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Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 8e
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Lecture Notes
Chapter 2: The Cultural Context
Learning Objectives
2.1. Recognize that no culture is purely individualistic or purely collectivistic
2.2. Discuss the research behind the notion of a pancultural self
2.3. Identify some cultures that are high context and some that are low context
2.4. Compare value orientations among cultures
Chapter Outline
I. Individualism–Collectivism
A. Used to compare and contrast cultures and microcultures.
B. Cultures falling on one side of continuum are individualistic, while those falling
toward the other side are collectivistic.
C. Cultures falling at the midpoint might possess both individualistic and
collectivistic characteristics.
D. Regardless of culture, most persons carry both individualistic and collectivistic
tendencies to some degree.
E. The difference is that in some cultures individualistic tendencies dominate, while
in others collectivistic tendencies dominate.
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iii. Individualists strive to maintain distinctive personal attitudes and opinions
and prefer self-directed behavior and independence of groups.
iv. Individualists tend to see themselves as unique from others.
v. Four defining attributes of individualism–collectivism according to
Triandis:
a. How individuals perceive themselves. (For example, “I am distinct
and unique” vs. “I am a member of a family, tribe”)
vi. According to Triandis, in individualistic cultures, emphasis is placed on
individuals’ goals over group goals.
a. Social behavior is guided by personal goals, perhaps at the expense
of other types of goals.
vii. Individualistic cultures stress values that benefit the individual person.
viii. The self is promoted because each person is viewed as uniquely
endowed and possessing individualism.
ix. Cultural orientation:
x. The individual is emotionally disconnected from in-groups such as the
family.
xi. Social control depends on personal guilt because the individual has been
taught to be independent, social control depends more on personal guilt
than on shame or other social norms or conformity.
xii. Short-lived groups:
xiii. Cultures highly complex and affluent:
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a. Complex cultures have heterogeneous populations and economies
based on occupational specialization, in which individuals do
different jobs.
b. Cultural complexity also occurs in cultures where people are
separated from one another either geographically or through
migration patterns.
G. Collectivism
i. Collectivism: Cultural orientation where the group is the primary unit of
culture. Group goals take precedence over individual goals.
v. Collectivistic societies are characterized by extended primary groups such
as the family, neighborhood, or occupational group in which members have
diffuse mutual obligations and expectations based on their status or rank.
vi. People are not seen as isolated individuals but as interdependent with
others, where responsibility is shared and accountability is collective.
a. A person’s identity is defined by his or her group memberships.
vii. Members tend to belong to fewer groups than do persons in
individualistic cultures, with individuals emotionally connected to the in-
group.
xi. One’s behavior is role based, and deviations from the prescribed role are
discouraged and often negatively sanctioned.
a. In this sense, a person’s behavior is guided more by shame than by
personal guilt.
xii. A collectivist who stands out from the group disrupts the harmony and
may be punished.
H. Individualism Versus Collectivism?
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i. Not mutually exclusive, that is, they can coexist within a person of any
culture.
ii. Degree of individualism or collectivism within someone may be triggered
by the social context and one’s social relations.
a. Individuals can be characterized by specific combinations of
individualistic and collectivistic tendencies.
iii. Harry Hui has shown variation in individualistic and collectivistic
attitudes in different types of relationships.
I. So Who’s an Individualist, and Who’s a Collectivist?
i. Study by Oyserman et. al.:
d. U.S. citizens were slightly more collectivistic than Japanese, and no
difference was observed between the former and Koreans on
collectivistic measures.
ii. Study by Ronald Fischer et. al.
a. Among 11 countries, United States ranked highest in overall
individualism.
iii. Story characteristics in U.S. and Japan, by Toshi Imada:
iv. Difference in East Asian countries:
a. There was notable variety within East Asian countries regarding
individualism and collectivism.
