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Lecture Notes 7 - Chapter 10 Communication and Stress

Class notes from Professor Eugene Derobertis's class.
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Cross-Cultural Psychology (21:830:322)

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Chapter 10: Communication and Stress Nothing comes closer to the heart of culture creation than language Sensory metaphors used more frequently than abstract language Communicating in our lexicon gives us a even beyond sensory metaphors We use our own bodies (and minds) as a template to understand the physical environment around us Concepts that we create have an immediate connection to our incarnate being Lexicon raw materials you have to work with in regards to each language has its own stockpile (there is overlap) It is built up from other components: Phonemes (sounds the minimum number of sound qualities you can pull from a language) Phonology (typical way that you put sounds together) Morphemes (smallest units of referential meaning in when you put together to actually refer to something) Semantics (associated Grammar (deep structure that holds lexicon rules about how you can or cannot put all the words together) and syntax (word major part of grammar commas, periods, exclamation marks, etc.) Pragmatics rules pertaining to exactly how the lexicon is used in real time) Your ear becomes accustomed to hearing parts of your language Once you put a system of rules in place there is an infinite variety of rules and the gap that opens up between animal language and human language is that once you graft onto a lexicon, the intricacies of grammar opens up the language into infinity There is a recently emerging area of animal linguistics (animal part of it is a grammar relating to the pragmatics of a language Language acquisition device Children will sometimes say things they have never heard before (using newly learned linguistic rules in the wrong way) We are born with it, and other animals are not Unknown where it is in the body, how it works, how it interacts with other processes, how much of it is nature versus nurture, etc. Universal device among humans Also universal: there is a positivity bias across languages across the globe We have more to deal with positive things (related to health, pleasure, happiness) than negative things sadness is a failing of happiness and not the reverse Negative words are typically the opposite of happy words, not the other way around (disease is where is positive) Reciprocal relationship cultural variables impact how you put words how you put words together impact how you feel about the world, etc. Arid environments affect the tonal patterns of people (because throats are drier) Our manners of speaking impact how people understand themselves in relationship with other people American and refer to yourself or a group But in Japanese, elders referred to all of their social roles (mother, doctor, teacher) not or In Japan, if lower status, you use one of several pronouns depending on gender Lower person speaking to higher person uses watashi For I: omae and kimi used when speaking to someone lower or very with you Language predisposes you to seeing the world in a certain way English speakers may struggle representing the world in a kind of harder for English people to process this easier for them to think linearly) Recent studies of books in US: Use of first person plural pronouns (we, us) has decreased First person singular (I, me) have increased This indicates that our individualism is increasing Japanese round cylindrical objects (hon) counted different suffix than flat objects (mai) Using different ways of expressing mathematics lends itself to different levels of understanding it Some words do not translate at all (German Schadenfreude joy in another misfortunes) which would alter your understanding and relationship to other people With regard to pragmatics (employing lexicon) in other languages, common to drop first person pronouns when speaking (not discussing I, me, we) No need to spell out in great detail who is doing those things are considered to be understood the whole context As opposed to English, where you need to specify who is doing what, etc. Low context cultures make less assumptions, so more explicitness is Apologizing, self disclose and give personal narratives, how we give people compliments, how you criticize someone, how you would express sympathy to someone, how you say thank you, how you would deliberately insult someone Most studies tend to be weak about the hypothesis Thought processes and problem solving are studied in preverbal same in animal kingdom they engage in basic problem solving Anywhere you see an organism not engaged in a fixed action, there is a basic thought processes With humans, we add problem solving activities and words (then adding grammar) you can see problems from more angles Better ability to analyze the world and create tools to analyze further Fishman (1960) warned people about getting into debates about linguistic relativity hypothesis There are different ways to interpret this and Whorf himself worked more on grammar and pragmatics having influence on navigating relationships Specific alter perceptions too strict of a viewpoint for even Whorf (he was more interested in how larger units have an effect on how we relate to one another and construct our culture) Least studied aspect of this hypothesis because you need more in depth qualitative data and psychology is not as accustomed to that (more accustomed to quantifiable data) hypothesis schema data of language characteristics: Linguistic data of cognitive behavior: Level 1 (least sophisticated) Nonlinguistic data of cognitive behavior: Level 2 Grammatical data of language characteristics: Linguistic data of cognitive behavior: Level 3 Nonlinguistic data of cognitive behavior: Level 4 (most sophisticated) level of is affected too many other things that it cannot be fully attributed to language differences Nonverbal communication How we express ourselves to one another more meaning is conveyed from all nonverbal cues than the actual words used Research suggests we are paying most attention to words and that we tend to have words trump Words speak so powerfully to people that they will ignore contradictions, actions, etc. Cultural communication components Speech illustrators mannerisms, emblematic gestures David Efron (1930s and 1940s) there are gestures that traditional Jews and Italians use when