The concept of power in intercultural communication chapter 3

There is no evidence that shows how power influences communications, but it is widely known
that power is pervasive in communication interactions. People usually think that communication
between two or more people usually are equal, but in fact they’re not due to the power of some
people. Mark Orbe, a communication scholar, describes that there will always be a social
hierarchy that exists in every society, and this will give privilege to a specific group. Loden &
Rosener divide group-related power into two levels, including:

1. The primary dimension: The one where it is permanent in nature, it includes age,
ethnicity, gender, physical abilities, race, and sexual orientation.
2. The secondary dimension: Able to be changed in times, including educational
background, geographic location, marital status, and socioeconomic status.
Social institutions and the positions people have within them are other sources of power.

The easiest example is that in a classroom, a teacher has the upper hand where they have the
privilege in deciding who to speak, what grades students get, and so on. But we know that the
individual doesn't have the power but the role that they enact is the one who does. Other than that
power is also dynamic where it is not as simple as a one-way proposition. The real example is
that a teacher’s power may also be weakened because of student’s focus more on their
smartphone than the lesson itself. But there are issues of power play out in a broader social
context, for example in a contemporary society. For example, a cosmetic company wants to
promote their product, they encourage women to feel that they need cosmetics, but still there will
be a resistance that can be expressed by a refusal of believing that a woman needs cosmetics.
This resistance is the power that a customer has over the company.
Dominant cultural groups: the group that controls more power than other groups or whose
members make up the majority. These types of groups usually make use of their positions to get
special treatment or privilege. But still, cultural groups have the chance to resist domination by
using political and legal means. Moreover, power is complex, especially when it is related to
institutions or the social structure. Certain injustices, such as those based on race, class, or
gender, are more inflexible than those brought by temporary jobs, for example a student and
teacher. When a female is challenged by a male student, the power relationship is more complex
since the intercultural communication cannot be understood without considering the power
dynamics in the interaction.

How identity can impact intercultural communication chapter 5

Identity is the notion of who we are. Identity characteristics may be perceived differently
depending on the perspective taken—for example, social science, interpretative, or critical views.
There are 3 perspectives in regards to identity and communication.

Identity: The concept of who we are. Characteristics of identity may be understood differently
depending on the perspectives that people take—for example, social science, interpretive, or
critical perspectives.

Impression management theory: The ways by which individuals attempt to control the
impressions others have of them.

Social Science Interpretive Critical

Identity created by self (by Identity formed through Identity shaped through social,
relating to groups) communication with historical forces
others

Emphasizes, individualized, Emphasizes avowal and Emphasizes contexts and

familial, and spiritual self ascribed dimensions resisting ascribed identity
(cross-cultural perspective)

The role of non-verbal communication chapter 7

Both verbal and nonverbal communication is synchronous, conveys meaning, and are
patterned—that is, it is controlled by rules that are defined by the environment. In general, our
nonverbal actions support our vocal actions. When we shake our heads and say "no," for
instance, we are reinforcing verbal conduct. Unsurprisingly, consistency between verbal and
nonverbal behaviors typically translates into views of credibility and favorable initial
impressions (Weisbuch, Ambady, Clark, Achor, & Weele, 2010).

Societies have different nonverbal languages, just as they have different spoken languages.
However, some differences between nonverbal and verbal communication codes have important
implications for intercultural interaction.

Let’s look at some examples of these differences. The following incident occurred to Judith when
she was new to Algeria, where she lived for a while. One day she stood at her balcony and
waved to one of the young Algerian teachers, who was walking across the school yard. Several
minutes later, the young teacher knocked on the door, looking expec- tantly at Judith, as if
summoned. Because Judith knew that it was uncommon in Algeria for men to visit women they
didn’t know well, she was confused. Why had he come to her door? Was it because she was
foreign? After a few awkward moments, he left. A few weeks later, Judith figured it out. In
Algeria (as in many other places), the U.S. “wave” is the non- verbal signal for “come here.” The
young teacher had assumed that Judith had summoned him to her apartment. As this example
illustrates, rules for nonverbal communication vary among cultures and contexts.

