Gudykunst, William & Kim, Young - Communicating with Strangers - An Approach to Intercultural Communication

Question 1

What was a major factor in past limited exposure to strangers?

Answer 1

Limited geographical area.

Question 2

Why is it more common to encounter strangers in today’s world compared to the past?

Answer 2

Due to increased international interdependence and accessibility to travel.

Question 3

What key demographic changes are impacting workplace communication?

Answer 3

Increased diversity with more women, immigrants, and non-white ethnic groups entering the workforce.

Question 4

According to Edward T. Hall, how are culture and communication related?

Answer 4

Culture and communication are intertwined, with culture shaping how people communicate.

Question 5

What is ethnocentrism, and how does it affect communication?

Answer 5

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture is the center of everything. It hinders effective communication by leading to biased judgments of other cultures.

Question 6

What concept allows people to value different cultures equally?

Answer 6

Cultural relativism (or ethnorelativism).

Question 7

What initial impression of strangers can lead to stereotyping?

Answer 7

When there is limited information about a stranger, people often form abstract or stereotypical ideas based on their culture.

Question 8

What three levels of data do people use to predict strangers’ behavior?

Answer 8

Cultural, sociocultural (formerly sociological), and psychocultural (formerly psychological).

Question 9

What is the distinction between categorization and particularization when interacting with strangers?

Answer 9

Categorization is placing strangers into groups based on cultural or group membership, while particularization focuses on the individual’s unique characteristics.

Question 10

What is mindfulness in communication with strangers?

Answer 10

Mindfulness involves openness to new information, awareness of multiple perspectives, and creating new categories for understanding strangers beyond cultural stereotypes.

Question 11

What are the four stages of competence in intercultural communication?

Answer 11

Unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence.

Question 12

What are the four strategies for reducing uncertainty in intercultural communication?

Answer 12

Passive (observing), active (seeking information), intra-active (communicating directly), and interactive (sharing information about oneself).

Question 13

What types of anxiety can arise when communicating with strangers?

Answer 13

Anxiety about oneself, negative behaviors, negative evaluations by strangers, and negative evaluations from one’s own group.

Question 14

How can a communicator reduce anxiety when interacting with a stranger?

Answer 14

By gathering more information, improving first impressions, and reducing ethnocentrism to foster better understanding.

Question 15

How do strangers perceive the behavior of locals, and how can misinterpretations occur?

Answer 15

Strangers often attribute locals’ behavior to personal traits rather than situational cues, leading to potential misinterpretations.

Question 16

What are the reasons for increased mobility today compared to the past?

Answer 16

In the past, people were confined to limited geographical areas, but today, global interdependence and advancements in travel make it common for people to move between places and encounter strangers more often.

Question 17

How are cultural differences intertwined with communication?

Answer 17

Culture and communication are inseparable. We learn communication patterns through our culture’s language, rules, and norms, which shape how we interact with others. Understanding cultural differences enhances communication effectiveness by reducing ethnocentrism.

Question 18

What is the concept of “the stranger” in communication?

Answer 18

A stranger is someone who enters a new, unfamiliar environment, lacking the knowledge of local norms and communication habits. Their status as a stranger is defined by the locals, who may rely on stereotypes in the absence of detailed information about the stranger.

Question 19

What are the three levels of data used in predicting a stranger’s behavior?

Answer 19

The three levels of data are:

Cultural level – based on knowledge of the stranger’s culture.

Sociocultural level – based on group memberships (e.g., social roles, ethnicity).

Psychocultural level – focused on individual differences within the group or culture.

Question 20

What is the difference between stimulus generalization (categorization) and stimulus discrimination (particularization)?

Answer 20

Categorization is the tendency to group people based on broad cultural or social data, leading to stereotypes.
Particularization involves recognizing the unique traits of individuals, which happens when familiarity grows, leading to more personalized understanding

Question 21

What are the qualities of mindfulness in intercultural communication?

Answer 21

Mindfulness involves:

Being open to new information.
Recognizing multiple perspectives.
Creating new categories to understand individuals beyond stereotypes

Question 22

What are the stages of awareness and competence in communication?