they immigrate to the U., they stop using those gestures because they are acclimating to the American culture where those gestures are not used One mannerism that takes on many meanings is eye contact (the gaze) Thought of sometimes as who is objectifying who (who is the subject and who is the object) Within our culture, if making direct eye contact can show aggression, power, dominance, disrespect or respect, attraction, honesty (if you look me in the eye, you are not being trustworthy or honest) In Arab cultures, people gaze much longer and more directly at their partners than Americans do In some cultures disrespectful to make eye contact if there is a power difference more polite to not look the person of higher power directly in the eye Voice (considered a paralinguistic view above and beyond language) not just the words, but the way they are said in and the tone Expressive cultures More expressive: expected to use a louder voice and speak faster Less expressive: softer voice with slower rate of speech Management of interpersonal space and touch Interpersonal distance regulates how much exposure getting to the other body through your senses Whether they are close enough for you to smell them for example Being close enough to feel the other breath on you Ed Hall suggests if you study Americans there are distance averages that we use Intimate distances are less than 18 inches Personal distances are 18 inches to 4 feet Social distance is between 4 and 12 feet Public distance is greater than 12 feet Arab males found to sit closer together than American males They also use more eye contact and speak in louder voices Latin Americans interact more closely than students of European backgrounds in physical closeness (kissing in greetings) Cultural decoding rules we realize we are doing it, but been taught to us As we grow we learn how to read each messages and nonverbal communications, as well as how to interpret our verbal another, but you be so desperate to do it that you shut down the communication altogether There are people who have such a need to eliminate ambiguity that they stay in that more humble space of they are too quick to shut down the dialogue But we do have to constructively get rid of some ambiguity so we can understand it and get to multicultural learning When people make productive use of interrogation and self disclosure, people get frustrated, afraid of losing angry, afraid of being embarrassed Shared intentionality Meaning and informational systems Book vocabulary the words contained in a language, the vocabulary Syntax and the system of rules governing word forms and how words should be strung together to form meaningful utterances the system of rules governing how words should sound (pronunciation in a given language what words mean the system of rules governing how language is used and understood in given social contexts the smallest and most basic units of sound in a language the smallest and most basic units of meaning in a language relatively fewer amounts and forms of knowledge, awareness, and thought about something compared to the usual. This term was coined Levy to refer to cultures that lack (hypocognize) words to differentiate emotional states relatively greater amounts and forms of knowledge, awareness, and thought about something that go beyond the usual. This term was coined Levy to refer to cultures that create (hypercognize) many words to differentiate many different emotional states cultures that promote communication in which many messages are conveyed indirectly in context rather than directly in verbal language cultures that promote direct communication in which messages are conveyed primarily and directly in verbal languages and the effects of context are minimized Honorific speech styles in certain languages that denote status differences among interactants the proposition that speakers of different languages think differently, and that they do so because of the differences in their languages. Also referred to as linguistic relativity Nonverbal all the dynamic behaviors, other than words, that convey messages, including facial movements and gestures of hands, arms, and vocal characteristics such as pitch, rate, intonation, and interpersonal touching and gaze and visual attention Speech nonverbal behaviors, often gestures, that accompany speech and are used to illustrate or highlight speech nonverbal gestures that carry meaning, like a phrase or sentence Paralinguistic aspects of the voice that convey information, such as tone, intonation, pitch, speech rate, use of silence the use of space in interpersonal relationships the use of touch in interpersonal interactions the meanings that encoders intend to convey and decoders interpret the process which people select, consciously or unconsciously, a particular modality and method which to create and send a message to someone else the specific words and behaviors that are sent during communication that convey messages the specific sensory modalities which signals are sent and messages are retrieved the process which a person receives signals from an encoder and translates these signals into meaningful messages Cultural decoding these are rules that people of all cultures learn from early childhood about how to decode or decipher speech and behavior. They form the basis for the cultural filters we have in interpreting the world, and are associated with implicit (and sometimes explicit) judgments of appropriateness, goodness, socialization, or Intracultural communication that occurs among people of the same cultural background Intercultural the exchange of knowledge, ideas, thoughts, concepts, and emotions among people of different cultural backgrounds a Buddhist principle emphasizing close attention to the present moment, being aware of senses, breathing, and thoughts without judgment or evaluation. A strategy to improve intercultural communication that allows people to be conscious of their own habits, mental scripts, and cultural expectations concerning communication. Mindfulness is effective in reducing tension, anxiety, and stress and has been incorporated successfully in cognitive behavioral therapies Uncertainty one of the major goals of initial intercultural encounters to reduce the level of uncertainty and anxiety that one feels when attempting to decode intercultural messages the public appearance or image of a person Code frame the process which bilinguals switch between one cultural meaning system and another when switching languages

