132 Part 1 Basic Communication ProcessesAn American businessperson might get frustrated and
give up after spending six months working on a deal
with a Japanese company, when the Japanese may be
wondering why the Americans quit so soon when they
were all just getting to know each other!
A key cultural distinction operating here is whether
cultures are monochronic or polychronic (Gudykunst &
Ting-Toomey, 1988; Hall, 1976; Victor, 1992). Mono-
chronic cultures treat time as a limited resource. Such
cultures (including the United States, Germany, Can-
ada, and the United Kingdom) use time to structure
activities and focus on attending to one person or task at
a time; they value concentration and stick to schedules.
In monochronic cultures, people line up to wait their
“turn”—to see a professor at office hours, to check out
at the grocery store, to get into a concert. Polychronic
cultures are comfortable dealing with multiple people and tasks at the same
time. Seven or eight people all crowding around a stall and shouting out their
needs at a mercado in Mexico is expected, not rude. Polychronic cultures (such
as in Mexico, India, and the Philippines) are also less concerned with making
every moment count. They don’t adhere as closely to schedules, are less likely to
make or attend to appointments, and change plans often and easily.
Even Web-based communication can be affected by such differences in the
perception of time. One study found that people from polychronic cultures were
less bothered by download delays than were people from monochronic cultures
(Rose, Evaristo, & Straub, 2003).Value of Emotional Expression
In the central highlands of Madagascar, Rakotonarivo Henri is dancing with the
bones of his grandfather. Accompanied by five brass bands, Henri and others on
this island in the Indian Ocean emerge from family crypts with cheerful emo-
tion. Amid joyful singing and dancing, they openly express their feelings to one
another—and the dead—in a ritualistic ceremony called the famadihana, or the
“turning of the bones.” The ritual is meant to celebrate their ancestors, pass on
the rituals and stories to the next generation, and publicly show how they love
one another (Bearak, 2010).
One thing that people from all cultures share is the ability to experience emo-
tion. But expressing emotions (including which emotions under which circum-
stances) varies greatly. In some cultures, emotional expression is associated with
strength, whereas in others it is associated with weakness. Sometimes emotional
expression is seen as chaos and other times as an identification of and processing
of problems (Lutz, 1996).
Many collectivistic cultures (for example, Arab cultures) often use hyperbole—
vivid, colorful language with great emotional intensity (and often exaggera-
tion). Individualistic cultures (particularly English-speaking) tend toward
understatement, language that downplays the emotional intensity or importance
of events (often with euphemisms) (Wierzbicka, 2006). Consider, for example,CONNECT
In Chapters 14 and 16, we
discuss the importance
of emotionally connecting
to your audience and ap-
pealing to their emotions
(pathos). However, it’s es-
sential to understand your
audience’s comfort with
emotional expression. A
culture that favors under-
statement may be suspi-
cious of a highly dramatic
speaker. You would want
to ensure that your verbal
and nonverbal communica-
tion is logical, credible, and
competent for the context
while attempting to touch
their hearts.
DURING FAMADIHANA,
the Malagasy people of
Madagascar embrace their
ancestor’s bones, literally, and
love for each other and their
culture, figuratively. © Gideon
Mendel/CORBIS