Culture and Intercultural Communication — Lecture Notes
Culture in Intercultural Communication: Foundations
Key goal of the session: understand culture as the foundation for intercultural communication and how it shapes understanding, conflicts, and cooperation across groups.
The instructor’s check-in emphasized catching up: access to Canvas, syllabus, reading, and the sign-up for reflection papers and group assignments.
Central question introduced early: What is culture?
Simple proposed definition by the class: a pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting; related to upbringing and mental programming; a collective phenomenon.
Note: there are hundreds of definitions of culture (the instructor cites suggests there are ~400 in extensive literature; for the course, one workable definition is used).
Emphasis on culture as historical and evolving: rooted in history, values, and systems that change over time, not static.
Culture relates to identities (personal, social) and how those identities interact with cultural contexts.
Core Definition and Anthropological Perspective
Clifford Geertz’s characterization (referenced by the instructor): culture as “the collective mental programming of the people in an environment,” functioning to regulate behavior through shared rules, recipes, and instructions. A modern framing: culture as a software of the mind (Hofstede).
Hofstede’s framing (“software of the mind”): culture consists of mental models that guide thinking and behavior.
Culture is not a property of individuals; it is a collective phenomenon and is learned, not inherited.
Culture is conditioned by language, upbringing, education, life experiences, and the social environment; it creates a shared memory and a framework for interaction.
Culture, Identity, and Change
Relationship between culture and identity:
Culture is acquired; identity is how individuals distinguish themselves within and across cultures.
Cultures can be national, regional, ethnic, or subcultural; identities can overlap and compete in different contexts.
Culture and modernity: civilizations are often described as “ordered cultures” with rules that support group survival and cohesion; modernization can be framed as progress, but progress is not linear or guaranteed.
Culture and globalization: cultures interact, share spaces, and face common problems (e.g., climate change, resource scarcity, digital media governance). Common solutions often fail due to differing emotional needs and values, not just technical rationales.
Culture is not homogeneous within a country: co-cultures and subcultures exist and can coexist with a dominant culture; concepts such as cultural hegemony describe dominant cultural influence within a group.
The Anthropological Grounding
Anthropology as the discipline most concerned with culture and human societies; main focus on kinship and the family as a gateway to understanding larger cultural patterns.
Language and kinship: family terms reveal how a culture classifies relationships; differences in kinship terminology reflect cultural priorities and social structures.
Historical note: anthropology has had problematic roots (e.g., race realism; genealogical/biological determinations) that over time have been rejected; today race is treated as a social construct rather than a biological given.
The field’s evolution toward recognizing cultural relativity and the critique of universalist claims.
Shared Rules, Unwritten Laws, and the Concept of Culture
Culture as a set of unwritten rules of social life: norms guide behavior in groups; culture is a collective property, not an individual trait.
Culture is learned, not innate; it is often “unconscious” or taken-for-granted (the wallpaper of life).
Human nature vs. culture: shared human tendencies exist (e.g., fear as a survival instinct), but how emotions are expressed and interpreted is culturally shaped.
Culture and personality: culture provides a broad context in which individual personalities develop; personality is influenced by culture but is not derivative of it.
The nature vs. nurture debate remains unresolved: biology and environment interact to shape behavior; culture provides a contextual framework for behavior but does not rigidly determine it.
Core Components of Culture: Symbols, Heroes, Rituals, Values
Symbols: tangible expressions (flags, hairstyles, art, objects) that signal belonging; they can spread across cultures quickly.
Examples discussed: national flags (e.g., old Nordic flag style spreading to other countries), coats of arms.
Heroes: exemplary individuals who embody societal values; role models who enforce norms and ideals.
Classroom examples: Vlad the Impaler (Romania) discussed as a controversial heroic figure illustrating how heroes are celebrated or contested.
Rituals: collective activities that signal belonging and reinforce group identity (greetings, ceremonies, celebrations).
Examples: Easter water-splash tradition in Poland; kissing on the cheeks in Italy as a common greeting; greetings and shop-hours rituals in daily life; organizational rituals (meetings) to assert hierarchy and cohesion even when “a meeting could have been an email.”
Rituals provide meaning and social belonging; their explicit forms may appear redundant but serve essential social functions.
Values: the deepest, least visible layer; enduring beliefs about preferred modes of conduct and end states of existence; they guide what is considered good, moral, natural, or permissible.
Values are transmitted early, persist across generations, and are often unconscious.
They shape norms and influence behavior, identity, and social interaction.
There are two types of values in Rokeach’s framework:
Terminal values: desired end-states for a life (e.g., friendship, world peace, equality).
Example representation: ext{Terminal values} = ig\{ ext{Friendship}, ext{World Peace}, ext{Equality}, ext{Happiness}, ext{Freedom} ig}
Instrumental values: preferred modes of behavior to achieve desired end-states (e.g., honesty, courage, ambition).
Example representation: ext{Instrumental values} = ig{ ext{Honesty}, ext{Courage}, ext{Ambition}, ext{Cheerfulness} ig}
Deep versus surface culture: surface manifestations (symbols, rituals) can change; core values tend to persist but adapt over time.