Answer 22

Unconscious incompetence – Misinterpretation without realizing it.
Conscious incompetence – Aware of misinterpretation but unsure how to fix it.
Conscious competence – Aware and able to interpret correctly.
Unconscious competence – Effective communication happens naturally without overthinking.

Question 23

What is uncertainty in interactions with strangers, and how does it affect communication?

Answer 23

Uncertainty refers to the lack of information about a stranger’s attitudes, feelings, and behavior. This uncertainty can cause anxiety, making communication difficult as we struggle to predict their behavior.

Question 24

What are the strategies to reduce uncertainty in interactions with strangers?

Answer 24

The four strategies are:

Passive – Observing from a distance.
Active – Gathering information through external sources.
Intra-active – Directly interacting with the stranger.
Interactive – Engaging in self-disclosure to facilitate mutual understanding.

“○ Passive: just observe
○ Active: actively try and acquire info, like asking questions
○ Intra-active: communicating directly and interacting with the people themselves
○ Interactive: when you give people info about you (Self-disclosure)
“

Question 25

What are the different types of anxiety when communicating with strangers?

Answer 25

Anxiety about oneself: Fear of discomfort, loss of self-esteem, or social rejection.

Anxiety about negative behaviors: Fear of being exploited or performing poorly.

Anxiety about negative evaluations by strangers: Fear of being stereotyped or disapproved.

Anxiety about negative evaluations by in-groups: Fear of rejection by one’s own group when associating with strangers.

Question 26

How is information used to reach inferences about strangers?

Answer 26

Our brains process information from different levels (cultural, sociocultural, psychocultural) to make predictions about strangers. Initially, we categorize strangers based on general data, but with more information, we particularize and refine our understanding, reducing uncertainty and stereotypes.

Question 27

How do we perceive behavior when communicating with someone from the same culture versus someone from a different culture?

Answer 27

When communicating with someone from the same culture, we often overlook cultural influences and assume behavior is based on individual traits. However, when interacting with someone from a different culture, we are more likely to attribute their behavior to cultural factors, potentially leading to stereotypes or generalizations.

Question 28

Why do we seek to reduce uncertainty when interacting with a stranger, and what are the two types of uncertainty we face?

Answer 28

We seek to reduce uncertainty when interacting with a stranger to feel more confident as communicators.

The two types of uncertainty we face are: (1) uncertainty about the stranger’s attitudes, feelings, beliefs, values, and behavior, and (2) uncertainty about the explanations for the stranger’s behavior, which aims to reduce the number of possible explanations for their actions.

Question 29

What distinction do the authors make between intercultural, intracultural, interracial, and interethnic communication? How do these types of communication follow the same processes?

Answer 29

The authors distinguish between intercultural, intracultural, interracial, and interethnic communication, but argue that all of these types of communication follow the same underlying processes.

When interacting with a stranger, we seek cues to understand them better. These predictions occur at three levels: cultural, sociological, and psychological. The brain seeks to reduce anxiety by making these predictions to reduce uncertainty.

Question 30

How do cultural predictions impact our ability to understand strangers, and what errors arise when we lack intercultural experience?

Answer 30

Cultural predictions are based on our experiences with different cultures. The more intercultural experience we have, the more accurate our predictions become. Without such experience, we may only recognize that others are different without understanding the specifics, leading to predictive errors.

Question 31

How do sociological predictions function in understanding strangers, and what is the main error associated with this level?

Answer 31

Sociological predictions are based on a stranger’s membership or aspirations to particular social groups (e.g., political, religious, gender, ethnicity). If we lack specific information, we generalize. The main error is that people belong to multiple groups, and it’s hard to determine which group membership is influencing their behavior.

Question 32

What role do psychological predictions play in understanding strangers, and why is this level easier to interpret?

Answer 32

Psychological predictions focus on the individual rather than their group affiliations. This level makes it easier to identify personal similarities and differences between the stranger and ourselves, leading to a more individualized understanding.