Cultural differences that manifest in communication refer to the variations observed between people engaging in a conversation due to differences in their values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors. One can address these differences and communicate effectively by being more culturally sensitive. Cultural sensitivity refers to the awareness of commonalities and variations in people's cultures without labeling them as desirable or undesirable. Being culturally sensitive requires understanding that the similarities and variations in people impact their behaviors, perceptions, and values. This enables a person to adjust behaviors to be at par with people from a different culture.
Cultural sensitivity is critical as it helps people deliver content that is tailored to people in different regions. Tailored content helps a business be more inclusive, hence welcoming talent from different cultures. It also enhances a business's public image and expands globally. Cultural sensitivity is critical as it helps people break the cultural barriers and understand ways in which they can appreciate people who are different from them. This helps people with different cultural backgrounds to relate well. Cultural sensitivity helps a person understand how the receiver may interpret their words. Hence, one can know how to communicate effectively and avoid words that can cause misunderstandings.
How Culture Affects Communication
Humankind lives in a world where economic interdependence is inevitable. This implies that no one is fully self-sufficient; thus, everyone relies on international trade. This has necessitated a shift to globalization. Globalization can be defined as the integration of ideas and products across the world. Globalization and international trade present numerous opportunities but also face a very complex barrier of cultural differences among people worldwide.
Cultural differences have many effects on communication. People with different cultural backgrounds communicate using different styles. Their language, words, gestures, and phrases may differ even in their application. Culture also shapes peoples' attitudes in times of conflict. While conflict is acceptable in some cultures, it is considered undesirable in others. People from different cultures also have different approaches to delivering and inquiring about information. Certain words or topics may be considered taboo in one culture but acceptable in another. Another aspect affected by culture is decision-making. Some countries focus on empowering people to make their own decisions. In other countries, the seniors may tend to delegate duties to the seniors.
Barriers to Culture Communication
Communication across different cultures can be adversely affected by various cultural barriers. These are the challenges that hamper communication between people with different cultural backgrounds. Some of these barriers are discussed below.
- Language: Speaking different languages can lead to misunderstandings. Although translation can help people understand the message, it may lead to distortion of meaning. When some people are more fluent than others in a language that is widely used, those who are less fluent may feel sidelined.
- Ethnocentrism: This refers to the tendency to view one's culture as superior to those of others. This makes people believe that they are right while others are wrong.
- Stereotypes: Stereotypes are the oversimplified perceptions of a certain culture. Most of these perceptions are held unconsciously. Although some of them may be positive, most of them are negative.
- Prejudice: Prejudice is expressed as negative feelings and attitudes towards people who belong to a certain group. This can be based on aspects such as social class, ethnicity, social class, and profession.
Understanding how to handle these issues is critical to ensure that they do not get in the way of effective communication.
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Some main examples of cultures in communications include low-context and high-context cultures. In high-context cultures, people tend to choose informal agreements and their engagement is shaped by personal relationships and trust. Consequently, communication is mainly expressive and emotional. In addition, these cultures ignore the details or leave some information as unspecified for people to draw their own interpretation. The words are full of implicated meanings since the communication relies on shared cultural knowledge. They also look for non-verbal cues and draw meaning from them. Such non-verbal cues include facial expressions and gestures. Another notable aspect of this culture is that people do not depend on face-to-face meetings or well-written engagement documents. Countries with this culture include Brazil, France, and China. For instance, if an employee wanted to quit their job, they would not write a detailed letter to their boss explaining how they are currently feeling about their job. Rather, they would expect that their employers will notice a change in behavior, a lack of motivation, or a change in their performance and take it as an indication of giving up on the job.
On the other hand, low-context cultures emphasize details. People in this culture expect others to be specific, precise, and direct when speaking or delivering a written message. This is done in an effort to avoid confusion. Such countries include the U.K., U.S., and Australia. In these countries, employees who want to quit their job will most likely write a letter to notify their employers that they are no longer willing to continue working there. Doing so would ensure that the employer gets the employee's message clearly, without making assumptions.
Employees transitioning from one culture to another might have challenges adapting to the other. A person moving from a high-context culture to a low-context culture might feel overwhelmed by the new culture since they get a feeling of being disliked and micro-managed. Such a person may also feel that the people in this new culture are being too formal.
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Differences in culture among employees can lead to challenges in the workplace. Culture refers to the behaviors, norms, rules, attitudes, values, and beliefs. A good understanding of one's culture and that of other people is critical for interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication refers to the sharing of ideas and information among at least two people. Examples are when friends gather in a coffee shop for a casual talk and when a couple talks in private. Another example is when workmates from different cultures communicate through gestures. Interpersonal communication differs from other forms of communication, such as articles in newspapers meant to be read by many people. Differences in culture among parties in communication create an understanding of cultural communication. Cultural communication deals with sharing of ideas among people from different cultures and social groups.
