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Lecture Notes
Chapter 6: The Sociorelational Context
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Compare and contrast the nature of group membership and group behavior across cultures
2. Define and discuss the concept of role relationships across cultures
3. Compare and contrast sex and gender roles across cultures
4. Compare and contrast families and family roles across cultures
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
All human beings, regardless of culture, belong to groups. Although some cultures (like the United
States) promote individuality and independence, our survival depends on our interdependency and
cooperation with other humans. This, of course, requires human communication. In many ways,
intercultural communication is a group phenomena experienced by individuals. In other words, when
people from different cultures come together to interact, they typically view each other not as unique
individuals, but as members of a different cultural group. Think about your own communication
experiences with strangers from different cultures. When we meet a stranger from a different culture,
we see that person as a member of a cultural group that is different from our own. Even intraculturally;
that is, within our own culture, when we meet strangers, we typically see them in terms of the groups to
which they belong, (e.g., sex, race, age, etc). In fact, there is no other way to describe a stranger than by
the groups to which he/she belongs. The socio-relational context, then, refers to how group
memberships affect communication. Whenever people from different cultures come together to
interact, their verbal and nonverbal messages are defined by, and filtered through, their group
memberships. The social relationship they develop is significantly influenced by the groups to which
they belong, hence the term socio-relational context.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Dimensions of Group Variability
1. For individuals in any culture, there are those groups to which they belong, called membership
groups, and those groups to which they do not belong, called nonmembership groups. There
are two classes of membership groups, including voluntary and involuntary.
a. Involuntary membership groups are those groups to which people have no choice but
to belong (e.g., age, race, sex).
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b. Voluntary membership groups include those groups to which people consciously
choose to belong (e.g., political affiliation, religion, occupation).
2. Nonmembership groups are those groups to which people do not belong. Like membership
groups, nonmembership groups can be voluntary or involuntary. Some people may want to
belong to a group but are ineligible to join because they do not possess the needed
qualifications (e.g., age, education, etc.). In other cases, people might be eligible for
membership in a group but choose not to join. The distinction is important because people who
are eligible to join a group, but choose not to belong may be more likely than ineligible
nonmembers to accept and embrace the norms and behaviors of the group.
II. Ingroups and Outgroups
1. Ingroups represent a special class of membership group characterized by a potent internal
cohesiveness among its members and a sometimes intense hostility toward outgroups.
a. An ingroup is a group whose norms, aspirations, and values shape the behavior of its
members.
b. An outgroup is a group whose attributes are dissimilar from those of the ingroup, or
who opposes the accomplishment of the ingroup’s goals.
2. The tendency to distinguish between ingroups and outgroups is universal. When we meet
someone from a different culture for the first time, we immediately categorize the other as an
ingroup or outgroup member. Attributions about ingroup and outgroup members are typically
biased in favor of the ingroup at the expense of the outgroup.
III. Reference Groups
1. A reference group is a group to which we may or may not belong but in some way identify with
in an important way. A reference group possesses some quality to which we aspire and hence
serves as a “reference” for our decisions or behavior. Reference groups can be membership or
nonmembership and positive or negative.
2. Reference groups serve two functions, including a comparative function and a normative
function. We often use reference groups to compare ourselves in making judgments and
evaluations. Individuals also use reference groups to establish the norms and standards to
which they conform.
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IV. Role Relationships
1. Whenever we join a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, we assume a role. A role is one’s relative
position in a group; that is, one’s rank. Any group role exists in relation to some other role in
that group
2. With all roles, in all groups, certain behaviors are expected. A role, then, can be defined as one’s
relative position in a group with an expected set of verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
3. There are two types of roles in most cultures, including formal and informal. Formal roles have
very well defined, and often times contractual, behavioral expectations associated with them.
Formal roles and their prescriptions vary across cultures. Informal roles are learned informally
and are much less explicit than formal roles.
4. Roles and communication are integrally linked. Roles prescribe (1) with whom, (2) about what,
and (3) how to communicate with others.
5. Our social identity is created by our total combination of roles.
6. There are at least four dimensions upon which roles vary across cultures. These dimensions
include the degree of personalness, formality, hierarchy, and deviation from the ideal role
enactment.
IV. Role Differentiation and Stratification
1. The rank ordering of roles within a culture is called social stratification. Social stratification
varies across cultures. Not all roles are valued the same across cultures. Some cultures make
relatively few distinctions while others make many. This is called role differentiation. A highly
differentiated culture may make numerous role distinctions.
2. Many collectivistic, high context, and high power distance cultures possess a relatively strict
hierarchical role stratification compared to low context, individualistic, low power distant
cultures.
V. A Cultural Conversation Between Roles
1. In this conversation, Mr. Mammen does not understand why he cannot be seated in the
restaurant. In his native culture, Mr. Mammen occupies a high status role that gives him certain
privileges not accorded others. In his native culture, Mr. Mammen would have been seated
immediately.
