Culture & Interpersonal

Communication
 Culture Influences Interpersonal
Communication: How?
• How we talk to others
• What you say to yourself

• Cultural Understanding: in order to

communicate effectively
• Understanding how cultures differ
 Cultural Perspective
• Seeing the world through the “glasses”
created by our own culture

• Most of us are not aware that we wear

them
Can we imagine that our view can also be distorted by the glasses we
wear.
 Cultural Dimensions: what are they?

CULTURAL Characteristics

An aspect of culture that can be

measured relative to other cultures

Cultural General Knowledge

 Dr. Geert Hofstede:
Cultural Dimensions
Conducted groundbreaking and
comprehensive research in the late 1970’s
early 1980’s in over 70 countries
Researched how values in the workplace are
influenced by culture
Identified 5 dimensions that describe cultural
groups
 Dimensions of Culture
1. Power Distance (high & low)
2. Individualism/Collectivism
3. Uncertainty Avoidance (high & low)
4. Masculinity/Feminine
5. High Context/Low Context
Communication
 POWER DISTANCE
PHYSICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCE
between those in a culture who have power
and those who do not have power
Power refers to the extent to which less
powerful members of organizations and
institutions (including the family) accept and
expect unequal power distribution
High Power Distance vs Low Power Distance
Cultures
HIGH Power Cultures: Accept authority and do not
usually challenge authority (belief that people in
different levels of power should be treated
differently) verbal/non-verbal forms of respect

LOW Power Cultures: Minimize power

distinctions, challenge unequal power, (belief that
people of all different levels should be treated the
same)
Power Distance: Is manager or top status
person accessible?
Power Distance
 High Power or Low Power Distance?

• A website advising North Americans on how to

conduct business in South Korea says:
“it is important to emphasize your title so that
the correct authority, status and rank are
established.” (is South Korea high or low
power?)
High Power or Low Power Distance Culture?

A Mexican Boss working in the Netherlands said:

….”I will schedule a meeting in order to
introduce a new process/method, and during
the meeting my team starts challenging the
process, taking the meeting in unexpected
directions, and paying no attention to the fact
that they work for me.” Forbes Leadership Forum
Sept. 25, 2014 Power Distance: You can’t Lead across
cultures without understanding it.
 POWER DISTANCE
High Power Cultures Low Power Cultures
• Power held by a few • Power is more evenly
• Ordinary citizens have distributed
less power • Loose hierarchies
• Strong hierarchies • Distance between most
• Distance between most powerful and less
powerful and less powerful is small
powerful is large
Low power or High Power Culture?
President of Netherlands Canadian Prime Minister
 High Power or Low Power?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwZoC00
7Rmo
President of France greeting students
 High Power or Low Power?
• Swedish Manager: “Even if I know the answer,
I will not give it to my staff….because I want
them to figure it out themselves.”

• Japanese employee: “I would try not to ask my

boss a question unless I was sure he knew the
answer.”
Forbes Leadership Forum Sept. 25, 2014 Power Distance: You can’t Lead across cultures without
understanding it.
 What is your cultural orientation?
In choosing a life partner, or even close friends, I
feel more comfortable:
a) With someone not necessarily from my own
culture and class
b) With those from my own culture and class
 Think about it…….
CONSIDER: Can you openly disagree with your
elders, parents, teacher, professor, government
official, law enforcement officer, religious
authority, gurus ? Etc
If you find it a challenge to do so, you are in a
high power culture
 Hofstede’s Culture Index Pole
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/co
mpare-countries
/

Low Moderate High

0________________ 50_________________100
Individualistic/Collectivist Cultures
 Individualistic Cultures; Concerned with “I”
(loyalty lies with individual needs first, then
parents and children)
 Collectivistic Culture: Loyalty lies with group---
extended families, brothers, sisters, uncles,
cousins, nephews etc.
Individualistic/Collectivist Cultures
• Individualistic Cultures: Personal Goals,
uniqueness, independence and achievements
are valued

• Collectivist Cultures: Conformity is valued and

is viewed positively
 Individualistic/Collectivist
 Individualistic Culture: laws in individualistic
culture focus on protecting personal choices,
the right to pursue your goals and dreams,
freedom of expression
 Collectivist Culture: laws focus on the rights of
the family or the common good of society
 Individualistic Cultures
 Independence, self reliance, self-direction and
self sufficiency is taught and valued from a
young age
 Individual uniqueness is valued
 Own opinion is important
 Direct communication is valued
 Space & Privacy valued
 Collectivist Cultures
• Group opinion is important verses ONE
opinion: This does not mean that people from
a collectivist cultures have no opinion of their
own. It’s just that the opinion of the group is
more important
• “LOSS OF FACE” (shame)---literal words mean
you can only lose face in the presence of
others, or (collective)
 Collectivist Culture
• Emphasis on belonging to the group (family,
organization etc)
• Space & Privacy less important
• Harmony (agreement) with others is
important
• Well being of group takes priority over oneself
Individualism & Collectivism
 Individualistic/Collectivistic Cultures at
School/Work
Consider how these are valued at the
Individualistic or Collectivist workplace:
 TEAMWORK
 Relationships (more important than the task in a collectivist
culture (usually comes first)