Economic interdependence and globalization have created a need to understand how to embrace other people's cultures. The term economic interdependence implies that no one in the world can be self-sufficient. As a result, all people rely on international trade. As a result, companies have been expanding into other countries. Ideas and products are also being integrated across the world in what is called globalization. In their quest to expand, businesses have been having challenges due to the barriers to cultural communication. Such barriers include language, ethnocentrism, stereotypes, and prejudice. Some examples of cultural communication include high- and low-context cultures. In high-context cultures, engagements are guided by personal relationships and trust. People also remain emotional and expressive. Their words also contain mainly implicated meanings since communication is based on shared cultural knowledge. In contrast, in a low-context culture, communication emphasizes details and formal engagements. An employee who is transitioning from a high to a low-context culture might feel overwhelmed, disliked, or micro-managed. The person may also feel that the new culture demands people to be too formal.
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Video Transcript
Culture and Communication
This probably isn't going to be a big surprise to anyone, but culture influences communication. What? You mean that not everybody in the world communicates the same way? Nope. And I'm not just talking about what language you speak. Culture, the shared set of expectations, ideologies, and productions within a society, has a dramatic impact on pretty much every aspect of our lives. This is especially true of interpersonal communication, the direct exchange of information between two or more people, which is different than, say, sharing information using mass media outlets like newspapers. Interpersonal communication is all about the direct interaction between people and this means working with dozens of cultural rules. Who is allowed to talk? When? Where? What do you do with your hands? Where do you look? How much do you say? Communication is a lot more than just knowing what to say, it's about knowing a culture.
Communication Across Cultures
Now, before we get into the ways that culture can influence interpersonal communication, we've got to ask one basic question: Why do we care? As long as we interact within our own culture, do we really need to learn about other people? Well, yeah. More than ever before, we are living in a world of increasing economic interdependence. This means that people depend on each other for products. Think of it this way: Do you grow your own food? Make your own clothes? Build your own home? No. You have a role in society and you rely on other people with specialized roles to provide things that you can't do alone. That's how the global economy works. Very few nations, if any, are practically self-sufficient. Many people look at this through the lens of globalization, the international integration of economies, cultures, ideas, and technologies. Let's face it, the world is far too connected for us to ignore other people. The chance that you will get through life without ever needing to interact with another culture is slim, at best. And why would you want to? Our modern technology makes international travel easier than ever before. And, I'm just saying, there's some pretty great food out there. It'd be a shame not to try it. So, we're going to interact with other cultures and that means we need to understand how. The first thing we've got to master before even attempting to communicate with people of another culture is cultural sensitivity, the understanding and respect of differences between cultures. It is always important to go into a new communication system with the expectation that things will be different and that's okay. It's okay for people to have different cultural ideas about communication and it's okay if this is difficult for you to pick up. Nobody expects you to master anything overnight. So, try to avoid becoming too frustrated when dealing with someone from a different culture of communication.
High and Low Context Cultures
Alright, now we get to the part about how culture directly impacts interpersonal communication. Researchers have identified two fundamentally different styles of interpersonal communication: high context and low context. Now, nobody is going to be one hundred percent of either. Most cultures fall somewhere in the middle, but it is helpful to know which way they lean. So what do these terms mean? High-context cultures rely on cultural knowledge and mutual understanding to communicate. This means that a lot of communication is not just about what is being said and, in fact, many things are left unspoken. Nonverbal cues, shared background knowledge, and implications guide communication. This makes word choice very important. Since people in cultures that lean this direction tend to use fewer words to convey complex ideas, each word is loaded with meaning and interpersonal communication relies on very personal relationships. Each person must understand the others well enough to pick up on non-verbal signs and implied meanings. This means that trust is integral to communication and outsiders in these cultures often have difficulty understanding what is going on. The opposite style of communication comes from a low-context culture, in which information is communicated directly and literally. People in low-context cultures tell you exactly what they are thinking, how to act, and what to do. There are very few metaphors or idioms in these societies and communication is often objective, impersonal, and based on facts rather than emotions. Rather than letting something go unsaid, people in these cultures carefully explain everything. In terms of interpersonal communication, this comes with its own sets of expectations. Failing to explain something thoroughly to people in a low-context culture can make them suspicious that the speaker is hiding something or confused because they lack the background cultural knowledge to make the assumptions that are so important to high-context communicators. Outsiders who move to a low context society may find themselves overwhelmed with information and at first may feel like nobody likes them, since communication is not driven by emotions and personal relationships. Sometimes it doesn't matter just what you say. Communication is really all about culture.
Lesson Summary
Communication is always important, but not always easy. This is especially true of interpersonal communication, the direct exchange of information between two or more people. How we communicate is often determined by culture. In our modern world of economic interdependence, where people depend on each other for products, and globalization, the international integration of economies, cultures, ideas, and technologies, interaction with other cultures is inevitable. So we need to practice cultural sensitivity, increasing our understanding and respect of differences between cultures. One important difference to understand is that between high-context cultures, which rely on cultural knowledge and mutual understanding to communicate, and low -context cultures, in which information is communicated directly and literally. People communicate differently around the world and understanding how cultural differences impact communication keeps us all connected.
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