ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how cultural differences affect communication. It begins by defining culture and describing culture’s unique characteristics. It then outlines some of the differences people encounter when they cross cultural boundaries: differences in perception, role relations, goals, worldviews, and language. To make sense of these differences, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are introduced; the effects of power-distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, time-orientations, individualism/collectivism and context-dependence are explained.
Communication suffers when people hold negative attitudes toward cultural differences. Barriers that diminish cultural acceptance, including stereotypes and prejudices, unwarranted assumptions of similarity, anxiety, culture shock, and ethnocentrism, are discussed. The factors that allow people to overcome these barriers and adapt to one another are also examined.
Cultural misunderstandings can happen when people from two different cultures communicate. But they can also happen within a single culture when there are differences in power and privilege. The chapter looks at two critical theories that focus on the intersection of culture, power, and communication: muted group theory and co-cultural theory. The communication strategies used when members of dominant and co-cultural groups interact are considered. The chapter ends by exploring ways of becoming more open and accepting intercultural communicators.