What Nonverbal Behavior Communicates

There are several relational messages (messages about how we feel about others) that a
nonverbal behavior communicates, it includes:

1. Status and power: Position of an individual in social or organizational settings.

2. Deception: The act of making someone believe what is not true.

A theory that helps to understand nonverbal communication across cultures is the expectancy
violations theory, it is a theory that believes that depending on the precise setting and behavior
when someone deviates from our expectations, this deviance will either be positively or
negatively interpreted.

Relational messages: Messages (verbal and nonverbal) that communicate how we feel about
others.

Status: The relative position an individual holds in social or organizational settings.

The Universality of Nonverbal Behavior

Research investigating the universality of nonverbal communication has focused on four areas:
(1) the relationship of human behavior to that of primates (particularly chimpanzees), (2)
nonverbal communication of sensory-deprived children who are blind or deaf, (3) facial
expressions, and (4) universal functions of nonverbal social behavior.
Nonverbal Codes

1. Physical Appearance: Includes height, weight, body shape, personal grooming (body
hairs, clothing choices), and personal artifacts. Men regularly exhibit larger desires for
attractive partners than women, and there is more emphasis on female appeal than male
attractiveness in many societies.
2. Facial Expression: Happiness, sadness, disgust, surprise, anger, and fear are the six
primary emotions that can be represented through universal facial expressions.
3. Proxemics: The study of how people use various types of space in their everyday lives:
fixed feature space, semi fixed space, and informal space.
4. Gestures
5. Eye Contact: A nonverbal code, eye gaze, that communicates meanings about respect
and
status and often regulates turn-taking during interactions.
6. Paralinguistics: the study of paralanguage—vocal behaviors that indicate how
something
is said, including speaking rate, volume, pitch, and stress.
 7. Voice Qualities: The “music” of the human voice, including speed, pitch, rhythm, vocal
range, and articulation.
8. Vocalization: The sounds we utter that do not have the structure of language.
9. Chronemics: The concept of time and the rules that govern its use.
10. Silence: Cultural groups may vary in the degree of emphasis placed on silence, which
can be as meaningful as a language (Acheson, 2007).

The impact of intercultural transition

THINKING DIALECTICALLY ABOUT INTERCULTURAL TRANSITIONS

Many dialectical conflicts are necessary to comprehend the adaptation process during
international changes. Regrettably, there aren't any simple solutions. The personal-contextual
dialectic is another option. People may frequently find themselves pushed to be culturally
competent by acting in ways that may be inconsistent with their own identities when they
adjust to new cultural environments.

TYPES OF MIGRANT GROUPS

Long-term or short-term, voluntary or forced migration are all possible. A person who
relocates to a new cultural setting for a prolonged length of time after leaving their primary
cultural environment is referred to as a migrant. For instance, the sojourns of exchange
students are often brief and voluntary, and they take place in an organized sociopolitical
environment. The sojourn would be prolonged, though, if one were compelled to migrate due
to an unsteady sociopolitical environment.

● Voluntary Migrants

Sojourners and immigrants are the two categories of voluntary migration. Travelers who
sojourn are people who enter foreign cultures for a little period of time and with a particular
goal in mind. They are frequently free spirits with access to travel.
Immigrants are another kind of voluntary travelers; they are individuals who go to a new
nation, area, or environment with the intention of settling there more or less permanently.
Restrictive immigration rules of many nations have had an impact on voluntary migration.
Migrant work may be divided into two categories: low-cost physical labor and highly qualified
intellectual labor. Domestic services are required by newly industrializing nations as well as
newly wealthy nations and individuals. Both groups need qualified labor for regular and
repetitive chores.

● Involuntary Migrants

There are two categories of migrants who migrate against their will: long-term refugees and
temporary refugees. Short-term refugees are those who are displaced temporarily from their
nation or territory whereas long-term refugees are those who must leave their home country or
region due to war, starvation, or tyranny. This large-scale influx of refugees raises challenging

difficulties for cross-cultural interaction, underscoring the significance of the bond between
the migrants and their host cultures.

