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Negotiating at an uneven table. Approaching an uneven table. Skip to main content. Chapter 27 Sections Section 1. Healing from the Effects of Internalized Oppression Section 4. Building Culturally Competent Organizations Section 8. Multicultural Collaboration Section 9. Transforming Conflicts in Diverse Communities Section The Tool Box needs your help to remain available. Toggle navigation Chapter Sections. Learn how to promote multicultural collaboration. What is "multicultural collaboration"? Why is multicultural collaboration important? When should you commit to multicultural collaboration?
What are some guidelines for multicultural collaboration? How do you build a multicultural collaboration? What is multicultural collaboration? It gets everyone to the table. Because most groups have some community-wide concerns, it's essential to get them to the same table, uneven or not. According to John Gardner, the biggest problem of having many groups in society is the war of the parts against the whole.
Though it's odd and self-destructive, in-fighting has increased dramatically in recent years. Becoming more aware of our similarities, along with cultural differences, doesn't have to paralyze or divide us. Through common interests we can learn to translate "different from me" and "less than me" into "like me in lots of important ways. It makes for more effective communication among groups. Understanding how people communicate is the first step toward understanding and respecting each other. It enriches everyone's life when there is shared knowledge of others' cultures.
Different communication styles reflect philosophies and worldviews that are the foundations of cultures. New understanding gives us a broader view of our world and the opportunity to see a mirror image of ourselves. It takes advantage of "strength in numbers. Because no one group is responsible for a problem, no one group alone can solve it.
Competition among groups doesn't aid survival in today's turbulent world. As our population becomes more culturally diverse, some cultural groups are experiencing more problems. If we learn to understand and value other cultures and to look at each other as neighbors with similar interests rather than adversaries, we will be more vested in the idea of taking better care of each other.
Caring about our neighbors builds a sense of community and unites us in solving community-wide problems. It leads to a more just society. Multicultural collaboration can build collective capacity to help make things better, and promote the consensus that it's important to do so. This offers a good chance at solving complex problems in an atmosphere of trust, cooperation, and mutual respect.
The following are other significant indicators of when you should commit to multicultural collaboration: Those most affected by the problem are not participating in a solution. This could mean that one group possibly the group in power needs to commit to improving its cultural understanding and appreciation its cultural competence with regard to other groups, in order for those groups to feel welcome. There is more at stake than individual organizations, but competing organizations are at each other's throats and coming to unilateral decisions that hurt themselves and others.
There are problems among many diverse groups that one organization can't solve alone or in a short period of time. There are several groups willing to make a long-term commitment to work for a change in thinking and to establish a common language and effective communication. Several organizations recognize a bad situation that could get worse if nothing is done. There is a desire to identify others involved in the problem and bring them to the table.
Everyone at the table will share a vision and be committed to the process of reaching out to new partners, explaining the rationale, and continuing to recruit group members. All parties involved are clear about what they are getting into, see the tasks as meaningful work that will make a difference, and are strong stakeholder groups in the community.
The groups represent every cultural group involved in the problem, are well organized, and are able to speak and act credibly for the groups they represent. The leadership of the process is committed to keeping the focus on the goals, keeping stakeholders at the table through periods of frustration and disagreement, acknowledging small successes along the way, and enforcing the group's agreed-upon rules.
Consider these guidelines as you confront the communication barriers: Learn from generalizations about other cultures and races, but don't use those generalizations to stereotype, write off, or oversimplify your ideas about another person. The best use of a generalization is to add it to your storehouse of knowledge, so that you better understand and appreciate other interesting, multi-faceted human beings.
That's the first rule because it's in the doing that we actually get better at cross-cultural communication. Don't assume that there is one right way to communicate. Keep questioning your assumptions about the "right way" to communicate. For example, think about your body language; postures that indicate receptivity in one culture might indicate aggressiveness in another.
Don't assume that breakdowns in communication occur because other people are on the wrong track. Search for ways to make the communication work, rather than searching for whom should receive the blame for the breakdown. Listen actively and empathetically. Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes, especially when another person's perceptions or ideas are very different from your own.
You might need to operate at the edge of your own comfort zone. Respect others' choices about whether or not to engage in communication with you. Honor their opinions about what is going on. Stop, suspend judgment, and try to look at the situation as an outsider. For example, when you notice blocks or difficulties in working with people, revisit your own beliefs or behaviors that may be holding you back.
Also, think about how others view your work relationship and decide on ways you might change your behavior to make them more comfortable. For example, you might be speaking or dressing in a very formal manner. Being more informal in dress and behavior might improve the situation. Be prepared for a discussion of the past. Use this as an opportunity to develop an understanding from "the other's" point of view, rather than getting defensive or impatient.
