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Copyright ©2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1
Chapter 4: Interpersonal Communication and Diversity:
Adapting to Others
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
4.1 Describe five human differences that influence communication.
4.2 Define culture and identify and describe the seven dimensions of culture.
4.3 List and describe barriers that inhibit effective intercultural communication.
4.4 Identify and apply strategies for developing knowledge, motivation, and skills that can
improve intercultural competence.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Understanding Diversity: Describing Our Differences
Learning Objective 4.1: Describe five human differences that influence communication.
A. Communication researchers have studied several major differences that affect the way we
interact with one another.
1. Discrimination is the unfair or inappropriate treatment of people based on their
group members.
2. Learning about diversity can help us become aware of our similarities and differences
and decrease discriminatory behaviors.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Relating to Diverse Others: A Diversity Almanac
This feature presents thirteen different statistics and facts about diverse cultures within the
United States. In groups, have students read through these statistics and facts and discuss how
the United States is a diverse “melting pot.”
B. Sex and Gender
1. Gender refers to psychological and emotional characteristics that cause people to
assume masculine, feminine, or androgynous roles, and sex refers to biological male
or female characteristics.
2. There are differences in how men and women communicate.
3. Men often communicate to report; women often communicate to establish rapport;
women tend to use communication for the purpose of relating or connecting to others.
C. Sexual Orientation
1. There is evidence that gay and lesbian individuals continue to be judged negatively
based solely on their sexual orientation.
2. An effective and appropriate interpersonal communicator is aware of and sensitive to
issues and attitudes about sexual orientation in contemporary society.
3. Although we may not intend anything negative, sometimes we unintentionally offend
someone through more subtle use and misuse of language.
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D. Race and Ethnicity
1. Race is based on the genetically transmitted physical characteristics of a group of
people who are classified together.
2. Ethnicity is a social classification based on a variety of factors that are shared by a
group of people who also share a common geographic origin.
E. Age
1. Generational differences have an effect on a variety of relationships.
2. Your generation has important implications for communication, especially as you
relate to others in both family and work situations.
3. Generational and age differences may create barriers and increase the potential for
conflict and misunderstanding.
F. Social Class
1. There are several cues we use to identify class distinctions, including way of life,
family, job, money, and education.
2. There are several principles that describe how social classes emerge from society:
a. Virtually every organization or group develops a hierarchy that makes status
distinctions.
b. We are more likely to interact with people from our own social class.
c. People who interact with one another over time tend to communicate in similar
ways; they develop similar speech patterns and use similar expressions.
d. Members of a social class develop ways of communicating class differences to
others by the way they dress, cars they drive, homes they live in, schools they
attend, and other visible symbols of social class.
e. It is possible to change one’s social class through education, employment, and
income.
3. Differences in social class and the attendant differences in education and lifestyle
affect whom we talk with and even what we talk about; these differences influence
our overall cultural standpoint, from which we perceive the world.
II. Understanding Culture: Dimensions of Our Mental Software
Learning Objective 4.2: Define culture and identify and describe the seven dimensions of
culture.
A. Culture is a learned system of knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, values, and
norms that is shared by a group of people.
1. Culture and life experiences influence a person’s worldview, which are individual
perceptions or perceptions by a culture or group of people about key beliefs and
issues, such as death, God, and the meaning of life. A person’s worldview influences
his or her interactions with others.
2. A co-culture is a distinct culture within a larger culture; differences such as “gender”
and “race” constitute co-cultures.
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3. We learn our culture in several ways:
a. Enculturation is the process of communicating a group’s culture from generation
to generation; culture is “learned.”
b. Acculturation is the process of transmitting a host culture’s values, ideas, and
beliefs to someone from outside that culture.
c. Seven dimensions are found in all cultures:
i. Individualism versus collectivism
ii. An emphasis on the surrounding context, including nonverbal behaviors,
versus little emphasis on context
iii. Masculine values emphasizing accomplishment, versus feminine values that
emphasize nurturing
iv. Degree of tolerance for uncertainty
v. Approaches to power
vi. Short- or long-term approaches to time
vii. Indulgence versus restraint
B. Individualism: One and Many
1. Individualistic cultures value individual achievement and personal accomplishment
and collectivistic cultures value group and team achievement.
