Mr. Patterson, an American manager working in Korea, is meeting with his supervisor Mr. Wyman, who is also American. The United States is considered more individualistic than Korea. Mr. Patterson reports to Mr. Wyman about some changes he has made within several of his sales teams. Later, Park Young Sam, their Korean counterpart, enters into the dialogue.

E. Although the United States is considered individualistic, considerable regional variation exists. Due to ecological, historical, and institutional practices, the Deep South is the most collectivistic region of the US. Defeat in the Civil War, the institution of slavery, relative poverty, and the prominence of religion all contribute to the collectivistic tendencies of the South. In addition, the Southwest, having been settled by Mexican and Spanish populations before white settlers entered the area, is also considered fairly collectivistic. Hawaii, too, has a culture different from that of the rest of the US with approximately 65 percent of its population coming from Asian cultures. Hence, much of the culture has collectivistic characteristics. Hawaii, too, would be considered collectivistic. On the other hand, the Mountain West and Great Plans is thought to be the most individualistic region in the US.

1. In their research Vandello and Cohen created an index of collectivism designed to measure collectivism in different regions of the US. Their index was composed of eight items, including the percentage of people living alone, percentage of elderly people living alone, percentage of households with grandchildren in them, divorce to marriage ratio, percentage of people with no religious affiliation, average percentage of voting Libertarian over the last four presidential elections, ratio of people carpooling to work to people living alone, and percentage of people self-employed. Their index showed a general pattern of relative collectivism in the South, particularly in the former slave states with maximum individualism in the Great Plains and Mountain West. Montana was the most individualistic state and Hawaii was the most collectivistic.

F. A given culture's orientation toward individualism or collectivism has important behavioral consequences for that culture's members. Among collectivists, social behavior is guided by the group. Along with group membership come prescribed duties and obligations. Among individualists, social behavior is guided by one's personal attitudes, motivations, and other internal processes. Where individualists are taught to compete, the collectivist learns to cooperate.

G. The Pancultural Self. Yet there is a growing body of literature that suggests that the individual self is pancultural. That is, that the individual self is more fundamental to self-definition than the collective self across all cultures. In other words, people in all cultures strive to maintain and achieve positive self-regard as a primary motivation. Current research suggests that both individualistic and collectivistic cultures sanction and even endorse self-enhancement, but via different means. In individualistic and collectivistic cultures, a person’s motivations for behavior and self-definition stem primarily from one’s personal identity and an independent sense of self. In both individualistic and collectivistic cultures, self-enhancement is sanctioned through upward mobility, status seeking and general promotions of the self. In both types of cultures, people engage in strategic efforts to self-enhance.

II. High and Low Context Communication

A. The degree to which interactants focus on these contexts while communicating varies considerably from culture to culture. For example, some persons choose to focus more on the verbal codes than on the nonverbal elements while others will actively monitor the nonverbal elements of the context. Edward Hall describes the former as low context and latter as high context.

B. High context cultures generally have restricted code systems. Users of a restricted code system rely more on the contextual elements of the communication setting for information than on the actual language code. Within a high context transaction, the interactant will look to the physical, socio-relational, and perceptual environment for information. Of particular importance is the social relationship between the interactants, especially their status. Because interactants in a high context culture know and understand each other and their appropriate role, words are not necessary to convey meaning.

C. In a low context transaction, the verbal code is the primary source of information. Low context cultures generally rely on elaborated codes. Unlike users of restricted codes, users of elaborated codes rely extensively on the verbal code system for creating and interpreting meaning. Information to be shared with others is coded in the verbal message. Although persons in low context transactions recognize the nonverbal environment, they tend to focus more on the verbal context. Moreover, the rules and expectations are explicitly explained. Users of elaborated codes are dependent upon words to convey meaning and may become uncomfortable with silence. In low context transactions, the communicants feel a need to speak.

