Packet on Culture Notes:

Adapting to Others: Bridging Culture and Gender Differences

(*understand that we might not have covered all of these notes in your class...that's where YOUR notes are more important --
I hope that these notes will be helpful for you.)

Culture and Communication

u Culture is a learned system of knowledge, behavior, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms that is shared by a group of people.

u Cultures are not static.

u A Co-culture is a cultural group within a larger culture.

– Amish

– gender

Culture and Communication

u Intercultural communication occurs when individuals or groups from different cultures communicate.

u Culture shock refers to a sense of confusion, anxiety, stress, or loss that occurs when you encounter a culture that has little in common with your own.

u Our culture and life experiences determine our world view--the general perspective that determines how we perceive what happens to us.

Cultural Contexts

u People from different cultures respond to their surroundings or cultural context cues in different ways.

u High-Context Cultures

– nonverbal cues are extremely important

– communicators rely on the context

u Low-Context Cultures

– rely more explicitly on language

– use fewer contextual cues to interpret information

Cultural Values

u Masculine and Feminine Perspectives

u Avoidance or Tolerance of Uncertainty

u Distribution of Power

u Individualism or Collectivism

Cultural Values: Masculine/Feminine

u Masculine

– emphasize getting things done and being assertive

– tend to value traditional roles for men and women

– not a reflection of biological sex

u Feminine

– emphasize building relationships and seeking peace and harmony with others

Cultural Values: Uncertainty and Certainty

u Avoidance of Uncertainty

– like to know what will happen next

– develop and enforce rigid rules for behavior and establish more elaborate codes of conduct

u Tolerance for Ambiguity

– tend to be comfortable with uncertainty

– relaxed, informal expectations from others

Cultural Values: Approaches to Power

u Decentralized Approach

– leadership is not vested in one person, power is decentralized

– decisions are likely to be made by consensus

u Centralized Approach

– militaristic approach to power

– prefer strongly organized, centrally controlled form of government

Cultural Values: Individualism and Collectivism

u Collectivistic Cultures

– champion what people do together and reward group achievement

– strive to accomplish goals for the benefit of the group

u Individualistic Cultures

– individual recognition

– self-realization

– tend to be loosely knit socially

Gender and Communication

u Sex-Based Expectations

– start at birth

– gender roles are transmitted via communication

u Why and How Women and Men Communicate

– instrumental and expressive orientations

– content and relational dimensions of messages

Barriers to Bridging Differences

u Assuming Superiority

– ethnocentrism

u Assuming Similarity

u Stereotyping and Prejudice

– stereotyping involves pushing others into inflexible, all-encompassing categories

– prejudice is a judgment some has made based on the assumption that we already know all of the information we need to know about a person

u Different Communication Codes

Adapting to Others

u Seek Information

u Listen and Ask Questions

u Tolerate Ambiguity

u Develop Mindfulness

– engage in self-talk

u Become Other-Oriented

– other-oriented communication

– social decentering

– empathy and sympathy

u Adapt To Others