 Tasks/Responsibilities (more important than the relationship

in an Individualistic culture) (relationship comes second)
Individualistic Cultures: Independence is
main focus
 Individualistic Cultures
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biiqupvC
UVo

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biiqupvC
UVo
• TD Bank video on teaching your children
about money, “before it’s too late”
 Individualistic & Collectivist
Individualistic Cultures Collectivistic Cultures
• Responsibility is for the • Responsibility is for
individual the entire group
• Focus on individual goals • Focus on group goal
• Success measured by
• Success measured on
individual accomplishment
• Independence, self-
contributions to the
sufficiency is taught from whole
childhood • Face-Saving
 What is your cultural Orientation?
Success, to my way of thinking, is better
measured by:
a) The extent to which I surpass others
b) My contribution to the group effort
My Success is:
c) My family’s success
d) My own
 High Context/Low Context Communication:
what is it?
• How we use language to share information
with others
• The importance that each culture places on
the context (situation/background) versus the actual
message itself. 
 High Context Culture Communication

 Less verbally explicit/Less Direct

 Meaning is implied: understood through
context/situation/background eg. person’s
non-verbal behaviour and social status
 Prefer face-to-face communication
 Gestures, tone, facial expressions, silence
convey meaning & more important than
actual words
 High Context Communication Cultures

• Politeness and desire to avoid embarrassment

takes priority over truth
• More attention to the situation, not the words
• Meaning is understood through
context/situation/background eg. person’s
non-verbal behaviour and status
• Workplace: less competitive, more
cooperative
 Low Context Culture Communication

 MEANING is expressed through Language (not

so much background, status, non verbal )

 Low Context cultures expect & respect

honesty & directness

 Usually in Individualistic Cultures

 High Context = Indirect
Low Context = Direct
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eq37Q_dKao

Indirect/Direct Communication (a short 3 minute video)

 Low Context Communication Cultures

• VALUE the effectiveness of short, clear, direct

answers to a question
• Direct communication: “speak up and spell
it out,” “speak our mind” “tell it like it is.”
“don’t beat around the bush” “call them as
you see them” (all popular sayings in low
context cultures)
 High & Low CONTEXT Communication
HIGH Context Cultures (Indirect)
• Emphasis on information is
in the person
• Building Personal
Relationships comes first
• Oral Agreements Important
• Messages can be vague
because of shared
knowledge
LOW Context Cultures (Direct)
• Emphasis on the
information that is explicit
in words, written messages
• Messages are Direct and
Specific
• Task/job more comes first
before building
relationships
 What is your cultural orientation?
In communicating, it’s generally more important
to be:
a) Polite, rather than accurate or direct
b) Accurate and direct rather than polite
Perception Errors of Low context speakers by
High Context (indirect) speakers

Low Context High Context Speaker

That’s wrong! Insensitive

You should tell her/him….. Insensitive

I don’t agree with you. Rude

You need to do more work on this Rude

project.
 Perception Errors of HIGH context speakers
(indirect) by Low context (direct speakers)

High Context Low Context

I will try…. Passive/inactive

I think maybe….. passive

I tend to agree… passive

Let me get back to you on that…. Not very honest

 Small Talk: Is it really small?
• Informal communication usually to start a
conversation between people who don’t know
each other (to “break the ice”)
• In business: to establish one another’s
reputation or approval, level of
knowledge/expertise
Which context culture would small talk to start
communication/business take longer?
Barriers to understanding Cultures
• Stereotypes: “imagined “pictures” about a
person based on the fact that they belong to a
certain group. (often negative, simplified)
• Ethnocentrism: tendency to see others and
their behaviours through our own cultural
glasses and evaluate that your own are better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76BboyrEl48
Barriers to understanding Cultures
 Barriers to Understanding Cultures:
Stereotypes: From McMaster U. Facebook page
 Recognizing & Reducing Stereotypes &
Ethnocentrism
• See others as different, not inferior or superior
• Recognize that how others do things may be
different, not inferior or superior
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CYb5yxxgjY
• Stop and recognize cultural “blinders”
• Developing intercultural competence (the ability to
communicate effectively is a journey)
• Adjust/adapt your communication
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yEuy5edzec
 IN Class Exercise
Has anyone ever assumed something that
wasn’t true about you because you were a
member of a particular culture? OR

Have you assumed something that wasn’t true

about a particular culture? (even through media,
movies etc)