Intercultural Relationships, Culture, and Society

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing key terms and concepts related to intercultural relationships, family orientations, cultural convergence, workplace dimensions, educational styles, and healthcare perspectives.

Personal relationships

Connections with close friends and family that provide a deep level of emotional, physical, or spiritual connection.

Social relationships

Connections that meet specific needs but lack the same level of intimacy found in personal relationships.

Voluntary relationship

A connection formed by people who choose to associate with one another, such as acquaintances, activity partners, partners, or friends.

Involuntary relationship

A connection formed through a forced situation, such as being seated next to each other, placed on the same team, or family ties like parents and siblings.

Conversation Orientation

How often and how freely members of a family talk to each other.

Conformity Orientation

The degree to which a family expects uniformity of beliefs, attitudes, values, and behavior.

Pluralistic family climate

A family climate w/ high conversation and low conformity

Consensual family climate

A family climate w/ high conversation and high conformity

Protective family climate

A family climate w/ low conversation orientation and high conformity orientation.

Laissez-Faire family climate

A family climate w/ low conversation orientation and low conformity orientation.

Boundaries

Expectations and limits used to suit needs and ensure relationships remain in their appropriate category, whether social or personal.

Roles

The specific parts individuals play within relationships.

Norms

The behaviors and acts performed within a relationship.

Symmetrical Power

A power dynamic in which both people have equal power, increasing the necessity for boundaries. (requires more boundary setting)

Asymmetrical Power

A power dynamic in which one person possesses more power than the other.

Knapp's relationship model

A relational development framework consisting of three interconnected stages: coming together, relational maintenance, and coming apart.

Similarity Thesis: Reason for attraction

The proposition that people with similar cultural, ethnic, or religious backgrounds are drawn to one another due to validation, predictability, and affiliation.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

The theory stating that when two people meet, the resulting uncertainty is uncomfortable, prompting them to try to reduce it.

Passive Strategy

An uncertainty reduction method that involves observing other people's behavior without directly interacting with them.

Active strategy

An uncertainty reduction method: seeking information from another person or manipulating a situation to observe how the target reacts.

Interactive strategy

An uncertainty reduction method: speaking directly to the person of interest.

Extractive strategy

An uncertainty reduction method: using the internet to obtain information about a person.

Daily Bids

Everyday attempts to connect with a partner through comments, gestures, questions, or other interactions.

Convergence

The phenomenon where previously distinct technologies come to share content, tasks, and resources.

Cultural Convergence

The spread of content across many different types of media and real-world formats, such as books, movies, toys, and theme parks.

Global Convergence

The process by which geographically distinct cultures influence one another.

Cultural Imperialism

The process in which less powerful nations lose their cultural traditions as more powerful nations spread their culture through media and popular culture. (can damage local cultural diversity)

High culture

Cultural activities reflecting the elite or wealthy that require specialized training or education to fully appreciate, are framed as international, and are often featured in university programs.

Folk Culture

A localized form of culture comprising rituals and traditions that preserve cultural identity, often tied to family, ethnicity, occupation, religion, or region.

Low Culture/Pop Culture

The habits, tastes, hobbies, and interests viewed as being 'for the people by the people,' which can cause cultures to become more alike and lose their distinct differences.

Enculturation

The process through which individuals acquire the values, norms, and worldviews of their cultural group.

Western medicine approach

A medical framework that relies on science to understand illnesses, treats the human body as a machine to be repaired via surgery or drugs, and features less time spent with providers.

Eastern medicine approach

A medical framework viewing disease as a sign of bodily imbalance influenced by environment, emotions, lived experience, and social factors, accompanied by more time spent with providers.

Alternative medicine

Healthcare services and practices provided outside the traditional healthcare system.

Social determinants of health

The conditions in which people live, learn, age, and work that affect their overall health and quality of life.

Health inequities

Disparities in health status and care contributed to by policies, discrimination, racism, and unequal access to resources. (contributes to social determinates of health)

Implicit Bias

Unconscious biases held by individuals, including healthcare practitioners, that they do not realize they possess.

Benefits of intercultural communication

Acquiring knowledge about the world, Breaking stereotypes, Acquiring new skills

The types of family climates

Pluralistic, Consensual, Protective, Laissez-faire

Western cultures way of knowing

Consider information acquired through counting, measuring, and science more valid than other ways of knowing

Indigenous cultures way of knowing

Emphasize knowledge obtained through relationships with the land/community, lived experience, and teachings passed down through generations (includes oral traditions)

Confucian cultures way of knowing

Emphasizes learning through study, reflection, and following teachers. Understanding includes having moral judgment and putting learning into practice

Religious/spiritual way of knowing

Recognize revelation, sacred texts, religious teachings, and spiritual experience as sources of understanding about meaning, morality, and existence 