MIGRANT–HOST RELATIONSHIPS

Dialectical thinking is necessary to comprehend the intricate interactions that exist between
immigrants and their hosts. Foreign migration is often a decision made after serious
consideration by an individual or family. The main drivers of migration may include
complicated push-pull variables, as well as economic and/or noneconomic causes. A push
factor might be a lack of employment opportunities in the home country, or an economic
migrant can be persuaded to go by a host employer recruiter. For non-economic reasons,
migrants may cross borders to flee persecution—a push factor. Family unity is a pull factor for
family migration and one of the most significant noneconomic reasons for crossing borders.
While in the host nation, the immigrant could encounter a variety of responses from locals.

There are several conflicts in migrant-host relationships: Both their own culture and the
culture of their new home must be valued by the migrants. The motivation to embrace or reject
the incoming immigrants may also come from the host culture. Migrants integrate when they
place a higher emphasis on the host culture than on their own. When immigrants place a
higher priority on their native culture than the host, they sever ties. Migrants integrate when
they respect both the host culture and their own background.

● Assimilation
In an assimilation mode, the person prefers to retain contacts with other groups in the new
culture rather than preserving a distinct cultural identity. The new cultural hosts more or less
provide a warm welcome to the immigrant. Assimilation is a sort of cultural adaptation in
which a person abandons their own cultural identity and accepts that of the majority culture.

● Separation

There are two forms of separation. Separation is a type of cultural adaptation in which an
individual retains his or her original culture while interacting minimally with other groups.
Separation may be initiated and enforced by the dominant society, in which
case it becomes segregation. The first is when migrants choose to retain their original culture
and avoid interaction with other groups. They maintain their own way of life and identity and
avoid prolonged con- tact with other groups.

However, if such separation is initiated and enforced by the dominant society, the condition
constitutes a second type of separation, segregation. Segregation means the policy or practice
of compelling groups to live apart from each other.

● Integration

Integration is a type of cultural adaptation in which individuals maintain both their original
culture and their daily interactions with other groups. Integration occurs when migrants have
an interest both in maintaining their original culture and language and in having daily
interactions with other groups. This differs from assimilation; in that it involves a greater
interest in maintaining one’s own cultural identity.

● Cultural Hybridity

Migrants and their families often combine these different modes of relating to the host
society—at times assimilating, other times integrating, and still other times sepa- rating,
forming a cultural hybridity relationship with the host culture. They may desire economic
assimilation (via employment), linguistic integration (bilingualism), and social separation
(marrying someone from the same group and socializing only with members of their own
group), producing not the “melting pot” society where every- one was supposed to try to
become the same, but rather a “salad” society, where each group retains a distinctive flavor but
blends together to make up one great society. Different societies are taking different
approaches.
As individuals encounter new cultural contexts, they have to adapt to some extent. This
adaptation process occurs in context, varies with each individual, and is circumscribed by
relations of dominance and power in so-called host cultures.

CULTURAL ADAPTATION

● Social Science Approach

The social science approach focuses on the individual in the adaptation process, indi- vidual
characteristics and background of the migrant, and the individual outcomes of adaptation. It
includes three models: the anxiety and uncertainty management (AUM) model, the transition
model, and the integrative model.

Individual Influences on Adaptation Many individual characteristics—including age,

gender, preparation level, and expectations—can influence how well migrants adapt.
Anxiety and Uncertainty Management Model The goal of effective intercultural
communica- tion can be reached by reducing anxiety and seeking information, a process
known as uncertainty reduction. There are several kinds of uncertainty. Predictive uncertainty
is the inability to predict what someone will say or do. We all know how important it is to be
relatively sure how people will respond to us. Explanatory uncertainty is the inability to
explain why people behave as they do.
The Transition Model All transition experiences involve change, including some loss and
some gain, for individuals.

- Flight approach
A strategy to cope with a new situation, being hesitant or withdrawn from the new
environment. (Compare with fight approach.)

- Fight approach
A trial-and-error approach to coping with a new situation. (Compare with flight approach.)

