Chapter 91Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE P.docx

Chapter 9
1
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE
Publications, 2018.
Developing Intercultural Relationships
Flan 3440/Fall 2017
Factors that Affect Intercultural Relationships
2
Publications, 2018.
Communication & Uncertainty
Premise of Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT): the primary
goal when interacting with a stranger is to reduce uncertainty
and increase predictability of behavior.
Proactive
Interactive
Retroactive
3
Publications, 2018.
Publications, 2018.
4

Anxiety Uncertainty Management Theory (AUM)
Explains interrelationships among:
Uncertainty
Anxiety
Mindfulness
Communication Effectiveness
Focus on Management not Reduction
5
Publications, 2018.
Uncertainty Reduction & ICA
People who experienced high ICA experienced high uncertainty
People who do not experience ICA have low uncertainty
Increasing our interaction with persons from different cultures
reduces our uncertainty and anxiety
Publications, 2018.
6
Socio-Communicative Orientation
Assertiveness
an individual’s ability to make requests, actively disagree, and
express positive or negative personal rights and feelings.
Responsiveness
an individual’s ability to e sensitive to the communication of
others, including providing feedback, engaging in comforting
communication, and listening.
7

Publications, 2018.
Empathy & Similarity in Relationship Development
Empathy
Degree to which we can accurately infer another’s thoughts or
feelings
Relational Empathy
Shared meaning and harmonization that is the result of the
interaction of two people
Third Culture
Created when dyad of persons from different cultures comes
together and establishes relational empathy
8
Publications, 2018.
Publications, 2018.
9
Empathetic Listening
Paraphrase
Reflect feelings
Reflect meanings
Summarizing
10
Publications, 2018.

Similarity
Attitude Similarity between persons leads to positive affect
which leads to attraction
Publications, 2018.
11
Perceptions of Relational Intimacy Across Cultures
Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures
Humanism
Faithfulness
Propriety
Wisdom
12
Publications, 2018.
Eastern & Western Cultures & Relationships
13
Publications, 2018.
Interethnic & Interracial Relationships & Marriages
Serial monogamy
Polygamy
Polygyny
Polyandry
14

Publications, 2018.
© iStockphoto.com/Elena Elisseeva
In U.S. in 2013, 12% of newlyweds married someone of
different race
Interethnic & Interracial Relationships more likely to end in
divorce than intraracial marriages
15
Publications, 2018.
Obstacles Interethnic & Interracial Partners face:
Stared at in public
Negatively stereotyped
Face Social Network opposition
Discriminated against by restaurant staff, real-estate agents,
hotel managers, retail clerks
Experience obscene phone calls, hate mail and vandalized
property
16
Publications, 2018.
Intercultural Relational Maintenance
Self-disclosure
Relationship talk
Positivity

Understanding
Assurances
Networks
Tasks
17
Publications, 2018.
© iStockphoto.com/FernandoAH
Open Communication
Lack of topic avoidance
Lack of communication about cultural differences
Support
Giving advice
Offering comfort
Providing reassurance
Support for culture
18
Publications, 2018.
Gay and Lesbian Relationships
Seeking out Gay/Lesbian supportive environments
Being the same as heterosexual couples
Social support
19
Publications, 2018.
© iStockphoto.com/Hongqi Zhang

Initiating an Intercultural Relationship
Perceived similarity
Availability
In-Group Influence & Group Identification
20
Publications, 2018.
The Internet as Relational Maintenance
Social networking sites as tools for initiating and maintaining
relationships
Extraversion and Openness to experiences were positively
related to social media use
Role of culture in self-expression on Facebook pages
21
Publications, 2018.
Culture and Internet Use
Japan
India
Africa
Mexico
22
Publications, 2018.

