How can culture affect communication

Stereotyping is the process of creating a picture of a whole culture, overgeneralizing all people belonging to the same culture as having similar characteristics and categorizing people accordingly. It is a belief about a certain group and is mostly negative. Stereotyping can be done on the basis of many things like nationality, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, age, etc. For example, Asian students are stereotyped to be good at Math which is a positive stereotype.

But, there is also cultural stereotype of all people following a particular religion as being violent like Islam and is negative stereotyping. Negative stereotyping creates prejudices as it provokes judgmental attitudes. People look at those cultures as evil and treat the people following the religion wickedly. Media is a tool of mass communication which promotes stereotypes and prejudices and creates more communication barriers.

Cultural differences causes behavior and personality differences like body language, thinking, communication, manners, norms, etc. For example, in some cultures eye contact is important whereas in some it is rude and disrespectful. Culture also sets a specific norms which dictates behavior as they have guidelines for accepted behavior.

It explains what is right and wrong. Every action is influenced by culture like ambitions, careers, interests, values, etc. Beliefs are also another cause for cultural barrier. For instance, mostly, people who believe in god can cope with their lows of life easily than atheists but atheists are more hardworking at all times which relates to their behavior and communication.

Appropriate amount of emotion that must be displayed is also different in different cultures. Roles are defined by culture. Good communication only occurs between people with different cultures if both accept their differences with open mind. There is always greater preference to in-group. There is an illusion of out-group as evil and inferior. This evaluation is mostly negative. In some cultures, personal bonds and informal agreements are far more binding than any formal contract.

In others, the meticulous wording of legal documents is viewed as paramount. High-context cultures Mediterranean, Slav, Central European, Latin American, African, Arab, Asian, American-Indian leave much of the message unspecified — to be understood through context, nonverbal cues, and between-the-lines interpretation of what is actually said.

By contrast, low-context cultures most of the Germanic and English-speaking countries expect messages to be explicit and specific. The former are looking for meaning and understanding in what is not said — in body language, in silences and pauses, and in relationships and empathy. The latter place emphasis on sending and receiving accurate messages directly, and by being precise with spoken or written words.

One communication trap that U. In sequential cultures like North American, English, German, Swedish, and Dutch , businesspeople give full attention to one agenda item after another.

In many other parts of the world, professionals regularly do several things at the same time. To her, it was all business as usual. In synchronic cultures including South America, southern Europe and Asia the flow of time is viewed as a sort of circle — with the past, present, and future all inter-related.

Orientation to the past, present, and future is another aspect of time in which cultures disagree. Americans believe that the individual can influence the future by personal effort, but since there are too many variables in the distant future, we favor a short-term view.

Synchronic cultures have an entirely different perspective. The past becomes a context in which to understand the present and prepare for the future.

Any important relationship is a durable bond that goes back and forward in time, and it is often viewed as grossly disloyal not to favor friends and relatives in business dealings. And calm down!

We need to analyze this, not get sidetracked by emotional theatrics. In international business dealings, reason and emotion both play a role. How does culture affect communication examples? What does culture mean in communication? How does culture play a role in communication? What are the major cultural variables of communication? What are examples of cultural variables? What are the cultural nuances and variables in communication? What are 10 different cultures? What does a rich culture mean?

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