The Communication Playbook. Teri Kwal Gamble
to exhibit a more direct communication style
Members of low-context cultures tend to gather background information when meeting someone for the first time. Thus, they will ask people they have just met where they went to college, where they live, and who they work for. People from high-context cultures are much less likely to ask such questions up front.34 In addition, people from low-context cultures are apt to feel that they have to explain everything rather than rely on nonverbal, contextual information. In contrast, people who believe that most messages can be understood without direct verbal interaction reveal their preference for high-context communication. Asian cultures typically emphasize high-context communication, whereas Western cultures typically represent low-context systems. For example, the Japanese traditionally value silence, believing that a person of few words is thoughtful, trustworthy, and respectable. Thus, the Japanese spend considerately less time talking than do people in the United States. This orientation also helps explain why the Japanese often perceive self-disclosures during interaction as socially inappropriate.
High Power Distance Versus Low Power Distance
Power distance measures the extent to which individuals are willing to accept power differences.
Individuals from high power distance cultures such as Saudi Arabia, India, and Malaysia, view power as a fact of life and are apt to stress its coercive or referent nature. Superiors and subordinates in these countries are likely to view each other differently; subordinates are quick to defer to superiors. In contrast, individuals from low power distance cultures, such as Israel, Sweden, and the United States, believe power should be used only when it is legitimate; thus, they are apt to employ expert or legitimate power. Superiors and subordinates from low power distance countries emphasize their interdependence by displaying a preference for consultation; subordinates will even contradict their bosses when necessary.35
Monochronic Versus Polychronic Culture
Life in some places around the globe is not as fast paced as it is in most of Europe and North America. In Kenya, Argentina, and southern U.S. states, activities are often conducted at a slower rhythm and without the same sense of urgency. According to Hall, cultures approach time in one of two ways: as monochronic or polychronic.36
iStock/Paul Bradbury
People attuned to monochronic time schedule time carefully, one event at a time, preferring to complete an activity before beginning another. In contrast, people brought up using polychronic time are not obsessed with time and refuse to be its slaves. Rather than rigidly scheduling or segmenting their time, they readily give in to distractions and interruptions, even choosing to tackle several different problems or hold several different conversations at the same time. Additionally, rather than trying to be on time, like monochronic people, polychronic people may be late for an appointment, change an appointment right up to the last minute, or opt not to arrive for their appointment at all.37
Masculine Versus Feminine Culture
Cultures differ in their attitudes toward gender roles.38 In highly masculine cultures, members value aggressiveness, strength, and material symbols of success. In highly feminine cultures, members value relationships, tenderness in members of both sexes, and a high quality of life. Among highly masculine cultures are Japan, Italy, Germany, Mexico, and Great Britain. Among highly feminine cultures are Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand, and Chile. Masculine cultures socialize members to be dominant and competitive. They tend to confront conflicts head-on and are likely to use a win–lose conflict resolution strategy. In contrast, the members of feminine cultures are more apt to compromise and negotiate to resolve conflicts, seeking win–win solutions.
Interpreting Cultural Differences
Where a culture falls on the individualistic–collectivistic, low-context versus high-context communication, and power distance scales affects the interactional preferences of its members. Developing a fuller comprehension of these dimensions can improve communication between the members of diverse cultures. For example, knowing whether individuals tend to understate their accomplishments or take credit for personal achievements can keep you from passing judgments that may be ill-founded.
When people from diverse cultures interact, unless their differences in orientation are acknowledged, interactions may well result in misunderstandings.
Technology and Community
Like communication, technology and culture shape one another. Technology and computers are changing the traditional definition of a community.
Neighborhoods Need Not Be Real
When we speak of community today, we no longer are limited to real neighborhoods. We have widened the concept of community to include those existing in cyberspace, and the number of virtual communities in cyberspace continues to rise. Because the Internet permeates national boundaries, it erodes the connection between location and experience, enabling us to interact more easily with people who have different worldviews than we do.39 At the same time, it enables us to find groups of people who think the same way we do and who resemble us in every conceivable way.
We Consciously Can Choose Our Neighbors
We can choose our “online neighbors” just as we choose a real neighborhood.
The fear in this development is that communicating solely with like-minded people may lead to the polarization of opinions, whereas communicating with mixed-minded people tends to bring about a moderation of viewpoints.40 A preference for likeness and an intolerance for difference often leads to the development of online in-groups (composed of people whom we perceive to be like us) and out-groups (composed of those we view as different from us) whom we may block or “unfriend.”
On the bright side, sites such as Facebook do let us stay in touch with friends as well as provide opportunities to reacquaint us with those with whom we have lost touch. They also let us friend people we barely know.
Other Reasons We Seek Virtual Communities
Many virtual communities are social networking sites in which users create profiles or avatars—alternate selves or images of characters—that they use to interact with others online. Why are people seeking multiple lives? Could it be because the neighborhoods they live in are not delivering the person-to-person contacts they seek? Millions of people go online in search of surrogate neighborhoods and relationships. This has led some critics to assert that rather than bringing people together, computer networks are isolating us. They contend that online communities are missing the essence of real neighborhoods, including a sense of location and a feeling of permanence and belonging.
The Power of Dialogue
The ability to reach so many different people from so many different places so quickly gives communicators a new sense of power. Wherever we live, we can use the Internet to help bring diversity and new cultures into our lives, changing our social, political, and business lives. Some worry that the culture of computing, especially participating in the Internet’s message boards, attracts extreme political positions and contributes to long-standing international conflicts. In contrast, advocates believe it facilitates international dialogue.41
Are all voices really being heard? Are we becoming more or less tolerant of each other? Are we aware that words posted to global online groups have consequences, just as they do when delivered in person? If we use the Internet wisely, we will find ways to increase the scope and diversity of our knowledge and develop our abilities to work together in diverse teams to solve personal, professional,