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Intercultural Communication
in Contexts
Third Edition

Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Nakayama

Arizona State University

CHAPTER
Why Study Intercultural
1 Communication?

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter Summary

• The Technological Imperative

• The Demographic Imperative
• The Economic Imperative
• The Peace Imperative
• The Self-Awareness Imperative
• The Ethical Imperative

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Technological Imperative

• Five Aspects of Technology Related to

Culture
1. Increase in Information
2. Increased Contact with People who
Differ
3. Increased Contact with People who
are Similar
McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Slide 4

The Technological Imperative

• Five Aspects of Technology Related to

Culture
4. Identity, Culture, and Technology
Technology changes how we think about
ourselves and our identity management.

5. Access to Communication Technology

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Technological Imperative

• Mobility and its Effect on Communication

Mobility in our society places us in physical
contact with more people.
– U.S. families move more often than ever.
– Mobility changes the individuals involved.
– Young adults are more mobile than other generations.
– Many families relocate as a result of divorce or
economic reasons.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Demographic Imperative

• There are two sources for recent and future

changes in the U.S. population:
– Changing U.S. Demographics
– Changing Immigration Patterns

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Demographic Imperative

• Changing U.S. Demographics

– The U.S. population is increasingly nonwhite
and multiracial.
– Nonwhite populations and ethnic diversity are
particularly prevalent and increasing in the
South and West.
– The U.S. workforce is increasingly older and
female.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Demographic Imperative

• Changing Immigration Patterns

1. Influence of Immigration
2. Intercultural relations in the United States
today can be understood by reviewing our
immigration history.
3. Relationships with New Immigrants
A. Anglocentrism
B. The melting pot metaphor
McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The Demographic Imperative

• Changing Immigration Patterns

3. Relationships with New Immigrants (cont.)
C. Nativism
D. Influence of economics
E. Ethnic enclaves

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Slide 10

The Demographic Imperative

• Changing Immigration Patterns

4. Immigration and Economic Classes
A. Rigidity of economic class structure
B. Income gap between rich and poor

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Demographic Imperative

• Changing Immigration Patterns

5. Demographic Diversity
A. Differences in worldviews often lead to
prejudices and stereotypes.
B. A better metaphor today than the “melting pot”
may be a "salad" or a "tapestry," which recognizes
that each group will retain its own characteristics
and yet contribute to the whole.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Demographic Imperative

• Changing Immigration Patterns

5. Demographic Diversity (cont.)
C. Diversity can be a positive force providing
linguistic richness, culinary variety, new resources
to meet social challenges, as well as domestic and
international business opportunities.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Economic Imperative

• The Global Market

– The recent trend toward globalization means
that the U.S. economy is increasingly connected
to those of other countries.
– Unfortunately, many American companies
spend little time learning how to do business in
other countries.
– The economy is increasingly dominated by
multinational corporations.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Economic Imperative

• The Global Market

– Many U.S. companies have established
manufacturing plants along the U.S.-Mexican
border, known as maquiladoras
– Domestic diversity also motivates businesses to
be attentive to cultural differences.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Peace Imperative

• Contact among different groups has often led to

disharmony.
• Some conflicts are tied to the history of
colonialism.
• Other conflicts are tied to economic disparities
coupled with the influence of U.S. technology and
media.
• It is also important to recognize the role of
historical, political, religions, and economic
contexts.
McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The Self-Awareness Imperative

• Studying intercultural communication helps

us understand our own cultural identity and
the similarities and differences that exist
around the world.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Ethical Imperative

• Ethics are principles of conduct that help

govern behaviors of individuals and groups
that often arise from a community's
consensus on what is good and bad
behavior.
• Cultures may hold different notions of
ethical behavior, and conflicts arise when
the ethical systems of two cultures collide.
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The Ethical Imperative

• Four Views of Ethics

1. The universalist perspective holds that
fundamental notions of right and wrong are
universal and that cultural differences are
superficial.
2. The relativist position holds that any cultural
behavior can only be judged within the cultural
context in which it occurs.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Ethical Imperative

• Four View of Ethics

3. A more moderate position assumes that people
can evaluate culture without succumbing to
ethnocentrism.
4. A recent suggestion is to employ a dialogical
approach, which stresses the importance of
relationships and dialogues in addressing
ethical dilemmas.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Ethical Imperative

• How to Be an Ethical Student of Culture

1. Self-Reflexivity - Understanding ourselves, the
social categories we belong to, and their
implications will make us more effective and
ethical communicators.
2. Learning about other cultures will teach us
about ourselves.
3. We should be mindful of the profound changes
that can be provoked by intercultural contact.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.