PDF: Pgs. 27 - 38 (Book: 17 - 28)
Culture - the distinctive ideas, customs, social behavior, daily habits, products, or way of life of a particular nation, society, people, or community.
A complicated and powerful part of human development
Influences the entire communication process
Co-cultures - smaller groups within and alongside larger cultures
High power distance: high levels of inequality in power distribution in organizations, families, and other institutions, monarchies, and dictatorships, adhere to parents’ decisions and seek the permission of elders for certain actions, value stability, tradition, and experience
Low power distance: less inequality, democratic countries typically have low power distance and embrace a more inclusive approach, where major decisions are arrived at through a group discussion and decision
Power distance, or distance from power, plays a major role in how individuals and groups behave and help identify things they value.
High uncertainty avoidance - low tolerance for ambiguity and minimizing the possibility of uncomfortable, unstructured situations by enforcing strict rules, safety measures, and a belief in absolute truth, individuals will ask questions to reduce their uncertainty over the status of a relationship, value planning, and stability
Low uncertainty avoidance - fewer rules, take risks and are tolerant of change, tend to be more flexible and open to spontaneity and change
Individualists - have loose ties between individuals and expect each person to look out for themselves and their immediate family, value personal achievement and personal opinions
Collectivist - value silence, maintains group harmony, strong ties between individuals, strong communal bonds, and often live in extended families that are deeply loyal to the group, tend to “talk around” an issue until the other side realizes what is being said
Masculine: highly assertive and competitive, style of communication is seeking to establish or defend status and express competition, emphasize competition,
Feminine: less assertive and competitive, style of communication is where the purpose is establishing connections and creating cooperation, both men and women are more modest and caring, emphasize cooperation and census
“Genderlect” - coined by Deborah Tannen, gender is a cultural difference and that men and women simply communicate differently
Long-term orientation: pragmatic and focus on future rewards w/ an emphasis on saving, persistence, and adaptation, might mean next week/month/year, long-term goals and where one wants to be in five years, also short-term
Short-term orientation: present and past and emphasize national pride, tradition, social obligations, and saving “face” in the here and now.
Indulgent - freely allow gratification, co-sign with individualistic countries, value individual happiness, vacation, leisure time, and the expression of emotions and thoughts, ppl may be more likely to speak out of turn or to say something inappropriate
Restrained: strict social norms and discourage acting simply out of want, leisure and vacation are not that important, ppl may not freely express dissent or unhappiness
High context: the nonverbal expressions, environment, and situation in which the communication is taking place, and less emphasis is placed on the words ex: Korea and Saudi Arabia
Low context: the language used in interaction, and less emphasis is placed on the nonverbal communication, environment, and situation ex: US and Germany
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