Real Communication An Introduction

124 Part 1  Basic Communication Processes

often join the public conversation too. Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson, for

example, have lashed out via Twitter at weight-related criticisms (“Don’t Call Me

Fat,” 2013), but they also share in the celebration when they lose weight and

express frustration when they don’t (“Jessica Simpson,” 2013).

In many other cultures, worldviews about weight and physical attractiveness

differ greatly. Jessica Simpson herself discovered this when she traveled around

the world for VH1’s series The Price of Beauty (Hinckley, 2010). She found, for

example, that in Uganda, larger women are considered desirable, and so they

prepare for marriage in a “fattening hut.” This cultural practice expresses to the

people of Uganda the importance for women of gaining weight, much like the

U.S. tabloids express to Americans the value of losing it.

Intercultural Communication Matters

The fact that people from different cultures perceive the world quite differently

can lead to misunderstandings, anger, hurt feelings, and other challenges when

they interact. This is why communication scholars invest a great deal of time and

effort to study and write about intercultural communication, the communi-

cation between people from different cultures who have different worldviews.

Communication is considered intercultural when the differences between com-

municators are so substantial that they can create different interpretations and

expectations (Lustig & Koester, 1993).

The answer to addressing intercultural misunderstanding is not to limit

yourself to interactions with people who perceive things exactly like you. In this

mobile society, you study, play, and work with people who are different from you

on a number of levels. Let’s now consider why studying intercultural communi-

cation matters so much.

A Diverse Society

The United States is a diverse country with a population that reflects a range of

ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. Different regions of the country (and

sometimes different neighborhoods in the same city) have distinct cultures as

well (see Figure 5.1). You have a unique cultural back-

ground and communication style that differ in some

ways from those of others. So, to function as a member

of such a diverse society, you need to be able to com-

municate appropriately and effectively with a wide

variety of individuals. Two key parts of this process

include understanding your own cultural expectations

for communication and respecting those of others.

Mobility

You and your family may have moved to a new com-

munity while you were growing up, or perhaps other

families moved into your hometown. Whether due to

shifts in the economy and employment (Goudreau,

2013) or international immigration (Taylor & Cohn,

2012), the people around you are likely to be changing.

WHETHER YOU’RE

volunteering for the Peace

Corps in another country

or just going to a different

part of your home state, it’s

important to be sensitive to

cultural differences when

communicating. Courtesy of the

Peace Corps

Reflect on how you learned

your general culture. In what

ways was it directly imparted

to you? What role did com-

munication with parents,

caregivers, siblings, and

other important people in

your life play in this process?

AND YOU?