D. An Intercultural Conversation Between High and Low Context Cultures

1. In this exchange, Mr. Hutchinson is the head of Information Technology (IT) within his organization. Mr. Wong is the lead computer programmer. Mr. Wong was born and raised in Malaysia, a high context culture. The two are discussing when Mr. Wong will put a computer program into production. Note that Mr. Hutchinson's speech is direct and to the point while Mr. Wong's is indirect and subtle. In simple frequencies, Mr. Hutchinson uses four times as many words as Mr. Wong.

III. Value Orientations

A. Values affect intercultural communication. When people from different cultures come together to interact, their messages are guided by and reflect their fundamental value orientations. An understanding of cultural value systems can help to identify similarities and differences between people from different cultures from which intercultural communication can proceed.

B. Like culture, values are learned; they are not innate nor universal. Values guide us in the selection and justification of social behavior. Values prescribe what is preferred or prohibited. Values are the evaluative component of an individual's attitudes and beliefs. Values guide how we think about things in terms of what is right/wrong and correct/incorrect. Values trigger positive or negative emotions.

C. Although any individual probably has a unique set of values, there are also sets of values that are representative of a particular culture. Francis Hsu has outlined what he thinks are the nine basic values of Americans.

D. An interesting contrast with American values, an individualistic low context culture, are those of the People's Republic of China (PRC), a collectivistic high context culture. The Chinese Culture Connection (CCC) constructed a listing of 40 dominant Chinese values. They then reduced the list to four basic factors, labeled Integration, Confucian Work Dynamic, Human-Heartedness, and Moral Discipline.

E. Israeli Psychologist Shalom Schwartz and his colleagues have studied values across cultures. Schwartz argues that there is a universal structure to values recognized by all cultures. He contends that values represent, in the form of goals, three universal requirements for human existence to which all cultures must be responsive, including (a) the biological needs of individuals, (b) the need for social coordination, and (c) the survival and welfare needs of groups. Based on these three universal human requirements, Schwartz derived eleven distinct motivational types of values.

F. Florence Kluckhohn and Fred Strodbeck developed the concept of value orientations. They argued that in every culture there are universal problems and conditions that must be addressed. For a given culture, however, there are only a limited number of solutions to these problems. These possible solutions are motivated by the values of the culture. Initially, Kluckhohn and Strodbeck created five sets of value orientations. Several years later, Condon and Yousef extended the set to a total of 25 value orientations. Condon and Yousef organized the value orientations around six dominant themes, including self, family, society, human nature, nature, and the supernatural.

IV. Power Distance

A. Although many cultures declare and even legislate equality for their members, all cultures must deal with the issue of human inequality. Although some cultures, like the United States, affirm equality for its members, some form of inequality exists in virtually every culture. Inequality can occur in areas such as prestige, wealth, power, human rights, and technology, among others. Issues of inequality fall within the rubric of what Hofstede calls "power distance."

B. Cultures with a smaller power distance emphasize that inequalities among people should be minimized and that there should be interdependence between less and more powerful people. In cultures with small power distance (e.g., USA, Canada, Austria) family members are generally treated as equal and familial decisions are reached democratically.

C. In cultures with a larger power distance, inequalities among people are both expected and desired. Less powerful people should be dependent on more powerful people. In larger power distance cultures (e.g., Philippines, Mexico, India) children are expected to be obedient. In many larger power distance cultures there is a strict hierarchy among family members where typically the father rules authoritatively followed by the eldest son and moving down the ladder by age and sex.

D. Power distance affects the verbal and nonverbal behavior of a culture. When making evaluations of authorities, persons in small power distance cultures placed more value on the quality of their treatment by authorities. In contrast, those with higher power-distance values focused more strongly on the favorability of their outcomes. Tyle, Lind, and Huo suggest that the degree to which authorities can gain acceptance for themselves and their decisions through providing dignified, respectful treatment is influenced by the cultural values of the disputants. Specifically, they found that dispute resolution methods, such as mediation, are more likely to be effective among those who have low power-distance values.