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Lecture Notes 7 - Chapter 10 Communication and Stress

Course: Cross-Cultural Psychology (21:830:322)

17 Documents
Students shared 17 documents in this course

University: Rutgers University

Was this document helpful?
Chapter 10: Communication and Stress
Nothing comes closer to the heart of culture creation than language
Sensory metaphors used more frequently than abstract language
Communicating in our lexicon gives us a bias; even beyond sensory metaphors
We use our own bodies (and minds) as a template to understand the physical
environment around us
Concepts that we create have an immediate connection to our incarnate being
Lexicon - raw materials you have to work with in regards to language; each
language has its own stockpile (there is overlap)
It is built up from other components:
Phonemes (sounds - the minimum number of sound qualities you
can pull from a language)
Phonology (typical way that you put sounds together)
Morphemes (smallest units of referential meaning in language;
when you put phonemes/sounds together to actually refer to
something)
Semantics (associated meanings/definitions)
Grammar (deep structure that holds lexicon together; rules about
how you can or cannot put all the words together) and syntax
(word order; major part of grammar - commas, periods,
exclamation marks, etc.)
Pragmatics (formal/informal rules pertaining to exactly how the
lexicon is used in real time)
Your ear becomes accustomed to hearing parts of your language
Once you put a system of rules in place - there is an infinite variety of rules and
expressions; the gap that opens up between animal language and human
language is that once you graft onto a lexicon, the intricacies of grammar opens
up the language into infinity
There is a recently emerging area of animal linguistics (animal semiotics);
part of it is a non-verbal grammar relating to the pragmatics of a language
Language acquisition device
Children will sometimes say things they have never heard before (using newly
learned linguistic rules in the wrong way)
We are born with it, and other animals are not
Unknown where it is in the body, how it works, how it interacts with other
processes, how much of it is nature versus nurture, etc.
Universal device among humans
Also universal: there is a positivity bias across languages across the
globe
We have more terms/phrases to deal with positive things (related
to health, pleasure, happiness) than negative things - sadness is a
failing of happiness and not the reverse