Messages that do not contain words

Perceived personal qualities drawing persons to one another

1. Physical

2. Social

3.Task

1. Similarity

2. Proximity

3. Reciprocity

4. Physical Attraction

5. Evolutionary Influences

6. Social Role

7. Average Face Effect

Fundamental Assumptions of Uncertainty Reduction Theory

When interacting with a stranger, primary goal is to reduce uncertainty and increase predictability because uncertainty leads to anxiety. 

Uncertainty reduced by information seeking

1. Make requests
2. Ask questions
3. Express feelings
4. Initiate and terminate conversation

Attributes of Responsive Socio-Communicative Style

1. Sensitivity to others
2. Providing feedback
3. Comforting 
4. Listening

 Degree to which we can infer another’s thoughts or feelings


When two people come together and interact, they create a third culture and interdependent meaning (similarity)

Western - symmetry and balance
Eastern - Long term oriented

Mate selection across cultures

Males - physical attraction, younger
Females - financially stable, older

Both - intelligence, dependability, kindness

1. Incompatible Goals
2. Interdependence
3. Interaction

Principle of Conflict:

Can Occur in Any Context

Natural process across all types of human relationships

Principle of Conflict:

Can be Positive

Successful resolution of conflict is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of relational satisfaction

Principle of Conflict:

Communication Plays a Paradoxical Role

Requires communication to instigate conflict and it requires communication to resolve conflict

3 Levels in the Model of intercultural conflict

• Micro  (In-group bias + Insecurity/frustration)

• Intermediary (Segregation/contact)

• Macro (Ideological or structural inequalities + Minority group strength)

A person’s sense of favorable self-worth or self image (prestige, honor, reputation) experienced during communicative situations

Communicative strategies to manage one’s own face or to support or challenge other’s face

Face is threatened by conflict

Conflict Communication Styles

• Y axis - self face

• X axis - other face

• Integrating - high/high

• Avoiding - low/low

• Compromising - medium/medium

• Obliging - high other/low self

• Dominating - high self/low other

Individualistic - outcome oriented
Conflict is productive when resolution is reached



Collectivistic - process oriented
Conflict revolves around facework management

High vs. low context approach in Conflict

Low-context cultures: direct and explicit
Separate conflict from the individual
Prefer a solution style

High-context cultures: indirect and implicit
Connect conflict with the individual
Prefer a non-confrontational style

Prefer working together in the same physical location
Desks are placed together with no partitions

• Thinking style - object oriented, analytic
• Argumentation - deductive logic, point first
• Conflict resolution - direct focus on issues
• Decision making - focus on important issues

• Thinking style - Context-sensitive, holistic
• Argumentation - Dialectical principles, point-last
• Conflict Resolution - Middle way solutions
• Decision Making - View the overall problem

Socio-relational context:

Family corporation culture

Characteristics: Personal, face-to-face communication, hierarchal

Sanctions: Loss of affection, loss of role in the family

Collectivistic, Lifetime Employment, Seniority Grading, Long term oriented

German Management Practices

• Facts more important than face, honesty> politeness

• Compartmentalization/specialization, private and formal

• Succinct communication, non contact culture, high uncertainty avoidance

Work as a necessary evil: Family/friends are more important, collectivistic

Polychronic time orientation (multiple tasks), high uncertainty avoidance

Group harmony, conflict avoided, HIGH power distance

Guanxi - long term orientation

High power distance, ruled by political regimes

Elaborate and ritualized communication

High contact culture

Acculturation

The process whereby people adapt to a new culture by adopting its values, attitudes, and practices

Often marked by physical and psychological changes that occur as a result of the adaptation required to function in a new and different cultural context

Acculturative stress

Anxiety and stress associated with acculturation

Combined with loss of social support

Acculturation is not a linear one-way process

Acculturation is an interaction between stranger and host culture

• Communication

• Host environment

• Ethnicity

• Predisposition

• Preparedness

Berry’s Modes of Acculturation

Individual's acculturation depends on two independent processes:

 In-group identity vs. out-group contact

1. Marginalization (low/low)
2. Integration (high/high)
3. Separation (high in group/low out group) 
4. Assimilation (low in group/high out group)

Cultural Transmutation

Identification with a third cultural group 

• First arc ends with acculturation (U model)

• Second arc ends in integration (W model)

Components of Intercultural Communication Competence

Knowledge component - How much a person knows

 
Affective component -  degree to which a person approaches intercultural communication

Psycho-motor component - enactment of the knowledge and affective

Situational component - situation it occurs

Explanations for Violence in the South

1. Heat

2. Poverty

3. Slavery

4. Ancestors’ Economy

“It is extremely justified to shoot the rapist”

47%of Southerners agreed vs. 28%of Northerners agreed

• Northern subjects anger over amusement 35% vs. Southerners: 85%

• Northern subjects showed little physiological arousal

• Southern subjects showed strong physiological response

• Chicken game: Southerners were more deferential when not insulted, but they were itching for a fight when insulted