Liu Chapters 1 & 2

Liu Chapter 1

• Global Village describes a world where communication tech shares news to remote areas, coined by Marshall McLuhan
• Intercultural Communication refers to the communication between people from diverse cultural backgrounds
• Three requirements for Intercultural Communication are:
  • Building intercultural understanding is the first step in being accepting, which requires communication
  • Promoting intercultural cooperation means knowing what to expect when interacting, leading to creative solutions in the workplace
  • Facilitating cross-cultural adjustments occurs as immigrant-receiving countries evolve due to the arrival of diverse people

Liu Chapter 2

• Culture is the way of life for a group, including knowledge, beliefs, traditions, religion, time, roles, spatial relations, worldviews, objects and territory

• Holistic implies the whole is more than its parts

• Emic approach views culture as unique, studied from within

• Etic approach examines culture with universal categories

• Five components make up a culture's inner core:

  • History is the origin and carrier of cultural heritage
  • Identity defines who people are in the culture
  • Beliefs are what a culture considers true or false
  • Values are what a culture sees as good or bad
  • Worldview is what a culture believes about nature

• Subcultures are cultures within a dominant culture, defined by activities, social class, gender, ethnicity, race, region, job, organization or sexual orientation

Liu Chapter 3

• Communication is how people exchange facts in a certain cultural setting using shared codes
• CAT theory assumptions are:
  • Communication is influenced by socio-historical context
  • Communication facilitates the exchange of meaning & identity
  • Communicators meet informational & relational needs by accommodating communication styles

Liu Chapter 4

• Stages of perception involve:
  • Selection, where selective exposure, attention, and retention filters environment stimuli
  • Categorization, the grouping of persons, objects, and events based on likeness, potentially overlooking individual differences
  • Interpretation, where meaning is attached to filtered data
• Ethnocentrism is when people use their culture as a reference point to judge others
• Cultural Relativism involves evaluating an element in its cultural context, increasing successful intercultural interactions
• Stereotypes are assumptions about a group's traits- They may not be applicable to all its members
• Prejudice is a negative attitude or behavior because of generalizations about others

Liu Chapter 5

• Value Orientations are how a culture handles common everyday problems
• Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientation Theory says that cultures establish unique positions in five categories:
  • Human beings and nature include worldview
  • Activity includes the use of time for self-expression, play, and work
  • Time includes views of linear versus circular time
  • Human nature looks at humans being born good, evil or neither
  • Relational perceptions of the self and societal structure

Hofstede's Value Dimensions

• Power Distance is the extent to which less powerful people accept unequal power distribution
  • Malaysia follows strict hierarchies
  • Denmark encourages challenges to superiors
• Individualism is when people are expected to only look after themselves and their immediate family
  • In the US, individuals pursue business
• Collectivism is its opposite and pertains to societies in which people are integrated into strong groups that protect them
  • In Japan, employees value group harmony over personal gain
• Masculinity means gender roles are distinct: men are tough and focused on material success, women are modest and concerned about quality of life
  • In Japan, work focuses on long hours
• Femininity means gender roles overlap: both men and women are modest, tender, concerned with quality of life
  • In Sweden, there are policies to support work-life balance
• Uncertainty Avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguity
  • In Greece, business follows strict regulations
  • In Singapore, businesses adapt so new trends
• Long-Term Orientation favors future rewards via perseverance and thrift
  • In China, business strategies have long-term goals
• Short-Term Orientation instead fosters traits related to the past and present, like respect
  • In the US, quarterly earnings take precedence
• Indulgence is the allowance of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life
  • In Brazil, celebrations are popular
• Restraint curbs this via strict social norms
  • In South Korea, enjoying leisure is not common