2. Individualist cultures tend to be more loosely knit socially; in collectivist cultures
individuals expect more support from others.
C. Context: High and Low
1. Cultural context implies that information is not explicitly communicated through
language but through environmental or nonverbal cues.
2. High-context cultures derive much information from nonverbal cues.
3. Low-context cultures derive much information from the words of a message and less
information from nonverbal or contextual cues.
D. Gender: Masculine and Feminine
1. Masculine cultures value achievement, assertiveness, heroism, and material wealth.
a. More value is placed on traditional roles for men and women.
b. These cultures view communication from a content orientation (information
exchange).
c. Males base their friendships on sharing activities rather than talking.
2. Feminine cultures value caring for the less fortunate, being sensitive toward others,
and overall quality of life.
a. Women approach communication for the purpose of relating to others and to
know and be known by others.
b. What women talk about is less important than the fact that they are talking,
because talking implies relationship.
E. Uncertainty: High and Low Tolerance
1. Some cultures have a higher tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity and have more
relaxed, informal expectations of others.
2. Some cultures have a higher need for certainty and have and enforce rigid rules of
behavior and develop more elaborate codes of conduct.
3. People from Portugal, Greece, Peru, Belgium, and Japan have high certainty needs,
but people from Scandinavian countries tend to tolerate uncertainty.
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F. Power: Centralized and Decentralized
1. Centralized power cultures value having power in the hands of a small number of
people.
2. Decentralized power cultures favor equality and an even distribution of power in
government and organizations.
G. Time: Short-Term and Long-Term
1. A culture’s orientation to time falls on a continuum between long-term and short-
term.
2. People from a culture with a long-term orientation to time place an emphasis on the
future and tend to value perseverance and thrift.
3. People from a culture with a short-term orientation value spending rather than saving,
tradition, and saving their face and the face of others and have an expectation that
results will soon follow their actions.
H. Happiness: Indulgent and Restrained
1. The newest cultural dimension is that some cultures focus—more than other cultures
do—on what makes them happy.
2. Indulgent cultures desire and expect freedom and happiness, whereas restrained
cultures do not expect to have all of their needs met to achieve happiness.
III. Barriers to Effective Intercultural Communication
Learning Objective 4.3: List and describe barriers that inhibit effective intercultural
communication.
A. Intercultural communication involves communication between or among people of
different cultures.
1. Culture shock is the sense of confusion, anxiety, stress, and loss when you encounter
a culture that has little in common with your own.
2. The first step to bridging differences between cultures is to find out what hampers
effective communication.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
#communicationandtechnology: Relating to Others Online in Intercultural Relationships
The likelihood of interacting with others who have different cultural or ethnic perspectives is
increasing, particularly with the prevalence of social media. This feature provides seven
strategies for enriching electronic intercultural connections with others. With a partner, have
students read through the strategies and identify times where they have implemented each
strategy while communicating with others who are different from them.
B. Ethnocentrism
1. Ethnocentrism stems from a conviction that your own cultural traditions and
assumptions are superior to those of others.
2. There are ways to avoid being ethnocentric.
a. Be mindful and honestly consider whether you harbor unhealthy ethnocentric
views toward a cultural, co-cultural, or ethnic group.
b. Avoid stereotypes by viewing people as individuals rather than as stereotypes or
caricatures fueled by media or literature characterizations.
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c. Separate the politics from the person because the politics promoted by a given
leader of a country are not necessarily representative of the people who live in
that country.
d. Communicate interpersonally rather than impersonally and seek to move beyond
judgmental, impersonal communication to a more meaningful and authentic
interpersonal relationship.
C. Different Communication Codes
1. Different communication codes for verbal and nonverbal communication may also
impede your ability to connect with someone of another culture.
