DeVito Interpersonal Messages, 4e Instructor’s Manual
Chapter 2: Culture and Interpersonal Communication
Chapter Overview
This chapter explores culture and intercultural communication, the ways in which
cultures differ, and ways to improve intercultural communication. Culture consists of the
relatively specialized lifestyle of a group of people—their values, beliefs, artifacts, and
ways of behaving and communicating—that is passed on from one generation to the
next through communication, not through genes.
Each generation transmits its culture through enculturation, or the process by which
culture is transmitted from one generation to another. Through acculturation, one culture
is modified through direct contact with or exposure to another culture. Intercultural
communication includes communication between cultures, races, genders, religions,
nations, and socioeconomic, ethnic, and age groups.
Cultures differ in the degree to which they teach an individualist orientation (the
individual is the most important consideration) or collectivist orientation (with high
importance on the group). In high-context cultures much information is in the context or
in the person’s nonverbals; in low-context cultures most of the information is explicitly
stated strong in the message.
Cultures also differ in whether gender roles are distinct or whether they overlap.
“Masculine” cultures view men as assertive, oriented to material success, and
“feminine” cultures encourage both men and women to be modest, oriented to
maintaining the quality of life, tender, and having an emphasis on close relationships.
In high-power-distance cultures there is much difference in the power between rulers
and ruled, whereas in low-power-distance cultures, power is more evenly distributed.
Similarly, high-ambiguity-tolerant cultures are comfortable with uncertainty, whereas
low-ambiguity-tolerant cultures are not.
DeVito Interpersonal Messages, 4e Instructor’s Manual
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Chapter Objectives
1. Explain the role of culture in interpersonal communication; define enculturation,
ethnic identity, and acculturation.
3. Paraphrase the eight principles of intercultural communication, and apply these in
intercultural interactions.
4. List and explain the seven strategies to improve intercultural communication.
Student Objectives
Content Objectives:
To recognize culture’s role in interpersonal communication
To describe the ways cultures differ from one another
To list and explain the forms and principles of intercultural communication
Skills Objectives:
To send and receive messages with a recognition of cultural influences and differences
To communicate successfully in intercultural situations
Skills Evaluation
1. Objective: To send and receive messages, recognizing cultural influences and
differences. Students should complete the “Describing Cultural Attitudes” Skill
Building Exercise at the end of the chapter and discuss the results with the class.
2. Objective: To send and receive messages, recognizing cultural influences and
3. Objective: To communicate successfully in intercultural situations. Pairs of
students should interview a person from another country. They should first research
the country and plan their questions. The interview should be audio– or videotaped to
turn in for skills evaluation. Students will be evaluated on the quality, quantity, and
relevance of their questions and the information they elicit, and on their skills of
interaction with the interviewee.
Chapter Outline
I. Culture
A. Learning Culture
B. The Importance of Culture
1. Demographic changes
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3. Economic interdependence
5. Culture-specific nature of interpersonal communication
C. The Aim of a Cultural Perspective
II. Cultural Difference
A. Individualist and Collectivist Cultures
B. High- and Low-Context Cultures
C. Masculine and Feminine Cultures
D. High- and Low-Power-Distance Cultures
E. High- and Low-Ambiguity-Tolerant Cultures
F. Long– and Short-Term Orientation Cultures
G. Indulgence and Restraint Cultures
III. Improving Intercultural Communication
A. Prepare Yourself
B. Reduce Your Ethnocentrism
C. Confront Your Stereotypes
D. Be Mindful
E. Recognize Differences
1. Differences between yourself and culturally different people
3. Differences in meaning
F. Adjust Your Communication
G. Recognize Culture Shock
1. Stage one: The honeymoon
3. Stage three: The recovery
4. Stage four: The adjustment
Teaching Strategies
Have students access the website for Getting Through Customs at
At the website, there are numerous links to international materials that students
can explore, including sports in different countries, applying for jobs, and how
others view the United States.