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VI. Family Groups
1. All human beings, regardless of culture, belong to a family. One’s biological family is the first
and probably most significant socialization influence on a child. The structure of the family and
the degree of influence a family has on its children differ notably across cultures. As a unit, the
nuclear family is prevalent in most low context, individualistic, low power distance cultures. In
collectivistic cultures, families are generally cohesive and well integrated.
2. Two terms related to the family structure, which are sometimes confused, are patriarchy and
matriarchy. By definition, patriarchy refers to a social system (e.g., familial, political) in which
the father, or eldest male, is head of the clan or family unit and descent is traced through the
male line. In patriarchal societies, males wield power disproportionately compared with women.
This does not mean all men are powerful or all women are powerless. In patriarchal societies
the most powerful roles are held predominantly by men and the less powerful roles by women.
Matriarchy, on the other hand, is often incorrectly thought to mean the opposite of patriarchy.
In matriarchal cultures the natural differences between men and women are acknowledged and
respected, but they are not used to create social hierarchies, as in patriarchal societies. Men and
women complement each other, and their natural differences function interdependently to
meet societal needs
3. In the Hmong culture of Laos, the most important sociocultural groups are the family and the
clan, both of which are headed by men (i.e., patriarchal). The Hmong clan system combines
social, political, economic, and religious dimensions and is the primary guide for Hmong
behavior. Within a clan, each person has certain obligations to others.
4. Two important variables in understanding Korean family structure are family surname and
Confucianism. There are only about 250 family names in South Korea and North Korea. In fact,
more than half the population uses one of five family names: Kim, Yi, Pak, Ch’oe, and Chong.
One in five family names in Korea is Kim. Many Koreans believe that because of their common
family names, they are descended from a common ancestor. Hence, many Koreans belong to
formal family name organizations called taejonghoe and one’s social status is often determined
by membership in a specific family name lineage. Patriarchal Confucianism has been the
dominant social force in Korea. They point out that Confucianism imposes a rigid hierarchy and
inequality between different age groups and between men and women, especially within
families.
5. Family in Israel is defined as “two or more persons who share the same household and are
related to one another as husband and wife, or as an unmarried couple, or as parent and child.”
Israel is unique in that a strong family orientation is a formal part of Israeli social policy. A
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central goal of the Israeli government has been to increase the Jewish population via family. For
example, the Israeli income tax system includes tax benefits for families, at least two state
programs provide housing assistance for families with children, and various child support and
child health programs have been established for families.
6. The Mosuo are one of China’s microcultural nationalities. In recent years, the Mosuo have
become the focus of national and international attention (much of it distorted) because they
follow the matrilineal family principle of descent, are thought to be matriarchal, and practice
zou hun—sometimes called “walking” or “visiting” marriages. Many household heads are
women, only one third of households are headed by men. Perhaps one of the most intriguing
dimensions of the Mosuo family structure is the idea of the “walking” or “visiting” marriage. In
Mosuo culture, the primary function of marriage is to satisfy the individual’s emotional and
biological needs. Both the man and the woman continue to live with their native biological
families, rather than with each other, while raising their offspring. In fact, the father does not
take any responsibility for the children. The terms walking marriage or visiting marriage stem
from the practice of the father visiting the mother only at night, engaging in sexual relations
with her, and leaving early in the morning.
7. While contemporary Kenyan society is in transition, traditional Kenyan society includes patriliny
(the practice of tracing descent through the father’s line), patriarchy (a family that is controlled
by a man or a group of men), and polygyny (the practice of having more than one wife or female
mate at a time). An important part of marriage in Kenya is the phenomena of bridewealth, in
which money or some form of payment is passed from the groom’s family to the bride. Another
familial phenomenon widely practiced in Kenya hypergamy, which is when a woman marries a
man of higher status than her, although this is certainly not unique to Kenya. High-status urban
women may find it difficult to marry because they may desire to be free of the patriarchal
control, they may fear losing face by marrying a man of lower status, or they may be too old to
compete with younger women who have yet to establish their high-status credibility.43
8. Violence and abuse within married and cohabitating couples remains a problem in Kenya. Just
over half of Kenyan women report physical abuse, 40% report sexual abuse, 64% report verbal
abuse, and 54% report emotional abuse. Moreover, 43% claimed the abuse was ongoing, while
53% reported that the abuse was increasing. And the abuse of women is not just by their
husbands or partners, but is often committed by their mothers and fathers–in-laws.
VII. Sex and Gender Groups
1. One group to which every human being belongs, regardless of culture, is biological sex.
Biological differences between males and females are universally recognized. But like any other
group, to be a member of a sex group is to assume a role, in this case a sex role. And like any
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other role, one’s sex role, or gender, is a set of expectations about how one should behave.
2. The terms sex and gender are used interchangeably, but the terms are not synonymous. Sex
refers to the biological and anatomical classifications of males and females. Gender, on the
other hand, is a social and symbolic creation that we learn through enculturation and
socialization. Our sex-role orientation is the extent to which we take on the learned
socialization for our sex group.
VIII. Gender Stereotypes
1. In most cultures, men and women carry out different sex roles, yet there is remarkable
consistency in how cultures view the roles of men and women. Since 1990, John Williams and
Deborah Best, professors of psychology at Wake Forest University, have conducted a series of
cross-cultural studies investigating gender stereotypes.