1. Ting-Toomey and others argue that persons in all cultures have face concerns. Face represents an individual’s sense of positive self-image in the context of communication. According to Ting-Toomey, everyone, in all cultures, has face concerns during conflict. Self-face is the concern for one’s own image, other-face is concern for another’s image, and mutual-face is concern for both parties. Facework is used to manage these face concerns during conflict. Ting-Toomey’s research has shown that small power distance cultures have a greater self-face concern, have lesser other- and mutual-face concerns, use more dominating facework and use less avoiding facework.

2. Other research has investigated how power distance affects reactions to messages about alcohol warnings. Anglos (low power distance) rated the warnings without the Surgeon General as more believable than warnings with the Surgeon General; the opposite was true for Latinos (high power distance).

3. Power distance also affects the nonverbal behavior of a culture. In many large power distance cultures, persons of lower status are taught not to give direct eye contact to a person of higher status. Indirect eye contact from a subordinate signals to the superior that the subordinate recognizes his/her lower status. In large power distance cultures when a person of high status hands something to a person of lower status (e.g., a book), the lower status person will often use both hands to receive the item; again, recognizing his/her lower status.

E. An Intercultural Conversation between Large and Small PD Orientations

1. Different PD orientations manifest themselves in interaction. In the dialogue here, Jim Neuman is a US high school exchange student in Guatemala. Coming from a smaller power distance oriented culture, Jim is accustomed to interacting with his teachers. Raising one's hand in a US classroom is not only acceptable, but encouraged. In Guatemala, a larger power distance culture, the classroom is teacher-centered. In Mr. Gutierrez's classroom, there is to be strict order with Mr. Gutierrez initiating all of the communication. Teachers are to be treated with deference.

V. Uncertainty Avoidance

A. Although uncertainty is probably a universal feature of initial intercultural communication, one's level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity varies across cultures. Uncertainty avoidance is defined as the degree to which the members of a particular culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations. This feeling is expressed through nervous stress and in a felt need for predictability and a need for written and unwritten rules. Cultures are seen as possessing either weak or strong uncertainty avoidance orientations.

1. In cultures with a weak uncertainty avoidance orientation, uncertainty is seen as a normal part of life, where each day is accepted as it comes. The people are comfortable with ambiguity and are guided by a belief that what is different is curious.

2. Cultures with a strong uncertainty avoidance orientation sense that uncertainty in life is a continuous threat that must be fought. Life can be stressful where a sense of urgency and high anxiety are typical. Strong uncertainty avoidant cultures are guided by the belief that what is different is dangerous. Uncertainty avoiding cultures evade ambiguity in most situations and look for structure in their business organizations, home life, and relationships.

B. Related to Hofstede’s concept of uncertainty avoidance is the theory of uncertainty orientation. According to this variation of Hofstede’s ideas, there are those individuals who are considered uncertainty-oriented and those who are considered certainty-oriented individuals. Uncertainty oriented individuals have a weak uncertainty avoidance while certainty oriented individuals have a strong uncertainty avoidance tendency. Uncertainty oriented persons’ preferred method of handling uncertainty is to seek out information and to engage in activity that will directly resolve the uncertainty. Certainty oriented people, on the other hand, develop a self-regulatory style that circumvents uncertainty. Given the choice, persons who are certainty oriented will undertake activity that maintains clarity; when confronted with uncertainty, they will rely on others and/or on heuristic devices more than more direct methods of resolving uncertainty.

C. An Intercultural Conversation between Weak and Strong Uncertainty Avoidance

1. There are any number of ways one's uncertainty avoidance orientation may manifest itself in interaction. In this dialogue Kelly and Keiko are interacting about a dinner invitation. Kelly, from the United States, possesses a relatively weak uncertainty avoidance index while Keiko, who is Japanese, comes from a culture with a relatively strong uncertainty avoidance index.

Text directly quoted from Neuliep, J. W. (2009). Intercultural communication: A contextual approach (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Clipart from Microsoft. Photographs by C. Aitken-Palmer or as indicated. Copyright. All rights reserved.