(or)
Read Terri Morrison’s Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty
Countries. Review several of the quizzes and articles through links in the left
DeVito Interpersonal Messages, 4e Instructor’s Manual
Provide students with a list of volunteer jobs that can be done in two– to three
hours. Examples would be preparing holiday tray favors at a nursing home,
clearing litter from a highway, assisting with after-school tutoring, mowing lawns
for elderly or disabled citizens, assisting a nonprofit organization by delivering
and collecting donation envelopes, or reading to children in a hospital. Instructors
should assign (without comment) groups designed with diversity of age, race,
and gender. The groups should have at least one planning meeting and one
Students should explore the UNESCO website, http://portal.unesco.org and write
a report on the purposes and functions of the organization. Each student should
sign up for a topic on which he or she wishes to report to the class in a two- to
three-minute presentation.
Research changing demographics within a culture in articles such as in Fast
Company, “Demographics: The Population Hour Glass.” Write a one-page
position paper, agreeing or disagreeing with: Cultures change slowly.
norms/elements have changed over the years.
Assign and/or watch commercials in the United States compared to commercials
that air in European counties. Discuss the cultural differences that have an
impact on the visuals and content that are allowed.
Vignette
the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the
appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people.
While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated
philosophy are unique.
The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body
children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these
mysteries.
The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest
are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he
could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners.
patient simply tells the “listener” all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest
difficulties he can remember. The memory displayed by the Nacirema in these exorcism
sessions is truly remarkable. It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection
he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles
going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth.
that your culture’s customs are right and the customs of others are wrong. It also
awakens our consciousness, our mindful state, to our own customs and values.
Activities for Student-Based Learning
Welcome to the United States!
Ask students to divide into groups of 3-4. Then, ask students to imagine that they are
going to meet someone who is from another country and not familiar with the United
States. It is your group’s job to describe common customs, rituals, and behaviors that
Americans typically perform. Discuss what types of words and actions that this person
might encounter here. Each group should come up with a list and be able to share it
with the class.
Understanding the Many Different Sides of ME
This activity allows students to figure out the many cultural elements to their identities.
Stereotypes are examined as participants share stories about when they were proud to
be part of a particular group and when it was especially hurtful to be associated with a
particular group. Ask students to pair up with somebody they do not know very well.
Invite them to introduce each other, and then follow these steps:
1. Step 1: Ask students to draw a circle on a sheet of paper and to write their
names in the center of the circle. Then, ask them to make little circles around the
2. Step 2: In pairs, have students share two stories with each other. First, they
should share stories about when they felt especially proud to be associated with
3. Step 3: Advise participants that the next step will involve individuals standing up
and reading their stereotype statements. You can either simply go around the
room in some order or have people randomly stand up and read their statements.
Make sure that students are respectful and listening actively for this step, as
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introduce it energetically. It may take a few moments to start the flow of sharing,
so allow for silent moments. Ask students to share a stereotype they have heard
Instructions for steps 1, 2, and 3 should be given all at once. Allow 8-10 minutes for
participants to complete all three steps, but remind them with 2 minutes remaining that
they must fill in the stereotype sentence.
Several questions can be used to process this activity:
1. How do the dimensions of your identity that you choose as important differ from
the dimensions other people use to make judgments about you?
2. Did anybody hear somebody challenge a stereotype that you once bought into? If
so, what?
3. How did it feel to be able to stand up and challenge your stereotype?
4. (There is usually some laughter when somebody shares common stereotype
such as “I may be an Arab, but I am not a terrorist,” or “I may be a teacher, but I
do have a social life.”) I heard several moments of laughter. What was that
about?
5. Where do stereotypes come from?
6. How can we eliminate them?
The key to this activity is the process of examining one’s own identity and the
stereotypes associated with that identity, then having one’s own stereotypes challenged
Where in the World Would You Go?
Have each student self-select a country he or she would like to visit someday (or have
traveled to). Then, assign students to research and share with the class some cultural
norms they discovered through their research. Have students prepare a 5-7 minute