J. Patterns of Individualism and Collectivism Across the United States
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i. Because of ecological, historical, and institutional practices, the Deep
South is the most collectivistic region of the United States.
ii. Hawaii, has about 65% of its population coming from Asian cultures.
a. Hence, much of its culture has collectivistic characteristics, and
Hawaii would be considered collectivistic.
iii. On the other hand, the Mountain West and Great Plains are thought to be
the most individualistic regions in the United States.
iv. Index to measure collectivism in different regions of the U.S., created by
Joseph A. Vandello and Dov Cohen.
K. Communication Consequences of Individualism–Collectivism
i. A given culture’s orientation toward individualism or collectivism has
important behavioral consequences for that culture’s members.
ii. Collectivist vs. individualist social behavior:
a. Among collectivists, social behavior is guided by the group.
• Along with group membership come prescribed duties and
obligations.
iii. Child-rearing practices:
a. A culture’s individualistic or collectivistic orientation will likely
affect child-rearing practices.
• In individualistic cultures, child rearing emphasizes
independence, exploration, creativity, and self-reliance.
• Individualistic parents encourage their children to be unique,
express themselves, and be independent.
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decisions are often made democratically.
b. In collectivistic cultures, child rearing emphasizes conformity,
obedience, security, and reliability.
• Collectivistic parents teach their children the importance of
family lineage and ancestry.
• Typically, the father dominates the collectivist’s home, where
rank in the family is often determined by sex and age.
iv. Consciousness of in-group/out-group distinctions:
a. Individualists tend to initiate and maintain specific friendships based
on desirable qualities of the other person, according to William B.
Gudykunst and his colleagues.
L. Vertical and Horizontal Individualism and Collectivism
i. Horizontal individualism: Cultural orientation in which an autonomous self
is valued but the self is more or less equal to others.
ii. Vertical individualism: Cultural orientation in which an autonomous self is
valued and the self is seen as different from and perhaps unequal to others.
v. Finer distinctions among both cultures by Traindis and his colleagues
a. Horizontal individualism is a cultural orientation in which an
autonomous self is valued, but the individual is more or less equal
in status to others.
• The self is perceived as independent but nevertheless the
same as others.
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• Status and competition are important aspects of this
orientation.
vi. Horizontal collectivism is the cultural orientation in which the individual
sees the self as a member of an in-group whose members are similar to one
another.
collectivism.
vii. Vertical collectivism is the cultural orientation in which the individual
sees the self as an integral part of the in-group, but the members are
different from one another, some having more status than others.
a. The self is interdependent, and inequality within the group is valued.
b. In this orientation, serving and sacrifice are important.
viii. Comparison of U.S., Thai, and Japanese students by Robert M. McCann,
James M. Honeycutt, and Shaughan A. Keaton:
a. Significant differences among the three groups and within each
group.
b. The U.S. students scored higher than the Japanese, who scored
higher than the Thai students in horizontal individualism.
e. Within each culture, the U.S. students scored highest on horizontal
individualism, then, in order, horizontal collectivism, vertical
collectivism, and vertical individualism.
f. The Japanese students scored highest on horizontal collectivism,
virtually the same on vertical collectivism and horizontal
individualism, then lowest on vertical individualism.
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x. The goal is to recognize and understand the differences, thereby increasing
your intercultural competence.
xi. We cannot rely on single metaphorical distinctions such as individualism–
collectivism if we really want to accurately describe and ultimately
understand other cultures (Hui-Ching Chang).
II. The Pancultural Self
A. Individual self is the most fundamental basis for self-definition in individualistic
cultures, whereas the collective self is the most fundamental basis of self–
definition in collectivistic cultures.
D. Self-protection is conceptually the opposite, that is, to minimize negative self-
views.
E. According to Sedikides, to preserve self-enhancement, individuals engage three
communicative strategies:
i. Positivity embracement refers to those communicative tactics whereby
people approach and interact with others who are likely to provide them
with positive feedback. When the positive feedback is given, the individual
then takes credit for it.
ii. Favorable construal strategies involve individuals creating self-serving
cognitions about the world around them.
F. Here, individuals reflect on their past successes to counter possible threats.
G. On the other hand, during self-protection communication, the individual
proactively prepares for negative feedback.
i. They often attribute negative feedback to external causes rather than to
their own failures, and discount such feedback.