Migrants who prefer a flight approach when faced with new situations tend to hang back, get
the lay of the land, and see how things work before taking the plunge and joining in. The fight
approach, involves jumping in and participating. Migrants who take this approach use the
trial-and-error method. They try to speak the new language, don’t mind if they make mistakes,
jump on a bus even when they aren’t sure it’s the right one, and often make cultural gaffes.
The Integrative Model Adaptation occurs through communication. That is, the migrant
communicates with individuals in the new environment and gradually develops new ways of
think- ing and behaving. In the process, the migrant achieves a new level of functioning and
acquires an intercultural identity. Communication may have a double edge in adaptation:
Migrants who commu- nicate frequently in their new culture adapt better but also experience
more culture shock

Social support ties with other people that play a significant part in mediating psychological
health over time. When feelings of helplessness and inadequacy arise during the cultural
adaptation, social support from friends can play an important role in help- ing the newcomer
reduce stress, clarify uncertainty, and increase a sense of identity and self-esteem.

Outcomes of Adaptation There are at least three aspects, or dimensions, of adaptation: (1)
psychological health, (2) functional fitness, and (3) intercultural identity.

- Psychological health
The state of being emotionally comfortable in a cultural context.
- Functional fitness
The ability to function in daily life in many different contexts.

● Interpretive Approach
The interpretive approach focuses on in-depth descriptions of the adaptation process, often
employing a phenomenological approach.

- U-curve theory
A theory of cultural adaptation positing that migrants go through fairly predictable phases—
excitement/ anticipation, shock/ disorientation, adjustment—in adapting to a new cultural
situation.
- Culture shock
A relatively short- term feeling of disorientation and discomfort due to the lack of familiar
cues in the environment.
- W-curve theory
A theory of cultural adaptation that suggests that sojourners experience another U curve upon
returning home.
- Phenomenological approach

A research approach that seeks in-depth explanations of human experiences.

 ● Critical Approach: Contextual Influences

Institutional, Political, and Class Influences Local institutions, like schools, religious
institutions, and social service agencies, can facilitate or hinder immigrants’ adaptation.
Identity and Adaptation How individual migrants develop multicultural identities depends
on three issues. One is the extent to which migrants want to maintain their own identity,
language, and way of life compared to how much they want to become part of the larger new
society.
Living on the Border As international migration increases and more and more people travel
back and forth among different cultures, the lines between adaptation and reentry become less
clear.

- Liminality
The experience of being between two or more cultural positions.
- Transnationalism
The activity of migrating across the borders of one or more nation-states.
- Multicultural identity
A sense of in-betweenness that develops as a result of frequent or multiple cultural border
crossings.

The impact of popular culture

The Power of Popular Culture
The complexity of popular culture is often overlooked. People express concern about the social effects of
popular culture—for example, the influence of television violence on children, the role of certain kinds of
music in causing violent behavior by some youths, and the relationship between heterosexual
pornography and violence against women. Yet most people look down on the study of popular culture as
if this form of culture conveys nothing of lasting significance.
What is Popular Culture?
Matthew Arnold defined culture as “the best that has been thought and said in the world”—a definition
that emphasizes quality. High culture refers to those cultural activities that are often the domain of the
elite or the well-to-do: ballet, symphony, opera, great literature, and fine art. low culture, which refers to
the activities of the nonelite: music videos, game shows, professional wrestling, stock car racing, graffiti
art, TV talk shows, and so on. While popular culture is a new name for low culture refers to those cultural
products that most people share and know about, including television, music, videos, and popular
magazines. Popular culture has four key features: (1) it is created by culture industries, (2) it is distinct
from folk culture (traditional), (3) it is present everywhere, and (4) it has a societal purpose.
Resisting Popular Culture
People will occasionally deliberately seek out and read certain popular cultural materials, while at other
times they will reject cultural writings. But opposing popular culture is a difficult process. One type of
resistance is staying away from particular aspects of popular culture, although resistance can take many
different forms. Opposition to popular culture frequently reflects worry about how its representations may
affect other people. In fact, refraining from participating in certain aspects of popular culture is a common
form of resistance.