cultures is also conveyed“through status (age, sex, education, family background,
title, and affiliations) and through an individual’sinformalfriendsand
associates.”^45 Because of the subtle“messages” used by high-context cultures,
members of these groups often“communicate in an indirect fashion.”^46 They
rely more on how something is said rather than what is said and are acutely
aware of nonverbal cues.
As shown in Table 6.3, Northeast Asianculturestendtobehigh-context.
According to Chang, this is a result ofConfucian philosophy, which inclines
“Asian culture toward high-context and collectivist communication that empha-
sizes role hierarchy and relations ratherthan the expression of self through direct
communication.”^47TABLE 6.3 Cultures Arranged Along the High-Context and
Low-Context Dimension
HIGH-CONTEXT CULTURES
Japanese
|
Chinese
|
Korean
|
AfricanAmerican
|
Native American
|
Arab
|
Greek
|
Latin
|
Italian
|
English
|
French
|
North American
|
Scandinavian
|
German
|
German/Swiss
|
LOW-CONTEXT CULTURES
Source: Adapted from E.T. Hall,Beyond Culture(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976), 91.Hall’s High-Context and Low-Context Orientations 221Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).