Culture As A Barrier To Communication
Each of us is exposed to folks from other cultures on a typical 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 nicely receiving the full message that other people want to convey to us. This article expound on 3 aspects: what culture is, the major causes for cross-cultural misunderstandings, and the attitudes and capabilities that we have to have to communicate cross-culturally.
When we feel about culture we 1st consider about a country, and particularly about its food, art, customs, and patterns of behavior. These are the outward manifestations of a technique of values, assumptions, and deeply rooted beliefs. Culture emerges as a group of consumers face and then react to the challenges of life. The responses to those challenges that are effective 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 knowledge.
You can consider of culture as having three levels:
o The prime 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 rules that result in the artifacts
o The most strong dimension of culture is the implicit cultural assumptions. These assumptions lie so deep that they are never 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, competitors, individual control of the atmosphere, self-support concept, action orientation, informality, directness, practicality, materialism, and dilemma-solving orientation.
These American values and deeply rooted beliefs are incredibly numerous from other country's values and beliefs. The implicit cultural assumptions of Americans are usually opposed to those of other cultures. When people from diverse cultures run into every other's values and beliefs, cross-cultural misunderstandings take place.
Many people constantly interact with individuals who have comparable views and who reinforce their beliefs. To be in a position to distinguish among the in-group and the out-group is of central importance for individuals due to the fact it enables them to come across 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 due to the fact there is a common objective around which to rally." Later on he says: "Folks come to be accustomed to reacting in terms of in-group and out-groups. They continue to use such distinctions when interacting with individuals from other cultures whom they do not know."
This in-group/out-group distinction supplies us with the basis for ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to interpret and to judge all other groups, their atmosphere, and their communication according to the categories and values of our personal culture. We are guilty of ethnocentrism when we hold that our view of the world is the appropriate one, the appropriate 1, and the only 1.
We are all familiar with stereotyping, which is 1 of the most critical complications in intercultural communication. Our tendency to hold beliefs about groups of people based on previously formed opinions, perceptions, and attitudes is normally a defense mechanism, a way of decreasing anxiety.
There are lots of other causes of cross-cultural misunderstanding: lack of trust, lack of empathy, and the misuse of energy. All of us know what they are about and the turmoil that they bring about. But, how can we do a better job at communicating amongst cultures?
The exact same capabilities that we have to have to communicate in general apply to cross-cultural communication. Lets look at some of those abilities:
Know your self: Identify your attitudes, your opinions, and the biases that we all carry around. Identify your likes, your dislikes, your prejudices, and your degree of individual ethnocentrism.
Take time: Listen to the other person and permit him or her to accomplish their objective. Don't jump to conclusions. Some times we finish the thoughts and ideas of the other individual before he or she has finished talking. Some cultures non-verbal designs call for periods of silence and extended pauses.
Encourage feedback: Feedback permits communicators to right and adjust messages. Devoid of feedback we can not have agreement. Initially we need to develop an atmosphere exactly where other people are encouraged to give us feedback. Once again, do not be afraid of silence. It could be the proper feedback at times.
Create empathy: The grater the distinction among us and others, the tougher it is to empathize. To develop empathy we must put ourselves in the other person's place. By becoming significantly more sensitive to the requirements, values, and goals of the other person, we overcome our ethnocentric tendencies.
Seek the commonalities amongst diverse cultures: Regardless of our cultural differences we are all alike in a lot of techniques. We need to seek that well-known ground to establish a bond among ourselves and the rest of humanity.
While our personal ethnocentrism may have hindered us from acquiring to know individuals from other cultures, let us be far more than ever committed to support ourselves and other individuals overcome the barrier that culture creates. Let us endeavor to decrease the occurrences of cross-cultural misunderstandings as we develop the attitudes and the expertise that are necessary to communicate cross-culturally.
