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6 - Context of Cultures: High and Low

1.4.6 - Context of Cultures: High and Low

Context of Cultures: High and Low

Here is another concept that will help you pull together a lot of the material you have read so far about
culture. It is called "high context" and "low context" and was created by the same anthropologist who
developed the concepts of polychronic and monochronic time. They complement each other and provide a
broad framework for looking at culture.

The list below shows the kind of behavior that is generally found in high and low context cultures within
five categories: how people relate to each other, how they communicate with each other, how they treat
space, how they treat time, and how they learn. One thing to remember is that few cultures, and the people
in them, are totally at one end of the spectrum or the other. They usually fall somewhere in between and
may have a combination of high and low context characteristics.

HIGH
CONTEXT (HC) LOW
CONTEXT (LC)

Association  Association

Relationships depend on trust, build up
slowly, are stable. One distinguishes
between people inside and people outside
one's circle.
How things get done depends on
relationships with people and attention to
group process.
One's identity is rooted in groups (family,
culture, work).
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Relationships begin and end quickly. Many
people can be inside one's circle; circle's
boundary is not clear.
Things get done by following procedures and
paying attention to the goal.
One's identity is rooted in oneself and one's
accomplishments.
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Social structure and authority are Social structure is decentralized;

centralized; responsibility is at the top. responsibility goes further down (is not
Person at top works for the good of the concentrated at the top).
group.

Interaction Interaction

High use of nonverbal elements; voice Low use of nonverbal elements. Message is

tone, facial expression, gestures, and eye carried more by words than by nonverbal
movement carry significant parts of means.
conversation.         
Verbal message is explicit. Context is less
Verbal message is implicit; context important than words.
(situation, people, nonverbal elements) is
more important than words.                 Verbal message is direct; one spells things out
exactly.
Verbal message is indirect; one talks 
around the point and embellishes Communication is seen as a way of
it.                   exchanging information, ideas, and opinions. 

Communication is seen as an art form—a Disagreement is depersonalized. One

way of engaging someone.                  withdraws from conflict with another and
            gets on with the task. Focus is on rational
solutions, not personal ones. One can be
Disagreement is personalized. One is explicit about another's bothersome behavior.
sensitive to conflict expressed in 
another's nonverbal communication.
Conflict either must be solved before
work can progress or must be avoided
because it is personally threatening.

Territoriality Territoriality

Space is communal; people stand close to Space is compartmentalized and privately

each other, share the same space.  owned; privacy is important, so people are
farther apart.

Temporality Temporality

Everything has its own time. Time is not
easily scheduled; needs of people may
interfere with keeping to a set time. What
is important is that activity gets done.
Change is slow. Things are rooted in the
past, slow to change, and stable.              
   
Time is a process; it belongs to others
and to nature.    
Things are scheduled to be done at particular
times, one thing at a time. What is important
is that activity is done efficiently.
Change is fast. One can make change and see
immediate results.
Time is a commodity to be spent or saved.
One’s time is one’s own.

Learning Learning

Knowledge is embedded in the situation; Reality is fragmented and

things are connected, synthesized, and compartmentalized. One source
global. Multiple sources of information of information is used to develop knowledge.

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are used. Thinking is deductive, proceeds Thinking is inductive, proceeds from specific
from general to specific.        to general. Focus is on detail.

Learning occurs by first observing others Learning occurs by following explicit

as they model or demonstrate and then
practicing. 
Groups are preferred for learning and
problem solving.
Accuracy is valued. How well something
is learned is important.    
directions and explanations of others.
An individual orientation is preferred for
learning and problem solving.
Speed is valued. How efficiently something is
learned is important.

The content here is based on the following

works by anthropologist Edward T. Hall, all of which were published in New York
by
Doubleday: The Silent Language (1959), The
Hidden Dimension (1969), Beyond
Culture (1976), and The Dance of Life
(1983). 

Source:  The 1993 Annual: Developing Human

Resources. Pfeiffer & Company.

  

Tales
from the... 

When a Greeting Takes

More Than “Hi, How are
you?”

Learning
from Cultural Encounters !!

..Memories..

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To explore where you fit on the low and high context continuum, let's do the following activity... 

CULTURAL-CONTEXT INVENTORY

Claire B. Halverson
Instructions:  For each of the following twenty items, check 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to indicate your tendencies and
preferences in a work situation.
Hardly  Almost 
Sometimes
Ever Always
1  2   3   4 5
When communicating, I tend to use a lot of facial expressions,
1. hand gestures, and body movements rather than relying mostly on
words. 
I pay more attention to the context of a conversation—who said what
2. and under what circumstances—than I do to the words.
When communicating, I tend to spell things out quickly and directly
3. rather than talking around and adding to the point.
In an interpersonal disagreement, I tend to be more emotional than
4. logical and rational.
I tend to have a small, close circle of friends rather than a large, but
5. less close, circle of friends.
6. When working with others, I prefer to get the job done first and
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socialize afterward rather than socialize first and then tackle the job.
7. I would rather work in a group than by myself.
I believe rewards should be given for individual accomplishment
8. rather than for group accomplishments.
I describe myself in terms of my accomplishments rather than in
9. terms of my family and relationships.
10. I prefer sharing space with others to having my own private space. 
I would rather work for someone who maintains authority and
11. functions for the good of the group than work for someone who
allows a lot of autonomy and individual decision making.
I believe it is more important to be on time than to let other concerns
12. take priority.
I prefer working on one thing at a time to working on a variety of
13. things at once.
I generally set a time schedule and keep to it rather than leave things
14. unscheduled and go with the flow.
I find it easier to work with someone who is fast and wants to see
15. immediate results than to work with someone who is slow and wants
to consider all the facts.   
In order to learn about something, I tend to consult many sources of
16. information rather than to go to the one best authority.
In figuring out problems, I prefer focusing on the whole situation to
17. focusing on specific parts or taking one step at a time.
When tackling a new task, I would rather figure it out on my own by
18. experimentation than follow someone else's example or
demonstration.
When making decisions, I consider my likes and dislikes, not just the
19. facts.
I prefer having tasks and procedures explicitly defined to having a
20. general idea of what has to be done.

Compute my scores   

Your High context score

is:

Your Low context score is:   

The difference
between your scores is :

    Start over

Before you see the interpretation of your scores, read this...

Compare your High and Low

Context Culture scores.

They can provide a pretty clear indication of how

you prefer to interact in work and
other social settings. All this means
is that you are likely to feel more comfortable
using one or the other
contexts. 

Neither one is better or worse than the other. Preferring one style does not mean that
you can’t interact effectively in many contexts, but just that you might have to make
some adjustments if, for example, your style is predominantly high context and you
find yourself functioning in a largely low context culture, or vice-versa. It also
indicates that overseas adaptation might be easier if you were intending to live in a
culture that generally reflected those cultural values. As useful as it is to know what
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your "natural" style is, it is even more important to understand how your preferred
style might differ from others, and what that means when interacting with those who
do not share that preference.

If you want to know more about the interpretation of your scores...click here.

  

  What Happened and Why ?  

    Book Learning

   Picture (Im)Perfect Moment

Learning from Critical Incidents!! 

To illustrate how cultures fall along the context continuum, here is a chart that includes some cultures that
have been studied.

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Now  that you have learned how to think about cultures in general, we will look at a culture that you are
very close to, US-American. Section 1.5 looks at those characteristics of US culture that will go with you
but will not require a suitcase to carry.

Back
Next

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