The Communication Playbook. Teri Kwal Gamble
imperialism is the expansion or dominion of one culture over another culture. When one culture presents itself as superior to others, relationships between members of the diverse cultures suffer. Not taking cultural practices into account impedes relationship building, whereas recognizing, respecting, and responding to differences among cultures allows for more meaningful relationships.
We need to be mindful not to rely on stereotypes. Everyone from a particular culture does not necessarily exhibit the same characteristics and communication traits. Failing to develop insights into cultural nuances can lead to lost opportunities and increased levels of tensions between people.
Being unaware of how others outside a culture view that culture’s members can be equally costly. Deficient self- and cultural-awareness takes a toll on individuals and society. A survey was conducted of 1,259 teenagers from 12 countries whose main contact with Americans was through popular culture, including television programs and movies they watched and the music they listened to. Based on these experiences, in their judgment, Americans were violent, materialistic, sexually promiscuous, disrespectful of people unlike them, unconcerned about the poor, and prone to criminal activity. The study concluded that the export of American popular culture contributed to impressions of cultural imperialism. Because the way of life in the United Stated was promoted as superior to other ways of life, feelings of anti-Americanism had been fostered inadvertently.20
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According to critics of cultural imperialism, the news, entertainment, and products of industrialized countries such as the United States tend to overwhelm the national cultures of other countries. There are signs, however, that the reign of American pop culture is beginning to erode. Increasing numbers of foreign films have been successes in the United States. U.S. music charts also regularly feature vocalists from the United States or other countries who sing in foreign languages, often Spanish. Foreign news services are increasingly influencing news coverage. Such exposure contributes to learning about diverse cultures and ourselves.
How We Feel About Difference Matters
When we interact with people whose values or behavioral norms are different from ours, we need to be able to accept that diversity. Being culturally flexible enables us to communicate more effectively.
The Dangers of Ethnocentrism
When we reject diversity, we exhibit ethnocentrism, the tendency to see our own culture as superior to all others. This also is a key characteristic of failed intercultural communication. People who are ethnocentric experience great anxiety when engaging with people outside their culture. They may say things like, “They take our jobs,” “They’re everywhere,” or “They’re just not like us.” The more ethnocentric individuals are, the greater their tendency to view groups other than their own as inferior. As a result, they blame others for problems they face and often turn the facts inside out, making unsupported accusations.21 When we develop sets of “alternative facts,” we close ourselves to learning the truth.
In an effort to combat revisionist histories, some decide to take action. Theo Wilson was one such person. Wilson was a Black man who had posted YouTube videos about culture and race. Wilson soon found himself being trolled by people who attacked him with racial slurs and cited twisted facts. Wilson decided to go undercover online by presenting himself as a White supremacist in an effort to figure out the reasons for their hatred of him. He created a ghost profile, and an avatar named John Carter, and passed himself off as a digital White supremacist. Through the 8 months he communicated with other White supremacists, he came to appreciate how their existence in an alt-right bubble contributed to their ability to generate an endless stream of non-White and non-Christian groups to blame for their problems as they struggled to maintain their cultural traditions; yet they were unable to offer any viable solutions.22
The Promise of Cultural Relativism
The opposite of ethnocentrism is cultural relativism. When you practice cultural relativism, instead of viewing the group to which you belong as superior to all others, you work to understand the behavior of other groups based on the context in which the behavior occurs, not just from your own frame of reference.
On the Look Out for Stereotypes and Prejudice
Two other factors, stereotypes and prejudice, also influence our reactions to people whose cultures differ from our own. Stereotypes, again, are mental images we carry around in our heads. They are shortcuts, both positive and negative, that we use to guide our reactions to others.23 Stereotypes can generate unrealistic pictures of others and prevent us from distinguishing an individual from a group. Racial profiling is just one example of how stereotyping affects us.
Why do we engage in racial profiling? Consider these facts: The human brain categorizes people by race in the first one-fifth of a second after seeing a face. Brain scans suggest that, even when asked to categorize others by gender, people also categorize them by race.24 Could this be a factor in racial profiling? Racial profiling is indicative of prejudice. Prejudice describes how we feel about a group of people whom, more likely than not, we don’t know personally. A negative or positive prejudgment, prejudice arises either because we want to feel more positively about our own group or because we feel others present a threat, real or not.25 Thus, prejudice leads to the creation of in- and out-groups with out-group members becoming easy targets for discrimination.
Because of the negative expectations that stereotypes and prejudice produce, we may try to avoid interacting with people who are the objects of our prejudice (perhaps those of another race) or attack them when we do. (We discuss stereotypes and prejudice again in Chapter 3.)
Cultures Within Cultures
To become more adept at communicating with people who differ culturally from us, we need to learn not only about their cultures but also about our own.
Influences on Cultural Identity and Communication Presence
We all belong to a number of groups, including those defined by gender, age, racial and ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and national identities. Our cultural identity, based on these group memberships, influences our behavior, including our personal, community, and professional relationships.
Gender Roles
How we define gender roles affects the ways males and females present themselves, socialize, work, perceive their futures, and communicate. U.S. men tend to adopt a problem-solving orientation, while women tend to be relationship oriented.26
Age
We also have ideas regarding the meaning and significance of age, including how people our age should look and behave. In the United States, large numbers of people place great value on appearing youthful and younger than their actual ages. In contrast, in Muslim, Asian, and Latin American cultures, people respect rather than deny aging.
Racial and Ethnic Identities
Our racial and ethnic identities are similarly socially constructed. Some racial and ethnic groups, for example, share experiences of oppression. Their attitudes and behaviors may reflect their struggles, influencing their attitudes toward contemporary issues such as affirmative action.
Ethics and Communication
Through Others’ Eyes
Imagine you arrive in the United