Week 7

• Culture


  A learned system of knowledge, behaviour, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms that is shared by a group of people and shaped from one generation to the next
• Intercultural communication


  Communication between persons who have different cultural beliefs, values, or ways of behaving
• Intercultural communication

  • Occurs when individuals or groups from different cultures communicate, including different races, ethnic groups, religions, nations, genders & smaller cultures
• Features of intercultural communication

  • Knowledge
  • Open-mindedness
  • Mindfulness
  • Tolerance
  • Empathy
• Knowledge


  To be well-equipped in engaging with people from other cultures, one needs to learn about their cultures
• Ways to learn about other people's cultures

  1. Talk with members of the culture

  2. View a video or film that presents a realistic view of the culture

  3. Read what members of the culture as well as "outsiders" write about the culture
• Open-mindedness


  The willingness to consider other people's ideas, suggestions, and opinions
• Social decentering


  Seeing the world from the other person's point of view
• Mindfulness


  Being aware of how people communicate with others
• Tolerance


  There are vast differences within every cultural group
• Empathy


  Feeling what other people feel
• Emotional intelligence


  The capability to assess the emotions of others
• Behaviours are a reflection of your values, which are based on your beliefs
• Beliefs


  Concepts or ideas that an individual or group holds to be true, usually reflected in our actions and communication behaviours
• Values


  What you consider desirable for yourself and for the society you live in, which can be held both consciously and subconsciously
• Social categorisation


  • Gender
  • Age
  • Race & Ethnicity
  • Religion
  • Social Class
• Gender


  A complex, culturally constructed and psychologically based perception of oneself, learned from society
• Difference between men and women's communication

  Women: more expressive and focused on feelings and relationships<|>Men: tend to be more instrumental and competitive
• Age


  Different people from different age groups experience different cultural events, hence their worldviews differ
• Generation gap


  The older generation might make stereotypical assumption on the younger generation's taste in music and fashion
• Race


  A category that historically has been based on genetic or biological factors that are not clear-cut, traditionally based on physical attributes such as skin color, body type, hair color, and texture
• Ethnicity


  A social classification based on nationality, religion, language, and biological ancestral heritage shared by a group of people with a common geographic origin
• Religion


  A personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices, encompassing issues such as attitudes toward marriage, divorce, child rearing, money, and morality
• Social class


  The status and influence people are perceived to have based on economic factors, education, and family history
• Stereotyping


  A complex form of categorization that mentally organizes your experiences with and guides your behavior toward a particular group of people
• Forms of stereotype


  • Positive stereotype: generalising all Asians as hardworking and good in education
  • Negative stereotype: generalising all Goth dressers as problematic
• Discrimination


  The unfair or inappropriate treatment of categories of people, based on their race, sex, age, gender, and ethnicity, as well as other group memberships