The concepts of meaningless vs meaningful rituals: some rituals serve as identity-signaling devices; others provide social meaning beyond mere function.
Values, Norms, and Power in Culture
Values vs norms: values are enduring beliefs; norms are social rules derived from those values that govern behavior in specific contexts.
The role of value surveys: Rokeach’s Value Survey (terminal vs instrumental) to explore cross-cultural priorities and to predict behavior across cultures.
Universal rights and moral circles: the expansion of the moral circle (e.g., Universal Declaration of Human Rights) expands inclusion but raises concerns about dilution and enforceability of duties.
In-group vs. out-group and moral circles:
Social Identity Theory: people categorize themselves into in-groups and out-groups; positive regard for one’s in-group can lead to preference and bias.
The moral circle defines who deserves full rights and protections; boundaries are negotiated and can expand (e.g., inclusion of broader humanity) or contract (e.g., exclusionary rhetoric by politicians).
Examples from politics illustrate how leaders may redefine group boundaries to align with values rather than ethnicity alone (Nigel Farage’s rhetoric on immigration framed in terms of values; Jean-Marie Le Pen’s ethnic-based exclusions).
The risks of a too-broad moral circle: diluting belonging can reduce the sense of duty and obligation; people balance belonging with individual and group needs.
Self-categorization and multiple identities: individuals belong to multiple groups; context determines which identity is salient; conflicts can arise when identities clash.
Race, Science, and Social Constructs
The problematic history of anthropology: early efforts to link biology with behavior contributed to discriminatory ideologies; education and science have since debunked simplistic biological determinism.
Race realism and its critique: attempts to classify humans by genetics and culture; now widely rejected in social sciences as a social construct rather than a fixed biological reality.
Critical race theory: renewed examination of how race is constructed, reproduced, and leveraged within societies; calls for re-evaluating foundational assumptions.
The WEIRD problem: much social science research has been based on White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic subjects, which may limit generalizability to the broader human population. WEIRD highlights the need for cross-cultural research.
Deep Structures and Surface Manifestations of Culture
Surface manifestations: symbols, heroes, rituals, words, and actions that signal culture to outsiders.
Deep structures: unconscious value systems that guide behavior; these are harder to observe and change; they persist despite surface changes in rituals or symbols.
Culture is not static: while values tend to persist, norms, symbols, and rituals adapt in response to social, political, and technological changes.
Practical Implications for Intercultural Communication
Culture provides context for interpreting behavior; misinterpretations arise when one fails to account for different cultural logics, norms, and values.
It is essential to understand the limits of rational, technocratic solutions in cross-cultural settings; emotional and relational aspects matter greatly.
When engaging with other cultures, consider:
Different greeting norms (e.g., two kisses vs. handshakes) and their social meanings.
Different perceptions of time (punctuality norms, lateness expectations).
Attitudes toward service and smiling as signals of friendliness or intrusiveness.
Attitudes toward work hours and workplace norms; how social rules shape cooperation and conflict.
The group exercise (class activity) focused on identifying misunderstandings arising from cultural differences, such as:
Greetings and physical gestures across cultures (Italy vs USA).
Business hour expectations and weekly schedules.
Language and communication styles: reserved vs expressive, direct vs indirect.
Time management and punctuality.
Attitudes toward tipping and service expectations (Poland vs USA).
The role of small talk in daily routines (Portugal vs other cultures).
The exercise underscored the importance of self-awareness, flexibility, and avoiding ethnocentrism in intercultural encounters.
Connections to Broader Themes and Real-World Relevance
Intercultural competence requires understanding both shared human needs and culturally specific ways of expressing needs and values.
Global challenges (climate change, resource scarcity, digital governance) require cooperation across cultures; success depends on accommodating diverse emotional needs and value systems rather than imposing uniform rational solutions.
The study of culture has ethical and political implications: avoiding simplistic racial explanations; recognizing that identity and culture are dynamic and context-dependent; acknowledging power dynamics in who defines cultural norms.
Summary takeaways
Culture is the collective mental programming of people in a shared environment, learned, historical, and dynamic.
It shapes how we think, feel, and act; it interacts with identity, personality, and social structures.
Culture comprises symbols, heroes, rituals, and values; surface forms can change, but core values tend to persist, shaping norms and behavior.
Anthropology provides tools to study culture through kinship, language, and shared practices; it has evolved beyond earlier racialized doctrines to emphasize culture as a complex, contextual construct.
The moral circle and in-group/out-group dynamics influence behavior, politics, and social inclusion/exclusion; these boundaries can expand (universal rights) or contract (ethnic/values-based exclusions).
Race is a social construct, not a biological given; critical theories urge re-examining foundational assumptions and expanding research beyond WEIRD populations.
Intercultural communication requires awareness of both universal human needs and cultural specifics; practical skills include listening, adaptability, and mindful interpretation of cues across cultures.
An exercise on misunderstandings highlights how everyday interactions (greetings, time, service norms) can reveal deep cultural differences and the need for mutual accommodation.