Culture As A Barrier To Communication
Each and every of us is exposed to individuals from other cultures on a standard basis, in the workplace, in our social activities, at school, or even within our families. Our culture hinders us from obtaining our message across as properly receiving the full message that other people want to convey to us. This post expound on three aspects: what culture is, the principal causes for cross-cultural misunderstandings, and the attitudes and expertise that we want to communicate cross-culturally.
When we believe about culture we initial assume about a country, and especially about its food, art, customs, and patterns of behavior. These are the outward manifestations of a system of values, assumptions, and deeply rooted beliefs. Culture emerges as a group of many people face and then react to the challenges of life. The responses to those challenges that are productive are taught and shared among members of the group and are passed on from the older to the younger members. Culture is then learned through encounter.
You can believe of culture as having three levels:
o The top level is the outward manifestations, the artifacts: visible behavior, art, clothing and so on.
o In the middle level are the values. These are invisible guidelines that cause the artifacts
o The most effective dimension of culture is the implicit cultural assumptions. These assumptions lie so deep that they are by no means questioned, stated or defended
Culture also exists amongst Americans, but what are the implicit cultural assumptions of Americans? Some of the most distinctive characteristics of the American culture are: individualism, equality, competition, individual control of the atmosphere, self-assist concept, action orientation, informality, directness, practicality, materialism, and dilemma-solving orientation.
These American values and deeply rooted beliefs are quite distinctive from other country's values and beliefs. The implicit cultural assumptions of Americans are sometimes opposed to those of other cultures. When people from different cultures run into each other's values and beliefs, cross-cultural misunderstandings take place.
Individuals consistently interact with people who have similar views and who reinforce their beliefs. To be in a position to distinguish in between the in-group and the out-group is of central value for individuals considering it makes it possible for them to locate an identity as to who they are and who they are not.
In the book entitled Cross Cultural Encounters , Brislim states: "If people have out-groups whom they can blame for troubles, the in-group is then solidified considering that there is a common objective about which to rally." Later on he says: "People turn into accustomed to reacting in terms of in-group and out-groups. They continue to use such distinctions when interacting with persons from other cultures whom they do not know."
This in-group/out-group distinction provides us with the basis for ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to interpret and to judge all other groups, their environment, and their communication according to the categories and values of our own culture. We are guilty of ethnocentrism when we hold that our view of the globe is the perfect one, the right one, and the only one.
We are all familiar with stereotyping, which is 1 of the most severe challenges in intercultural communication. Our tendency to hold beliefs about groups of people based on previously formed opinions, perceptions, and attitudes is often a defense mechanism, a way of decreasing anxiety.
There are numerous other causes of cross-cultural misunderstanding: lack of trust, lack of empathy, and the misuse of power. All of us know what they are about and the turmoil that they cause. But, how can we do a much better job at communicating amongst cultures?
The identical skills that we need to have to communicate in general apply to cross-cultural communication. Lets appear at some of those abilities:
Know your self: Determine your attitudes, your opinions, and the biases that we all carry around. Identify your likes, your dislikes, your prejudices, and your degree of private ethnocentrism.
Take time: Listen to the other person and allow him or her to accomplish their purpose. Don't jump to conclusions. Some occasions we finish the thoughts and suggestions of the other individual just before he or she has completed talking. Some cultures non-verbal types call for periods of silence and long pauses.
Encourage feedback: Feedback allows communicators to appropriate and adjust messages. Without feedback we cannot have agreement. Initial we should develop an atmosphere exactly where others are encouraged to give us feedback. Again, don't be afraid of silence. It could be the appropriate feedback at times.
Develop empathy: The grater the distinction between us and others, the tougher it is to empathize. To create empathy we ought to put ourselves in the other person's place. By becoming way more sensitive to the needs, values, and objectives of the other person, we overcome our ethnocentric tendencies.
Seek the commonalities amongst diverse cultures: Despite our cultural differences we are all alike in a lot of approaches. We require to seek that standard ground to establish a bond among ourselves and the rest of humanity.
Though our own ethnocentrism might have hindered us from obtaining to know persons from other cultures, let us be additional than ever committed to assist ourselves and others overcome the barrier that culture creates. Let us endeavor to reduce the occurrences of cross-cultural misunderstandings as we create the attitudes and the abilities that are needed to communicate cross-culturally.