2. Even when language is translated, meaning can be missed or mangled.
D. Stereotyping and Prejudice
1. Stereotyping and prejudice can keep us from considering the uniqueness of
individuals, groups, or events.
a. To stereotype someone is to push him or her into an inflexible, all-encompassing
category.
b. Prejudice is a judgment or opinion of someone that you form before you know all
of the facts or background of that person.
2. Despite laws addressing gender and racial discrimination, certain prejudices are
widespread and people’s opinions have not kept pace with the law.
E. Assuming Similarities
1. Cultural differences do exist.
2. Even if people appear to be like you, all people are not alike.
F. Assuming Differences
1. Do not automatically conclude that another person is different from you.
2. Identifying common cultural issues and similarities can also help us establish
common ground with others.
IV. Improving Intercultural Communication Competence
Learning Objective 4.4: Identify and apply strategies for developing knowledge,
motivation, and skills that can improve intercultural competence.
A. Although identifying causes of misunderstanding is a good first step to becoming
interculturally competent, most people need strategies to help them overcome barriers.
1. Intercultural communication competence is the ability to adapt your behavior
toward another in ways that are appropriate to the other person’s culture.
2. Bridging strategies
a. Developing appropriate knowledge of how others communicate
b. Developing motivation—an internal state of readiness to respond to something
c. Developing skill in adapting to others, which focuses on specific behaviors
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In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Communication and Emotion: Are Human Emotions Universal
This feature presents various research on whether or not there are universal emotions or universal
ways of expressing emotions. Psychologist Robert Plutchik suggests that there are eight primary
emotions, and combinations of those primary emotions produce eight secondary emotions. Other
researchers (Paul Ekman and Marc Pell) hold that the expression of emotion is the same for
strong emotions, and people from a variety of cultures are able to interpret emotions through
facial expressions and vocal cues. Other researchers disagree and have found that people from
collectivist and individualist culture express emotions differently. Overall, the research
consensus is that although there may be a common cultural basis for expressing emotions, certain
cultural differences exist in how people interpret some emotions. Use these different research
conclusions as a starting point for a class discussion about whether human emotions are cross-
culturally universal.
B. Develop Knowledge
1. Seek Information
a. Seek information about the culture to help manage your anxiety about the
unknown.
b. Information can help you understand the worldview of the culture.
c. You can gain information by spending time with people who are culturally and
ethnically different from you. This phenomenon is known as contact hypothesis.
2. Ask Questions and Listen Effectively
a. Be prepared to share information about yourself.
b. Listen to what is shared by others.
3. Create a “Third Culture”
a. A third culture is common ground established when people from separate
cultures create a third, “new,” more comprehensive and inclusive culture.
b. This new culture evolves from talk and dialogue.
c. Developing a third culture can reduce our tendency to approach cultural
differences from an “us versus them” point of view.
d. Building on the similarities as well as talking about the differences to create a
“third culture” can lead to enhanced friendship.
C. Develop Motivation: Strategies to Accept Others
1. Tolerate Ambiguity
a. Be patient and tolerate ambiguity when speaking to something with a different
worldview.
b. This will help clarify that person’s messages and behaviors for you.
2. Be Mindful
a. Being mindful involves applying the awareness of cultural differences and the
connection between thoughts and deeds in one’s interactions with someone from a
background different from our own.
b. You can become more mindful through self-talk, telling yourself messages to help
you manage discomfort in a situation.
3. Avoid Negative Judgments
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D. Develop Skill
1. Develop Creative Flexibility
a. Because each person is unique, it is important to treat each person not as a
representative of a monolithic group but as someone with a distinct perspective.
b. The skill of observing and responding with creative flexibility enhances your
intercultural competence.
c. Pay close attention to the other person’s nonverbal cues and adjust your
communication style and language, if necessary, to put the person at ease.
d. Listen and respond and, if necessary, create a new culture—a third culture—to
forge a new way of interacting.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Tao: A Universal Moral Code
This feature presents information about Tao—a universal moral code that informs human ethical
decisions—which is a concept advanced by C. S. Lewis. In his book The Abolition of Man,
Lewis presents eight universal principles that provide a basis for assessing society. Read through
the eight principles, and hold a class discussion about students’ agreement and disagreement with
Lewis’s laws. Finally, ask students to consider whether there is a universal theory for human
communication.
