Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today, we're going to talk about how we can understand cultural communication styles and how they differ depending upon the specific culture.
The first thing that we need to understand about cultural communication is that cultures have varying different meanings for symbols that are used to carry information. And these symbols can have any meaning, as long as the group or culture agrees upon that that specific symbol has a specific meaning.
So for example, in United States culture if a stoplight goes out and we see a red blinking light, we know that we can't just go through that intersection and that we have to stop and maybe utilize that flashing red light as it were a stop sign. So everybody stops and takes a turn in going through that specific intersection that the light is out at.
And in cultures, these symbols that are carrying information could be through verbal communication, so through words, or nonverbal communication, through our gestures or movement. And how we communicate nonverbally really is developed by or based upon our culture of origin.
So each culture has vast different meanings for these symbols that are carrying information. And they are agreed upon by the group as a consensus. And we do this-- or we communicate verbally and nonverbally.
Let's look at some examples of some symbols that have different meanings in different cultures. So the thumbs up in the United States culture, that means OK, good. But in another culture, it could really mean something negative. It could mean that you are disrespecting somebody. So here we have a gesture that has entirely two different meanings depending upon the culture.
And another example is eye contact. In some cultures, it's really important to look somebody in the eye when you are talking to them as part of active listening. While as in other cultures, it's disrespectful and intimidating to look into somebody's eyes when you are speaking to them.
If we are not aware of the different meanings for these symbols or gestures, it can create conflict and miscommunication. So let's say we're from the United States and we give somebody the thumbs up in another culture. That indicates that them that we are showing them some disrespect. And they may get offended by that and cause miscommunication, and even possibly escalate to a conflict. So we need to be aware that different cultures have different meanings for symbols so we can avoid that miscommunication and conflict.
Here are key points here on cultural communication styles before we go. Each culture has a different meaning for the symbols that they use to carry information. And these include verbal, so words, and nonverbal communication, so our gestures and movement.
And we develop our nonverbal communication habits from our culture. And if we're not aware of the different meanings for symbols, it can create and escalate conflict. So again, we need to really be aware of certain gestures that may be disrespectful in a certain culture that we are communicating with.
Here are your key terms before we go. Feel free to pause and look at them a little bit closer.
Thank you so much for taking the time out to view this. I hope that you've learned something. And I can't wait to catch you again next time.
