Transcript Communication in Cultures

Culture
• Culture is a system of ideas, values,
beliefs, and customs communicated by
one generation to the next that sustains a
particular way of life.
• Social communities (co-culture) are groups of
people who live within a dominant culture, yet are
also members of another group or groups that are
not dominant.
Gender as a Social Community
• Feminine
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Includes others
Uses talk
cooperatively
Uses talk
expressively
• Masculine
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Asserts yourself
Uses talk
competitively
Uses talk
instrumentally
Children’s games are a primary agent
of gender socialization.
Cultures are Systems
• Culture is a coherent system of
understandings, traditions, values,
communication practices, and
ways of living.

Aspects of culture are interrelated and
work together to create a whole.
Nonverbal Also Expresses
Cultural Values
Microsoft Photos
Culture is reflected in
communication practices.
Communication practices
shape cultural life.
Cultures Consist of
Material Components
• Material components

Architecture, icons,
personal possessions
Microsoft Photos
are tangible objects
and physical
substances that have
been altered by
human intervention.
Cultures Consist of
Material Components
• Material components
reflect a culture’s
values.
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Microsoft Photos
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Numerous inventions
related to speed show
reflect a culture values
productivity and
efficiency.
Weapons demonstrate
values of protection.
Tea time, siestas and
family vacations
demonstrate
interpersonal values..
Nonmaterial Aspects of a Culture
• Beliefs are conceptions of what is true, factual, or
valid.
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Beliefs are rooted in faith, experience or science.
Cultural beliefs are regarded as truths, even though
they are sometimes false.
• Values are shared views of what is good, right,
worthwhile, and important.
• Norms are informal rules that guide how
members of a culture act, as well as how they
think and feel.
• Language shapes how we think about the world.
Cultures are Shaped by Historical and
Geographic Forces
• Culture depends on its physical
environment, especially natural
resources.
• Traditions and history of a culture shape
its character.
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Many Native Americans distrust Caucasian
Americans.
Cultures steeped in war may regard death and
battle as unremarkable parts of normal life.
Cultures are Dynamic
They evolve and change over time
• Invention includes tools, ideas, practices
and ways of dealing with social life.
• Diffusion is borrowing from another
culture.
• Cultural calamity is adversity such as war
or natural disasters that bring about
change.
• Communication impels significant
changes in cultural life.
Improving Communication
between Cultures
• Resist ethnocentrism which is the
tendency to regard ourselves and our way
of life as superior to other people and
other ways of life.
• Adopt cultural relativism which
recognizes that cultures vary in how they
think, act, and behave, as well as in what
they believe and value.
Responding to Diversity is a Process
Resistance
Assimilation occurs when people give up their own
ways and take on the ways of the dominant culture.
Tolerance
A person accepts differences but does not approve or
even understand them.
Understanding
Recognize that differences are rooted in culture.
Respect
Participation
We incorporate some of the practices and values of
other groups into our own.
Changing Demographics
U.S. Census Bureau
%
1995
2050
White
74
53
African American
12
14
Hispanic
10
24
Asian American
3
8
Native American
1
1
CNN, Interpersonal Communication, Vol. II
Experiencing Communication
in our Lives . . .
View the following video clip and then
answer the questions that follow based
on material presented in this chapter.
A script of the scenario can be found at
the end of Chapter 4.
Wadsworth Thomson: Wood Scenarios
1. How does Mei-ying Yung’s
communication reflect her socialization in
Chinese culture?
2. How could Mei-ying be more effective
without abandoning the values of her
native culture?
3. What could enhance Barton Hingham’s
ability to communicate effectively with
people who were raised in on Western
cultures?
You may go to your student CD that accompanies the text to
compare your answers to Julia Wood’s.