2. Become Other-Oriented
a. Use social decentering—the cognitive process by which we take into account
another person’s thoughts, feelings, values, background, and perspectives.
i. The greater the difference between you and another person, the more difficult
it is to accomplish social decentering.
ii. Ask yourself what this person might be thinking right now or draw on your
own experiences.
iii. Keep the other person’s worldview and cultural values in mind as you make
inferences about his or her cognitive perspective.
iv. After considering his or her cognitive point of view, consider what the person
may be experiencing emotionally.
b. Feel empathy for others, which is an emotional reaction that is similar to the
reaction being experienced by another person—feeling what another is feeling.
i. Your ability to be emotionally responsive can enhance your skill in
communicating with others who are different from you.
ii. Shutting down may make other people perceive you as less socially skilled.
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3. Appropriately Adapt Your Communication
a. To adapt is to adjust your behavior to others to accommodate differences and
expectations.
b. Communication accommodation theory suggests that all people adapt to the
behavior of others to some extent.
i. We can adapt predictively by modifying or changing behavior in anticipation
of an event.
ii. We can adapt reactively by modifying or changing behavior after an event.
c. There are at least four reasons why you might adapt your communication with
another person.
i. You adapt your message in response to specific information that you already
know about your partner.
ii. You adapt your communication in response to what you think the other person
is thinking, what you see the person doing, and your observations of the
person’s emotional expressions and moods.
iii. You adapt your messages to others based on previous conversations, past
shared experiences, and personal information that others have shared with
you.
iv. You adapt your message depending on where you are.
d. People frequently adapt communication in response to the feedback or reactions
they are receiving during a conversation.
e. People in conversations also adapt to nonverbal cues.
f. Adaptation across intercultural contexts is usually more difficult than adaptation
within your own culture.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Improving Your Communication Skills: Identifying and Adapting to Cultural Rules and
Norms
This feature asks students to write about the norms and rules that they expect when
communicating with people from their own culture. After students write a response to each
question, have them discuss and compare their responses with other classmates. Then, hold a
discussion about which intercultural competence skills (presented earlier in this chapter) would
help students better adapt to people who have different expectations.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Applying an Other-Orientation to Diversity: The Platinum Rule
This feature discusses the Platinum Rule, which is do to others as they themselves would like to
be treated. The Platinum Rule is different from the Golden Rule (i.e., do to others as you would
like to be treated). Hold a class discussion about the differences between these two rules. In
addition, ask students to consider some of the benefits and challenges associated with carrying
out the Platinum Rule (i.e., is this rule even possible?).
Copyright ©2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
9
KEY TERMS
discrimination, LO 4.1
sex, LO 4.1
gender, LO 4.1
race, LO 4.1
ethnicity, LO 4.1
culture, LO 4.2
worldview, LO 4.2
co-culture, LO 4.2
enculturation, LO 4.2
acculturation, LO 4.2
cultural context, LO 4.2
high-context culture,
LO 4.2
low-context culture,
LO 4.2
masculine culture, LO 4.2
feminine culture, LO 4.2
intercultural
communication, LO 4.3
cultural shock, LO 4.3
ethnocentrism, LO 4.3
stereotype, LO 4.3
prejudice, LO 4.3
intercultural
communication
competence, LO 4.4
motivation, LO 4.4
skill, LO 4.4
contact hypothesis, LO 4.4
third culture, LO 4.4
mindful, LO 4.4
social decentering, LO 4.4
empathy, LO 4.4
adapt, LO 4.4
communication
accommodation theory,
LO 4.4
adapt predictively, LO 4.4
adapt reactively, LO 4.4
the Platinum Rule, LO 4.4
LECTURE TOPICS
1. Why is it important to acknowledge diversity when communicating with other people? What
are some times that you have been aware of another person’s differences as you were
communicating with them?