Acknowledge historical events that have taken place. Be open to learning more about them. Honest acknowledgment of the mistreatment and oppression that have taken place on the basis of cultural difference is vital for effective communication. Be aware of current power imbalances. And be open to hearing each other's perceptions of those imbalances.
It's necessary to understand each other and work together. Remember that cultural norms may not apply to the behavior of any particular individual. We are all shaped by many factors ethnic background, family, education, personalities and are more complicated than any cultural norm could suggest. Check your interpretations if you are uncertain what is meant. To journey with fellow travelers we must prepare ourselves for customs and values that differ from ours. We must understand that we each have customs that may seem foreign to others. For example, in the United States, Midwesterners tend to call colleagues by their first name as a sign of friendliness.
Yet in many African-American communities, respect is shown by using last names and titles. People on the East Coast arch their eyebrows at the suggestion of a seven-thirty breakfast meeting -- nine is the preferred starting time. In the Midwest, however, early meetings are common. Native Americans often begin their meetings by sharing food before business gets started. To others, eating before working seems unproductive. There are three steps to developing any collaboration: Define the setting of the problem Set a direction Implement your plan Multicultural collaboration requires considerations that may not be involved in other collaborations.
There are 6 components in building a multicultural collaboration: Formulate and state clearly the vision and mission of the collaboration to model the multicultural relationships.
Verbal Communication Styles and Culture - Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication
Make a commitment to create an organizational culture that embraces and grows from diversity. Assemble a multicultural team. A group may not appear to be serious about being multicultural when all staff members are from one group.
This helps get across the message that you really mean it when your collaborative says it's committed to involving every group in all phases of the initiative. Practicing the principles you champion builds trust, so lead by example.
Intercultural communication conflicts
Next, fundamental patterns of communication styles will be introduced, along with a discussion of the relationship between culture and language. Finally, implications of cultural differences in communication styles will be discussed. Culture has been defined in many ways. Some commonly applied definitions view culture as patterned ways of thinking, feeling, and reacting, common to a particular group of people and that are acquired and transmitted through the use of symbols.
Others view culture as a function of interrelated systems that include the ecology e. It is fair to say that culture includes both objective and subjective elements. These interrelated systems do not dictate culture; rather, we can use them as a general framework to understand culture and its relation to individual and collective actions. A number of approaches have been used to describe and explain cultural differences. This article focuses on two approaches that are most widely accepted and relevant to our understanding of cultural variations in communication styles: Value can be defined as an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct is socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct.
Values form the basis for judging the desirability of some means or end of action. Based on a study of 88, IBM employees in 72 countries, between and , Hofstede identified four dimensions of cultural values: Later, Hofstede and Bond added a fifth dimension, dynamic Confucianism , with long-term orientation refers to future-oriented values such as persistence and thrift, whereas short-term orientation refers to past- and present-oriented values, such as respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations.
The individualism-collectivism dimension alone has inspired thousands of empirical studies examining cultural differences. More specifically, people in individualistic societies, such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and most of the northern and western European countries, tend to emphasize individual rights, such as freedom, privacy, and autonomy.
They tend to view themselves as unique and special, and are free to express their individual thoughts, opinions, and emotions. Individualists also value equality; they do not differentiate between ingroups and outgroups, applying the same standards universally, also known as universalism. In comparison, people in collectivistic societies, such as most of Latin American, African, and Asian countries, and the Middle East, tend to view themselves as part of an interconnected social network. They emphasize the obligations they have toward their ingroup members, and are willing to sacrifice their individual needs and desires for the benefits of the group.
They care about their relationships with ingroups, often by treating them differently than strangers or outgroup members, which is also known as particularism. In high power distance societies, such as many Latin American countries, most of African and Asian counties, and most counties in the Mediterranean area, people generally accept power as an integral part of the society.
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Hierarchy and power inequality are considered appropriate and beneficial. The superiors are expected to take care of the subordinates, and in exchange for that, the subordinates owe obedience, loyalty, and deference to them, much like the culture in the military. It is quite common in these cultures that the seniors or the superiors take precedence in seating, eating, walking, and speaking, whereas the juniors or the subordinates must wait and follow them to show proper respect.