IX. Sex and Gender Roles Across Cultures
1. The variability of sex roles across cultures is dramatic. But many anthropologists and some
feminist writers contend that while the customs and practices with which women’s
subordination is expressed differs from culture to culture, the secondary status of women across
the globe is one of the few universal cross-cultural truisms.
2. The Japanese Constitution stipulates that all Japanese are equal under the law and outlaws
discrimination on the basis of sex. To be sure, however, most private and political organizations
that compose the dominant Japanese culture are controlled by men. But Japanese women enjoy
more freedom today than perhaps ever in their history. Although today’s Japanese women are
much more outspoken and direct than their mothers, even modern Japanese women recognize
their secondary status and have not completely discarded their earmark passivity. Moreover,
when asked, many Japanese women acknowledge their fate as a subordinate group. Even the
modern Japanese woman’s happiness remains tied to her family—so much so that she will
repress her personal feelings to an extent many American women would find unendurable.
Following their collectivistic histories, most Japanese women continue to sacrifice personal goals
for the sake of the harmony of the family. Because they have fewer opportunities than men,
maintaining interpersonal harmony is of utmost concern for Japanese women.
3. The socialization processes for boys and girls in India differ significantly. The birth of a male child
is considered a blessing because it ensures the continuation of the family name. Male children
are seen as an economic asset and, when married, bring to their family a nice dowry (i.e.,
obligatory gift from the bride’s family, usually money). The birth of a daughter, on the other
hand, is seen as a burden. A daughter is seen as an economic liability, and she never really
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possesses an identity of her own. Legal equality remains elusive for most Indian women. The
subordination of women in India is primarily economically based. Most women work in
agricultural jobs, but in the past few decades, India has developed a commercial market
economy with capital-intensive production. Although laws favoring women’s rights have been
passed, they have not had much impact. The phenomenon of dowry deaths, or bride burning, is
particularly troubling.
4. China has a long history of women having little freedom and few rights. But the Chinese
women’s liberation movement has made significant advances toward women’s rights. While the
Chinese government has enacted several laws and policies that equate women and men legally
and socially, they are of little use in abolishing the long-standing preference of males over
females. Chinese are generally expected to live with their family circle unless there is reason to
do otherwise and that such expectations are greater for women than for men. Chinese women,
especially single women, are considered more vulnerable and less capable of dealing with the
outside world than are men. Women are seen as needing the protection and supervision of their
families to preserve their virginity and marriageability.
5. Mexico has about 110 million people, of which women hold a slight majority. The marital status
of Mexican people represents the rights and responsibilities of men and women because it
reflects the population’s social levels. More Mexican women than men are divorced, possibly
because Mexican men tend to emigrate once they divorce. Historically, the average marrying
age of the population was 16 years old. However, by 1995 both sexes started marrying later,
with the national average marrying age being 20 years old for women and a little more than 23
years old for men. The increase in age results from Mexicans pursuing higher education. A
Mexican woman’s childbearing rate is related to her educational, social, and economic
conditions. Although women now contribute much in the work world, they also contribute at
home with the family. Nearly 93% of women age 12 years and older do domestic work. But men
and women often work together to maintain the family. As a result, some men do domestic
activities while some women work outside the home. In Mexico, authority and responsibility are
given to the father or to the oldest male, or jefe, of the household. Few women hold this
position. Authority in Mexican society has been held by the men. Men are in charge of the
family direction, and women take this responsibility only when the men have left home.
6. Since Israel’s establishment as a state in 1948, women in Israel have been guaranteed equal
rights. In fact, Israel is the only country in the world with a compulsory military service
requirement for women and where women constitute a third of all soldiers and just over half of
military officers. To be sure, the Israeli Declaration of Independence guarantees equal rights to
all Israeli citizens, regardless of religion, race, or sex. While Israeli women are guaranteed equal
rights under Israeli law, certain fundamental religious groups reject such rights—so much so that
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a new term, hadarat nashim, meaning the exclusion of women, has become common in the
Israeli sociopolitical dialogue.
7. Many of the misconceptions (in the United States) of Saudi women are cultivated by U.S. media.
The overwhelming majority of published articles on Saudi women portray them as oppressed
and passive victims of Islamic laws. To be sure Saudi is a sex segregated country, where Saudi
cultural traditions mandate sex segregation in both public and private life. Women are not
allowed to drive, they must dress in such a way that they are almost completely covered up
when they appear in public places, and that they must have a male escort (usually a male family
member or relative) accompany them when they appear in public. Saudi banks and universities
have separate entrances for men and women; restaurants and public transportation are
segregated; and unrelated men and women are forbidden from communicating socially, except
in professional contexts, where they are expected to be kept to a minimum. But most Saudi
women live very comfortable lives. Most marriages are arranged such that most women have a
respectable husband, that most women have a driver to take them places, and that most
women have servants and an extended family that provide financial and emotional security.
8. In the past decade or so, political and cultural developments in Saudi have created new
opportunities for women.