跨文化交际(四)解析

Culture and Perception
a. Culture , smell and taste
Cheese(干酪) bean curd with odor(臭豆腐)


奶油老鼠

腌猫肉
b. Culture and sight
Horizontal-vertical illusion(横竖错觉) Mü ller-Lyer illusion(缪勒－莱尔错觉)



In collective societies such as those in Pakistan, Colombia, Venezuela, Taiwan China and Peru, a “we” consciousness prevails: identity is based on the social system; the individual is emotionally depend on organizations and institutions; organizations invade private life and the clans to which individuals belong; and individuals trust group decisions.

Definitions

Beliefs are our convictions in the truth of something—— with or without proof.

Values are enduring attitudes about the preferability of one belief over another.
Intercultural Communication
跨文化交际
Part 3 The influence of culture
Chapter 3
Goals:
1. To understand perception. 2. To know the relation between culture and perception. 3. To know diverse cultural patterns.

Understanding Perception


Perception is the means by which we make sense of our physical and social world. As Gamble and Gamble state, “perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory data in a way that enables us to make sense of our world.” The physical mechanism of perception is pretty much the same in all people: sensory organs such as the eyes, ears, and nose permit us to sense our environment, and the sensations received by them are routed through our nervous system to our brains, where they are interpreted and accorded meaning in two-stage sequence.
Triandis estimated in 1990 that “about 70% of the population of the world lives in collective cultures.”



Uncertainty Avoidance
As the terms are used by , uncertainty and avoidance indicate the extent to which a culture feels threatened by or anxious about uncertain and ambiguous situation. High-uncertainty-avoidance cultures try to avoid uncertainty and ambiguity by providing stability for their members, establishing more formal rules, not tolerating deviant ideas and behaviors, seeking consensus, and believing in absolute truths and the attainment of expertise. They are also characterized by a high level of anxiety and stress: people think of the uncertainty inherent in life as a continuous hazard that must be avoided. Portugal, Greece, Peru, Belgium and Japan.

Diverse Cultural Patterns

ຫໍສະໝຸດ Baidu
Hofstede’s Value Dimensions Kluckhohn, Kluckhohn, and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientations Hall’s High-Context and Low-Context Communication Et Cetera
Cultural Patterns

The manner in which we perceive the world rests on more than beliefs and values. Cultures are extremely complex and consist of numerous interrelated cultural orientations besides beliefs and values, including attitudes, norms, and material aspects. A useful umbrella term that allow us to talk about these orientations collectively instead of separately is cultural patterns, which refers to both the conditions that contribute to the way in which a people perceive and think about the world, and the manner in which they live in that world.
Dominant American Cultural Patterns
Individualism Equality Materialism Science and Technology Progress and Change Work and Leisure Competition


Hofstede’s Value Dimensions

Individualism-Collectivism
According to Hofstede’s findings, the United states, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand tend toward individualism. In cultures that tend toward individualism, an “I” consciousness prevails: competition rather than cooperation is encouraged; personal goals take precedence over group goals; people tend not to be emotionally depend on organizations and institutions; and every individual has the right to his or her private property, thoughts, and opinions. These cultures stress individual initiative and achievement, and they value individual decision making.


The first stage is recognition or identification, in which a configuration of light or sound waves is identified as, for example, a car or music. At the second stage, the interpretation and evaluation of that which has been identified take place. The result of this process is not the same for all people, because this process is learned and therefore influenced by all of our past experiences. This fact alone would make communication difficult even between people with similar backgrounds. When we add the ingredient of culture to the equation, finding a matching reality becomes even more problematic.



Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, the United States, Finland, and the Netherlands have a low-uncertaintyavoidance needs. They more easily accept the uncertainty inherent in life and are not as threatened by deviant people and ideas, so they tolerate the unusual. They prize initiative, dislike the structure associated with hierarchy, are more willing to take risks, are more flexible, think that there should be as few rules as possible, and depend not so much on experts as on themselves, generalists, and common sense. As a while, members of low-uncertainty-avoidance cultures are less tense and more relaxed-traits reflected in the Irish proverb “Life should be a dance, not a race”.