Similarly, the juniors and subordinates refrain from freely expressing their thoughts, opinions, and emotions, particularly negative ones, such as disagreements, doubts, anger, and so on. It is not surprising that, except for a couple of exceptions, such as France, most high power distance societies are also collectivistic societies. In contrast, in low power distance cultures, most of which are individualistic societies, people value equality and seek to minimize or eliminate various kinds of social and class inequalities. They value democracy, and juniors and subordinates are free to question or challenge authority.
People from high uncertainty avoidance cultures, such as many Latin American cultures, Mediterranean cultures, and some European e. Deviation from these rules and standards is considered disruptive and undesirable. They also tend to avoid conflict, seek consensus, and take fewer risks. On the other hand, in low uncertainty avoidance cultures people are more comfortable with unstructured situations. Uncertainty and ambiguity are considered natural and necessary. They value creativity and individual choice, and are free to take risks.
In masculine cultures, such as Mexico, Italy, Japan, and Australia, tough values, such as achievements, ambition, power, and assertiveness, are preferred over tender values, such as quality of life and compassion for the weak. In addition, gender roles are generally distinct and complementary, which means that men and women place separate roles in the society and are expected to differ in embracing these values. For example, men are expected to be assertive, tough, and focus on material success, whereas women are expected to be modest and tender, and to focus on improving the quality of life for the family.
On the other hand, in feminine cultures, such as most of Scandinavian cultures, genders roles are fluid and flexible: Men and women do not necessarily have separate roles, and they can switch their jobs while taking care of the family. Not only do feminine societies care more about quality of life, service, and nurturance, but such tender values are embraced by both men and women in the society. Societies with a long-term orientation, such as most East Asian societies, embrace future-oriented virtues such as thrift, persistence, and perseverance, ordering relationships by status, and cultivating a sense of shame for falling short of collective expectations.
In contrast, societies with a short-term orientation foster more present- or past-oriented virtues such as personal steadiness and stability, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of greetings, favors, and gifts. The cognitive approach views culture as a complex knowledge system. From this perspective, the key to understanding culture is to know the rules and scripts that guide action—how do people make sense of their communication environment, and how does this influence patterned action?
By comparing the ecologies, economies, social structures, metaphysics, and epistemologies in ancient China and ancient Greece, Nisbett proposed a Geography of Thought theory to explain how Easterners and Westerners think differently and why. According to Nisbett, the ecology of ancient China consisted of primarily fertile plains, low mountains, and navigable rivers, which favored agriculture and made centralized control of society relatively easy.
As agriculture required people to stay in the geographical region and collaborate with each other on tasks such as building an irrigation system that could not be achieved individually, complex social systems were needed to manage resources and coordinate efforts. The ecology of ancient Greece, however, consisted mostly of mountains descending to the sea, which favored hunting, herding, and fishing.
These occupations required relatively little cooperation with others. Nor did they require living in the same stable community. Therefore, Ancient Greeks were able to act on their own to a greater extent than ancient Chinese. In addition, the maritime location of ancient Greece made trading a lucrative occupation. The city-state also made it possible for intellectual rebels to leave a location and go to another one, maintaining the condition of a relatively free inquiry. As a result, ancient Greeks were in the habit of arguing with one another in the marketplace and debating one another in the political assembly.
As less emphasis was placed on maintaining harmonious social relationships, the Greeks had the luxury of attending to objects and people without being overly constrained by their relations with other people. Over time, they developed a view of causality based on the properties of the object, rather than based on the larger environment.
Hence, ancient Greeks were considered logical and analytical thinkers. Analytical thinking is field-independent. Analytical thinkers attend more to focal objects and specific details; what is going on in the environment is less important. They also tend to place focal elements into a cause-effect, linear, or sequential frame, assuming that there is a clearly definable cause leading to the observed effects.
On the other hand, holistic thinking is field-dependent. Holistic thinkers tend to perceive events holistically or within a large context. They assume that there is a coherent whole and individual parts cannot be fully understood unless they are placed within the interdependent relationships. Metaphorically, whereas analytical thinkers view the world as a line, holistic thinkers view the world as a circle.
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To provide support for his theory, Nisbett and colleagues conducted a series of experiments to assess whether East Asians would differ from Americans in their attentional patterns. For example, in one of the experiments, they presented animated underwater scenes to two groups of participants, from the United States and Japan, respectively, with a mixture of active objects e. They found that a Japanese participants made more statements about contextual information and relationships than Americans did, and b Japanese participants recognized previously seen objects more accurately when they saw them in their original settings rather than in the novel settings, whereas this manipulation had relatively little effect on Americans.
These findings provided substantial support for cognitive differences between Easterners and Westerners. Analytical thinkers also tend to be logical or polarized thinkers. They prefer logical arguments that apply the law of non-contradiction, which excludes the middle between being and non-being—something either exists or does not exist.
