Exploring Culture and Gender in Communication

1. Culture and Gender Chapter 2

2. Understanding Culture and Communication • What is culture? • The learned, shared symbols, language, values, and norms that distinguish one group of people from another • This leads to our understanding of • Society—a group of people who share a given culture • In-groups—a group with whom we identify • Out-group—a group we see as different from ourselves

3. Culture and Communication • Ethnocentrism • Systematic preference for characteristics of one’s own culture

4. Culture and Communication

5. Culture and Communication

6. Understanding Culture and Communication • The Components of Culture • Symbols • Represent an idea • Language • Written and spoken • Values • Right/wrong, good, beauty • Norms • Rules or expectations

7. Understanding Culture and Communication • Cultures and Co-Cultures • Co-cultures • Groups who share values, customs, norms • Smaller groups of people with whom we identify • Shared activities • Most of us belong to several co-cultures • Examples • Fraternities/sororities, religious groups, groups organized around hobbies

8. How Culture Affects Communication • Individualism vs. Collectivism • Individualism—how much a culture emphasizes individuals rather than groups, primary responsibility is to the “self” • Collectivism—culture emphasizes primary responsibility is to their families, communities, and employers

9. Culture and Communication • High- and Low-Context • Low-context—people are expected to be direct, say what they mean, express self, share opinions, try to persuade others • High-context—taught to speak less directly, maintain harmony, avoid offending others, subtle nonverbal behaviors signal meaning

10. Culture and Communication • Low- and High-Power Distance • Low-Power Distance—in democratic societies, people believe in equality, everyone is created equal, no one group should have excessive power, no one person is better than others, may question authority • High-Power Distance—power distributed unevenly, rulers have much power, average citizen has less power, obedience without question

11. Culture and Communication • Masculine and Feminine Cultures • Masculine—respect masculine values such as: ambition, achievement, acquire material goods • Feminine—value nurturing, quality of life, service to others, not strongly differentiate masculine and feminine qualities • Fascinating article on Native Americans who were “Two-Spirit People” (not in textbook): http://www.firstpeople.us/articles/the-two-spirit-people-of-indigenous-north-americans.html

12. Culture and Communication • Molychronic and Polychronic—based on concept of time • Molychronic—time is valuable, like a commodity, prompt • Polychronic—time is holistic, fluid, less structured

13. Culture and Communication • Uncertainty Avoidance • The extend to which people try to avoid situations that are unstructured, unclear, or unpredictable • US is in middle of these two • High Uncertainty Avoidant Cultures • Drawn to people and situations that are familiar, not risk-takers, fear failure, uncomfortable with differences of opinion, favor rules and laws • Uncertainty-Accepting Cultures • Open to new situations, accommodating to different ideas and people

14. Understanding Gender Roles and Communication • Norms for how women and men are expected to act • Masculine—strength, competition, independent, sexual aggression, risk taking, logical, acquire resources, reject weakness, less emotional • Feminine—empathy, emotional expression, focus on relationships, interest in children, attend to appearance, cooperation, submissiveness • Androgynous—characteristics of both masculine and feminine

15. Gender and Communication

16. Gender and Communication • Gender and Verbal Communication • Expressive and Instrumental Talk • Women considered expressive, men instrumental • Language and Verbal Power • Men tend to interrupt more, talk more, give directions, express more opinions • Gendered Linguistic Styles • Women saying “we” or “they,” refer more to emotion, use longer sentences, more intense adverbs

17. How Gender Affects Communication • Touch and Body Movement • Differences for the genders • Emotional Communication • Women express more positive emotion than men • Show feelings of closeness or attachment • Doesn’t mean that men don’t experience same range of emotions as women! • Affectionate Behavior • Women use more nonverbal affection • Different reasons why