Revised chapter 14 (13) barriers to intercultural communication

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015Chapter 14 Barriers to intercultural communication... B

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015

Chapter 14

Barriers to intercultural

communication

Barriers in cross-cultural management

communication

Non-verbal behaviour:

• crucial role in interaction

•All cultures use forms of body language to

communicate

•but the meaning of these forms:

– subject to different interpretations according to the cultural background of the interpreter.

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015

• Those communicating across cultures must

therefore be careful not to assume that certain

gestures they perceive have the same meaning

as in their own culture.

Barriers in cross-cultural management

communication (Continued)

Figure 14.1 ‘I’ve had enough!’

Barriers in cross-cultural management

communication (Continued)

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015

Non-verbal communication barriers

in business

• Use of body language

For example:

– Use of arms by the Dutch, compared to the French

– Use of the whole upper part of body by the French

– The Dutch may perceive French as:

• very emotional and excited since the Dutch only use gestures made by the French when they feel deeply emotional

Non-verbal communication barriers in

business (Continued)

• Silence

• Silences can indicate:

• Respect, of agreement or disagreement

• Modesty (avoid improper use of words).

– In western cultures:

• silence marks pauses in a discourse – In oriental cultures:

• silences are an integral part of communication

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015

Non-verbal communication barriers in

business (Continued)

• The way feelings are expressed can vary so

much between cultures and result can be

negative feelings towards another

• The creation of such prejudices is not the

differences in themselves but the way in which

the differences are interpreted.

Assumptions and culture

Assumptions may have:

1)a cognitive dimension, related to

presumptions as to how people think that things work;

2)an affective dimension, related to the

presumed likings of people;

3)a directive dimension related to the presumed

choices of people

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015

Perceptions and stereotypes

Table 14.1 Who is saying what about whom?

Source: based on Gruère and Morel (1991).

Perceptions and stereotypes (Continued)

• Every culture sees its own system of values in a positive light

• If confronted with negative stereotypes of themselves by other nationalities:

1 will not recognise themselves

2 will react strongly since they feel under attack

3 defend their own personal identity

4 see their national identity more in terms of ‘them’ than ‘us’.

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015

Identity and communication

• National identity characterises a nationality:

– sets the limits of an intercultural exchange.

• Perception of the other:

– Enthocentrism: individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage.

unconsciously made up of our own values

• Ethnocentrism is responsible for prejudices and

stereotypes.

Stereotype building

• A stereotype consists of images created in our

minds with regard to a group or groups of people

How to deal with stereotypes?

• If people could place another culture in its own

context and avoid judging it according to their own

‘system’, stereotypes would eventually disappear.

Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015

Conclusion

• The cultures of the interlocutors filters information and interprets it according to their own

references.

• Stereotypes form the most important barrier to

intercultural communication

End