A proposition can be weakened or falsified by demonstrating that it leads to a contradiction. In contrast, holistic thinkers tend to be dialectical thinkers. They prefer dialectical arguments that apply the principles of holism, which assumes that the world consists of opposing entities and forces that are connected in time and space as a whole.
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Since everything is connected, one entity cannot be fully understood unless we take into account how it affects and is affected by everything else. Unlike polarized or logical thinking that excludes the middle state, dialectical thinking seeks to reconcile opposing views by finding a middle ground. Dialectical thinkers accept grey areas, assuming that things constantly change. For example, Peng and Nisbett conducted a series of experiments and found that a dialectical thinking is reflected in Chinese folk wisdom, in that dialectical proverbs are more preferred by Chinese than by Americans; b in response to a conflict situation, a significantly greater percentage of Chinese participants prefer a dialectical resolution than Americans; and c when two apparently contradictory propositions were presented, Americans polarized their views, whereas Chinese accepted both propositions.
A communication style is the way people communicate with others verbally and nonverbally. Scholars have proposed different typologies for describing communication styles. Of the theoretical perspectives proposed to understand cultural variations in communication styles, the most widely cited is the differentiation between high-context and low-context communication by Edward Hall Bernstein hypothesizes that our speech patterns are conditioned by our social context.
When we participate in groups we are often surprised at how differently people approach their work together. Culture is a complex concept, with many different definitions. But, simply put, "culture" refers to a group or community with which we share common experiences that shape the way we understand the world. It includes groups that we are born into, such as gender, race, or national origin.
It also includes groups we join or become part of. For example, we can acquire a new culture by moving to a new region, by a change in our economic status, or by becoming disabled. When we think of culture this broadly, we realize we all belong to many cultures at once. Our histories are a critical piece of our cultures. Historical experiences -- whether of five years ago or of ten generations back -- shape who we are.
Knowledge of our history can help us understand ourselves and one another better. Exploring the ways in which various groups within our society have related to each other is key to opening channels for cross-cultural communication. In a world as complex as ours, each of us is shaped by many factors, and culture is one of the powerful forces that acts on us. Anthropologists Kevin Avruch and Peter Black explain the importance of culture this way: One's own culture provides the "lens" through which we view the world; the "logic" As people from different cultural groups take on the exciting challenge of working together, cultural values sometimes conflict.
We can misunderstand each other, and react in ways that can hinder what are otherwise promising partnerships. Oftentimes, we aren't aware that culture is acting upon us. Sometimes, we are not even aware that we have cultural values or assumptions that are different from others'. Six fundamental patterns of cultural differences -- ways in which cultures, as a whole, tend to vary from one another -- are described below.
The descriptions point out some of the recurring causes of cross-cultural communication difficulties. Next time you find yourself in a confusing situation, and you suspect that cross-cultural differences are at play, try reviewing this list. Ask yourself how culture may be shaping your own reactions, and try to see the world from others' points of view. The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage.
Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of "yes" varies from "maybe, I'll consider it" to "definitely so," with many shades in between. Another major aspect of communication style is the degree of importance given to non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication includes not only facial expressions and gestures; it also involves seating arrangements, personal distance, and sense of time. In addition, different norms regarding the appropriate degree of assertiveness in communicating can add to cultural misunderstandings.
For instance, some white Americans typically consider raised voices to be a sign that a fight has begun, while some black, Jewish and Italian Americans often feel that an increase in volume is a sign of an exciting conversation among friends. Thus, some white Americans may react with greater alarm to a loud discussion than would members of some American ethnic or non-white racial groups. Some cultures view conflict as a positive thing, while others view it as something to be avoided. In fact, face-to-face meetings customarily are recommended as the way to work through whatever problems exist.
In contrast, in many Eastern countries, open conflict is experienced as embarrassing or demeaning; as a rule, differences are best worked out quietly. A written exchange might be the favored means to address the conflict. From culture to culture, there are different ways that people move toward completing tasks. Some reasons include different access to resources, different judgments of the rewards associated with task completion, different notions of time, and varied ideas about how relationship-building and task-oriented work should go together.
When it comes to working together effectively on a task, cultures differ with respect to the importance placed on establishing relationships early on in the collaboration. A case in point, Asian and Hispanic cultures tend to attach more value to developing relationships at the beginning of a shared project and more emphasis on task completion toward the end as compared with European-Americans. European-Americans tend to focus immediately on the task at hand, and let relationships develop as they work on the task.