short answer Flashcards
Explain membership and nonmembership groups and the two classes of involuntary and voluntary for each.
Membership groups – groups to which people belong and in which there is regular interaction among members who perceive themselves as members
Voluntary membership groups – membership groups to which people belong by choice, such as a political party or service organization
Involuntary membership groups – groups to which people belong and have no choice but to belong, such as sex, race, and age groups
Nonmembership groups – groups to which people do not belong
Voluntary nonmembership group – membership groups to which people do not belong by choice
Involuntary nonmembership group – group to which people do not belong because of ineligibility
Explain in-group and out-group and how it relates to intercultural communication interactions
In-group – a membership group whose norms, goals, and values shape the behavior of the members. Extreme in-groups see the actions of an out-group as threatening.
Out-group – a group whose attributes are dissimilar from those of an in-group and that opposes the realization of in-group goals.
When we meet someone from a different culture for the first time, we immediately categorize that person as an in-group or out-group member. Attributions about in-group and out-group members are typically biased in favor of the in-group at the expense of the out-group.
Explain the difference between sex and gender and how sex roles operate in cultures in terms of importance and when individuals violate those norms
Sex – a designation of people based on biological genital differences
Gender – a socially constructed and learned creation usually associated with one’s sex; masculinity and femininity.
Sex role – a prescribed set of behaviors assigned to different sexes
In most cases, there is a high correlation between biological sex and sex role orientation. In other words, most people assume the gender roles their culture prescribes.
Masculinity – a society in which social gender roles are clearly distinct.
Men – assertive, tough, focused on material success
Women – modest, tender, concerned with the quality of life
Femininity – see sex roles as overlapping in some cases
Collectivistic cultures – more traditional than individualistic and are more likely to punish persons who violate cultural sex role expectations.
They stress interdependence, prescribe clear role expectations, value conforming to needs of group.
Individualistic cultures - more likely to tolerate violations of cultural sex roles
Value independence, self-expression, pursuit of individual goals, promote uniqueness of individual
Explain the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and how it relates to language and intercultural communication. Make sure to understand linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity
sapir whorf hypothesis- the grammatical and more verbal structure of a person’s language influences how they perceive the world. It emphasizes that language either determines or influences one’s thoughts. For example, different words mean various things in other languages.
Linguistic determinism – the way one thinks is determined by the language one speaks
§ At its extreme, this states that if we don’t have a word for it, we can’t think about it.
Linguistic relativity – the world’s languages are all very different and that these differences among languages are reflected in the differences int eh worldviews of their speakers.
Describe each of the nonverbal channels and be able to describe some cultural differences for each (about 1-2 examples for each channel)
Kinesics – general category of body motion,
Ex: Saudi Arabian men kiss each other on both cheeks when greeting
o Oculesics – the study of eye contact
Ex: In Korea, it is rude to make eye contact with someone of higher social status. It is seen as a challenge or conflict.
o Paralanguage – characteristics of the voice, such as pitch, rhythm, intensity, volume, and rate
Ex: Vietnamese is a monosyllabic language, so all words are one syllable long. Words are differentiated through tone of voice.
o Proxemics – the perception and use of space, including territoriality and personal space
Ex: In Moroccan culture, personal space is typically less than an arm’s length.
o Haptics – The use of touch and physical contact between interactants
In many Asian cultures, touching the opposite sex is considered uncivil
o Olfactics – the perception and use of smell, scent, and odor
Ex: Dassantech (tribal cattle-raising group in Ethiopia) believes that the smell of cows is the most pleasing of all smells
o Physical appearance/dress –
Ex: In India, businessmen wear a long white cloth around their lower body and a long shirt on their upper body
o Chronemics – the use of time
Monochromic – schedules and compartmentalization, segmentation of measurable units of time (U.S.)
Polychromic – time is much less tangible and stress multiple activities with little emphasis on scheduling (Latin America)
Explain uncertainty reduction theory and be able to identify the 8 axioms
Uncertainty reduction theory – major premise is that when strangers first meet, their primary goal is to reduce uncertainty
Axiom 1: + verbal comm, - uncertainty
Axiom 2: + nonverbal warmth, - certainty
Axiom 3: + uncertainty, + info seeking
Axiom 4: + uncertainty, - intimacy
Axiom 5: + uncertainty, + reciprocity
Axiom 6: + similarities, - certainty
Axiom 7: + uncertainty, - liking
Axiom 8: + shared networks, - uncertainty
Explain face-negotiation theory and the difference between self, other, and mutual face
theory- A person’s sense of favorable self-worth or self-image experienced during communicative situations. Face is an emotional extension of the self-concept. It is considered a universal concept
o Self-face – the concern for one’s own image during communication, especially conflict
o Other-face – concern for another’s image during communication, especially conflict
o Mutual-face – concern for both parties’ images or the image of the relationship during communication, especially conflict
o Facework – communicative strategies employed to manage one’s own face or to support or challenge another’s facer self-face
Explain the 4 strategies for reducing uncertainty
passive- basically observing a person from afar, no contact
active- ask a friend about the person you want to know more about
interactive- directly interacting with the person
extractive- seek information from online source abt person
Explain how eastern and western cultures approach relationships and be able to identify some examples for each
-east asian culture practice particularism ( belief that unique rules and guidelines apply to each individual relationship )
-believe in strict, well defined social hierarchies
-blend public and private relationships together
-western cultures practice universalistic orientation (try to each others as equal to each other as possible regardless of status
-separation of personal/public relationships
Describe speech communities
group of people who share rules for conducting and interpreting at least one variety of a language or dialect. The term can be applied to a neighborhood, a city, a region or a nation.
Identify cultural differences in nonverbal Communication within each of the dimensions of cultural variability: high/low context, individualism/collectivism, power distance
individ- smile more,
collect- work, play, live in close proximity, suppress emotions to maintain harmony
high- quite shy or sneaky, pay lots of attention to nonverbal codes
low- seen a direct and talkative
low power distance- interdependence between less powerful people
high- inequalities expected and desired
Describe acculturation and the parts of the model of acculturation in order to describe what influences acculturation and some of the outcomes of it
-describes what happens when person from one culture enters a new culture
core is host communication competence- how much person knows abt the new culture and its norms
affective component- how motivated the individual is to initiate and develop host relationship
behavioral component- actual interaction between newcomer and host
Describe the 4 modes of acculturation
assimilation- tying past culture norms and habits to new culture
integration- develop bicultural orientation, blending cultures together, maintain identity in each
separation- remain close to native culture but low interaction into new culture
marginalization- person chooses not to interact with native culture
