Communication: intercultural communication
communicate with each other compared to their
communication with members of out-groups.
In contrast, cultures in which individualistic
tendencies predominate stress the importance
of the individual and the individual’s aims,
interests, achievements and self-development.
Individuals are expected to be self-reliant and
take responsibility for themselves and their
close family. Individuals may be members of a
number of in-groups – most of which will have
relatively limited and specific influence over
their members. Individuals are encouraged to
be competitive, to speak out and to stand out.
Th ere are likely to be fewer marked diff erences
between the ways in which people communicate
with in-group and out-group members.
It should be borne in mind, however, that
people in any culture may have both collectiv-
istic or individualistic orientations, even though
one will tend to be stronger. Further, not all
people will necessarily identify strongly with the
predominant tendency of the culture in which
they live.
There are many cross-cultural contexts in
which the variable of Individualism versus
Collectivism aff ects communicative behaviour.
One is the approach taken to confl ict manage-
ment. Stella Ting-Toomey in Communicating
Across Cultures (Guildford Press, 1999) notes
that those from individualistic cultures tend to
focus on outcomes and the achievement of goals
in contrast to those from collectivistic cultures,
who focus on the process and on behaving
appropriately.
Marieke De Mooij in Global Marketing and
Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes
(Sage, 1998) discusses the impact of the Indi-
vidualism versus Collectivism variable in the
encoding and decoding of advertisements. One
example here is that of a lone fi gure featuring
in an advertisement. Th is image is likely to be
interpreted in a negative light in collectivistic
cultures, as it runs the risk of suggesting that
the person has ‘no friends, no identity’ – not a
connotation that advertisers normally wish to
have associated with their products. So in collec-
tivistic cultures people are often shown in groups
enjoying the product, whereas in individualistic
cultures it is not unusual to see just one person
and individualistic appeals in advertisements.
An important infl uence of the same variable
on communication lies in its relationship to
the use of what Edward Hall in Beyond Culture
(Doubleday, 1977/81) terms high-context and
low-context communication. High-context
communication relies heavily on the aspects ofprocess of intercultural communication.
language and non-verbal communica-
tion clearly vary across cultures, but the
impact of culture may go further than causing
the obvious problems of translation. Th e sapir-
whorf linguistic relativity hypothesis
proposes that language determines thought and
thus diff erent languages may carry with them
diff erent perceptions of the world. Th is hypoth-
esis remains controversial, but a number of
researchers would argue that whilst language
may not determine thought, it does infl uence it.
Richard Hudson, for example, in Sociolinguistics
(Cambridge University Press, 1996) comments,
‘In short, language does aff ect thought in ways
that go beyond the rather obvious effects of
the specifi c lexical items. On the other hand,
language is not the only kind of experience
which does aff ect thought.’
A number of theorists have sought to explore
key cultural variables and clearly these have the
potential to impact on the process of intercul-
tural communication. In Culture’s Consequences:
Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions and
Organisations across Nations (Sage, 2001) Geert
Hofstede identifi es fi ve dimensions along which
cultures can be compared: Power Distance;
Uncertainty Avoidance; Masculinity-Femininity;
Long versus Short-term Orientation; and Indi-
vidualism versus Collectivism.
Another widely used profile of key cross-
cultural variables is that developed by Fons
Trompenaars and Charles Hampton-Turner. In
Managing People Across Cultures (John Wiley
& Sons, 2004) they identify seven key variables:
Universalism versus Particularism; Individual-
ism versus Communitarianism (similar to Indi-
vidualism versus Collectivism); Specifi c versus
Diff use; Neutral versus Aff ective; Achievement
versus Ascription; Sequential versus Synchronic
Time; and Internal versus External Control.
A key variable is, arguably, that of Indi-
vidualism versus Collectivism, and it is one that
appears to impact considerably on communica-
tion. A culture may be predominantly, though
not exclusively, collectivistic or individualistic.
Cultures in which collectivistic tendencies
predominate stress the importance of the ties
and obligations attached to membership. Th ese
will exercise considerable and general infl uence
over members (for example, the family, faith-
groups). Th e interests of the in-group are seen as
more important than those of individuals, whose
duty is to abide by the norms and values of the
in-group. There are often marked differences
between the manner in which in-group members