2. What are some examples of ways that you have had to adapt your communication to better
communicate with friends, family, coworkers, and strangers?
3. List some examples of stereotyping and prejudice that exist in the world today. How can
improving a person’s intercultural communication competence mitigate or ameliorate the
stereotypes and prejudice that exist in our world today?
GROUP IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT
1. Interpersonal Communication Competence and Remember the Titans. Watch clips from
the movie Remember the Titans (especially the football training camp scenes) and discuss
how Coach Boone (Denzel Washington) tries to teach the white and African American
players intercultural communication competence. In particular, how does he teach his players
to develop knowledge, motivation, and skills?
2. Elements of U.S. Culture and Enculturation. Ask students to work in small groups to
identify some of the elements of U.S. culture, including the expectation of a college
education, freedom of expression, focus on the future and new technologies, and the
changing nature of family relationships (e.g., blended families and delayed marriage). Within
their small groups, have students discuss the following questions:
• How were these values passed along to them?
• What values from their parents’ era seem to have lost importance or changed?
• What values do they think will go forward from their generation?
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3. Individualistic v. Collectivistic Cultures and Mr. Baseball. Show the first ten minutes of
the comedy Mr. Baseball to illustrate major differences between the cultures of the United
States and Japan. Ask students to watch and then discuss differences between individualistic
and collectivistic cultures.
4. Stereotypes and Prejudice. In small groups, have students create a list of different
stereotypes that exist and the attributes associated within each stereotype. Have students
discuss where these stereotypes originated and the problems with stereotyping other people.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
1. Reflecting on One’s Culture. Ask students to write three paragraphs describing their culture
to a visitor from another culture. Have them include descriptions of cultural elements,
material culture, social institutions, individual beliefs, aesthetic considerations, and language.
2. Researching Other Cultures. Have students select a culture different from their own
culture. Then have them research the norms and interpersonal rules for conversing in that
other culture. Have students present their findings to the class.
3. Avoiding Negative Judgments about Another Culture. Ask students to generate a list of
judgments they had about other cultures or they have experienced in relation to their own
culture either in their day-to-day life or their travels.
Once they have completed the list, ask students to discuss how these judgments affected
the ways they communicated with people in a particular culture. For example, if the
judgment exists that “all people in France are rude,” then discuss how that might influence
your interactions with people when traveling in France.
Finally, have students discuss methods that might be used to learn more about another
culture before you visit or have interactions with people from that culture.
4. Institutional Racism on Campus. Have students interview a variety of students, faculty,
and staff members (i.e., a male majority group professor, a male minority group
administrator, a female minority group professor, a male majority group student, a male
minority group student, etc.) about the presence of institutional discrimination in your college
or university. Have them bring the findings from their interviews to use in a class discussion
about how social location affects the way a person experiences an institution.
REVEL WRITING EXERCISES
Journal Writing
4.1 Journal: Gender Roles. How have gender differences played a role in your own
communication or interaction with others?
4.2 Journal: Different Cultures. Is it ethical or appropriate for someone from one culture to
attempt to change the cultural values of someone from a different culture? For example, consider
the 2008 case in which children living on a Texas ranch owned by a polygamous religious sect
were taken from their families for suspected abuse. Is it right for others to attempt to make
someone from another culture or someone with a different value system change his or her ways?
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4.3 Journal: Dealing with Racism and Prejudice. What are appropriate ways to deal with
someone who consistently utters racial slurs and displays prejudice toward racial and ethnic
groups?
4.4 Journal: Improving Communication Competence. You have never been to China before
but you have an opportunity to travel to Beijing with a study abroad group from your school.
Based on the strategies for improving communication competence as described in this chapter,
what are actions you could take to prepare for your trip?
Shared Writing: The Social Media Effect
Bring to class a fable, folktale, or children’s story from a culture other than your own. As a
group, analyze the cultural values implied by the story or characters in the story.