Historical mistreatment of cultural groups

Experimenting on holocaust prisoners, Tuskegee syphilis project, experimental surgery on conscious black women

Outcomes of mistreating cultural groups in healthcare

Distrust, avoidance of facilities and their treatments and diagnosis, and biased practitioners 

social determinants of health

food quality, income, education, healthcare access

challenges of intercultural relationships

Avoiding ethnocentrism and anxiety

challenges of intercultural relationships

overcoming negative stereotypes and needing to explain ourselves to others

challenges of intercultural relationships

motivation and differences in communication style, values and perceptions

Voluntary social

Acquaintances, activity partners, workout buddies, study partners

Voluntary personal

partners, friends

Involuntary social examples

Neighbors, classmates, distant relatives

Involuntary personal

parent/child, siblings, some colleagues

low power distance and individualistic

what 2 cultural types have more boundary negotiation

Collectivistic

culture type that has norms around honoring and respecting elders

coming together sequence: knapps relationship model

 initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, bonding

relational maintenence sequence: knapps relationship model

integrating, bonding, differentiating, circumscribing

coming apart sequence: knapps relationship model

differentiating, circumscribing, stagnating, avoiding, terminating 

Limits to knapps relationship model

It's highly Western-focused; it doesn't apply correctly to all cultures and it Doesn't mention the roles of external influences

Limits to knapps relationship model

It treats relationships as a straightforward, predictable process instead of a messy cycle and it Doesn't account for relationships that skip steps, regress, or stay static

reasons for attraction

physical proximity and physical attractiveness

similarity thesis: reason for attraction

people with similar cultural, ethnic, or religious backgrounds are drawn to each other because of validation, predictability, and affiliation

Disclosing information and familiarity

reasons for attraction

cultural socialization agent

Pop culture fulfills social functions by teaching people about norms, expectations, and behaviors

high culture

classical ballet, symphony, great literature, fine art, opera

folk culture

It drives tourism revenue, creates jobs, and preserves cultural heritage. 

low culture/pop culture examples

gossip magazines, reality TV, pop music, graffiti, eating fast food

individualism in business

Workers' responsibilities are clearly defined and Loyalty to a company is less demanded

individualism in business

Pay for performance is expected and Efficiency + productivity more important than attitude

individualism in advertising

focus on individual well-being and success

collectivism in business

Jobs assigned to a unit, section, or group and People often defer to group interests

collectivism in business

Group decision-making preferred and Loyalty to the company/boss is valued over efficiency/performance

collectivism in advertising

focus on group and community

high power distance in business

these places function best when differences in status are clearly observed (boss vs. workers) and Workers are expected to agree with the boss

high power distance in business

Workers are likely to compete with each other and Workers are expected to agree with the conflict resolution determined by the boss

low power distance in business

Boss accepts workers' help and Workers are expected to have power in the decision-making process

low power distance in business

Workers can disagree with their boss and Workers are more likely to cooperate with each other and Boss and workers are expected to work together to solve conflict

long term orientation in business

They value persistence and thriftiness and Order to relationships is based on age and status

short term orientation in business

Prefer immediate results and get impatient if they don’t get immediate results

short term orientation in business

More emphasis on greetings, gifts, and rewards and Stability and consistency are important

high uncertainty avoidance in business

Competition and conflict are avoided and Clear instructions are appreciated but there are Sharply defined rules and rituals

high uncertainty avoidance in business

Prefers low-risk decisions and Employees are less likely to show aggression

low uncertainty avoidance in business

More willing to take risks and Companies may appear less formal and structured and Thinking outside the box is valued

cultural variation in education

how formal or informal the system is

cultural variation in education

Whether there's emphasis on memorization or experiential knowledge

cultural variation in education

General education or specific occupational education

cultural variation in education

Whether education is open to all or just a select few

common cultural variation in education

learning is either linear or spiraled

individualism in education

Status + grades based on individual success and Competition encouraged and Norms are set by students

individualism in education

Success seen as individual achievement  and Education is used as a tool for getting ahead

individualism in education

Progress is measured through individual assessment and Students are encouraged to think independently

collectivism in education

Modesty valued and Norms set by average students

collectivism in education

Less sorting of students by ability; the successful students are expected to help the slower ones

collectivism in education

Success is linked to family, classmates, and society and there is Solidarity, harmony, and equal distribution of rewards among students

high power distance in education

Classes focus on expertise, authority, and social + moral order

high power distance in education

Leaders have strong social influence and there are Enforced barriers to info (libraries exclusive to a major)

low power distance in education

Students take responsibility for their learning and there is Independence of students and student-driven initiatives

low power distance in education

Students expected to find their own way and Instructors treated as equals in learning

long term orientation in education

Less adherence to deadlines if there's improvement, More flexibility with procedures and Boundaries between in and out of class are looser

short term orientation in education

Instruction starts and stops promptly according to the clock