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ii. Others maintain that self-enhancement and self-protection are universally
held across cultures but are practiced differently according to specific
cultural norms and values.
I. In both types of cultures, a person’s motivations for behavior and self-definition
stem primarily from personal identity and an independent sense of self.
J. Research demonstrates that on self-description tasks, people generate more aspects
of their individual self than their collective self, regardless of their cultural
individualism or collectivism.
M. In both individualistic and collectivistic cultures, self-enhancement is sanctioned
through upward mobility, status seeking, and general promotions of the self.
N. Collectivism has long been used to describe Japanese culture, Oyama:
i. The Japanese collectivistic orientation has been decreasing and that many
Japanese now have an individualistic orientation.
III. High- and Low-Context Communication
A. Characteristics of High- and Low-Context Cultures
i. Hall argued that the environmental, sociorelational, and perceptual contexts
have an immense impact on communication.
ii. High-context cultures generally have restricted code systems.
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a. Users of a restricted code system rely more on the contextual
elements of the communication setting for information than on the
actual language code.
d. High-context communication is fast, proficient, and gratifying.
e. Unlike low-context communication, the burden of understanding in
high-context communication rests with each interactant.
f. The rules for communication are implicit, and communicators are
expected to know and understand unspoken communication.
g. High-context communication involves using and interpreting
messages that are not explicit, minimizing the content of verbal
messages, and being sensitive to the social roles of others.
iii. Low-context: Cultural orientation in which meanings are encoded in the
verbal code.
a. According to Hall, in a low-context transaction, elaborate verbal
codes is the primary source of information.
b. Unlike users of restricted codes, users of elaborated codes rely
extensively on the verbal code system for creating and interpreting
meaning.
c. Although persons in low-context transactions recognize the
nonverbal environment, they tend to focus more on the verbal
context.
d. Moreover, the rules and expectations are explicitly outlined.
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iv. High context Cultural orientation: One in which meanings are gleaned
from the physical, social, and psychological contexts.
a. During a high-context communicative exchange, the interactants
generally are content with silence because they do not rely on
verbal communication as their main source of information.
b. Silence, in fact, communicates mutual understanding.
v. Communication Consequences of Low- and High-Context Cultural
Orientations
a. Steven Pratt and Lawrence Weider contend that many Native
American/American Indian tribes use silence as a way of
recognizing “Indianness.”
b. Unlike in high-context communication, during most low-context
transactions, silence is uncomfortable.
IV. Value Orientations
A. An understanding of cultural value systems can help identify similarities and
differences between people from different cultures, from which intercultural
communication can proceed.
B. Values guide us in the selection and justification of social behavior, Rokeach:
i. Values prescribe what is preferred or prohibited.
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C. Hsu’s values reflect US individualistic tendencies: In addition, they echo our
emphasis on equality and our determination to push toward the future.
D. Chinese Value Survey:
i. Chinese social scientists prepared a list of 10 fundamental and basic
Chinese values.
ii. Although their procedure resulted in considerable overlap, they were able
to eliminate redundancy by creating a master list of 40 values.
iii. In the Chinese Value Survey, Jianxin Zhang and Michael Harris Bond
affirmed the dominance of filial piety in China.
E. Schwartz Theory of Basic Values
i. It describes the nature of values and identifies characteristics common to
all values and those that differentiate one value from another.
ii. 10 values are considered universal because they are based on what
Schwartz believes are three universal requirements of human existence;
may differ significantly in terms of the relative importance of a specific
value: (a) the needs of individuals as biological organisms, (b) the
fundamentals of coordinated social interaction, and (c) survival and welfare
needs of groups.
iii. Six characteristics true for all values, Schwartz:
a. First, Schwartz points out that values are beliefs linked to affect;
that is, people are emotionally connected to values and become
aroused (positively or negatively) if a value is triggered.
b. Second, Schwartz maintains that values are linked to goals that
motivate people to act.