Mate Selection & Desirability Across Cultures
Desirability enhancement effect
Desirability diminution effect
Different perspectives of mate selection:
Evolutionary biologists
Sociologists
Geneticists
Social Psychologists
23
Publications, 2018.
International Mate Selection Project
Identify which characteristics individuals value in potential
mates
Identify similarities and differences among countries in their
values
Publications, 2018.
24
International Mate Selection Project
Identify clusters of countries that are similar to one another
Identify sex differences in the degree of variation in mate
selection within each country
Publications, 2018.
25
Mate Selection & Desirability Across Cultures
Characteristics individuals value in mates:
Kindness

Intelligence
Exciting personality
Healthy
Similarities and differences in countries:
Most polarizing characteristic = chastity
Gender differences in cultures
26
Publications, 2018.
Cultural Concepts of Love
Love Songs in China & U.S.
Metaphors
History
War
Mystery
Pornography
Fantasy
27
Publications, 2018.
Arranged Marriages
Hmong
India
China
Africa
28
Publications, 2018.

Marital Dissolution and Divorce Across Cultures
Divorce customs vary across cultures.
Social and economic issues play a role.
In general, monogamy is correlated with lower divorce rates
than polygyny.
29
Publications, 2018.
Summary
Explored initiating, maintaining and dissolving relationships
Examined concepts of uncertainty reduction, intercultural
communication apprehension, and sociocommunicative style
and how they affect the relationship processes
Compared perceptions of relationships in a variety of cultures
Publications, 2018.
30
MI#201#Assignment#3#
!
!
For!this!assignment!you!should!pick!a!“brand”!(e.g.,!a!compan
y,!musical!artist!or!band,!TV!
show,!movie,!service,!organization,!or!product)!and!research!th
e!brand’s!social'media!presence!
and!profiles.!!
!
Then!prepare!a!750F900!word!“case!study”!(report)!explaining

!how!the!company!uses!the!
various!social!media!and!media!technologies!to!make!its!brand
!part!of!the!media!environment.!!
!
Present!your!findings!in!a!blog.!(Wordpress!provides!a!free!ve
rsion.)!Your!blog!should!include!a!
brief!background!on!the!brand!and!then!provide!the!informatio
n!specified!in!the!previous!
paragraph.!You!should!include!(embed)!screen!shots,!videos!an
d!images,!that!illustrate!your!
findings!(e.g.,!Twitter!posts).!Each!of!these!screen!shots,!vide
os!and!images!must!include!an!
active!link!so!that!we!can!verify!the!source.!!
!
Make!sure!that!your!blog!post!has!an!introduction!and!a!concl
usion.!Your!blog!should!include!at'
least!the!following!information:'
•!
The!brand’s!social!media!profiles!(Facebook!page,!Twitter!fee
d,!YouTube!videos,!website,!
etc.).!
•! Mobile!applications!associated!with!the!brand!(if!any).!
•!
Two!blog!posts!that!feature!the!brand.!These!should!NOT!be!f
rom!the!company!(brand)!
itself,!but!rather!from!someone!blogging!about!the!brand.!
•!
Two!tweets!that!mention!the!brand!(again,!NOT!from!the!com
pany,!but!about!the!brand).!
•!
Two!other!examples!of!social!multimedia!content!(e.g.,!video,!
audio!podcast,!photos)!
featuring!the!brand.!(These!MAY!BE!from!the!company!itself.

)!
!
You!should!submit!only#an#active#link!to!your!blog.
Feel free to ask questions about this assignment in the Virtual
Classroom.
Chapter Summary Chapter 9: Developing Intercultural
Relationships
I. Communication and Uncertainty
1. Initiating communication with a stranger, particularly a
person from a different culture, can be frightening. A
communication theory called Uncertainty Reduction Theory
(URT) is an attempt to explain our communication behavior
during initial communication encounters with others. The major
premise guiding this theory is that when strangers first meet,
their primary goal is to reduce uncertainty and increase the
predictability about the behavior of themselves and the other
person. The original theory consists of seven axioms.
2. Although people in any culture seek to reduce uncertainty,
the verbal and nonverbal communication strategies people use
to reduce uncertainty varies from culture to culture. People
from high context cultures try to reduce uncertainty in initial
encounters but the nature of the information they seek seems to
be different than that sought by persons from low context
cultures.
a. Because much of the information resides in the context as
opposed to the individual, persons from high context cultures
are more cautious concerning what they talk about with
strangers.

b. Certain types of information are more important sources of
uncertainty to persons in high context cultures than in low
context cultures, including the other's social background,
knowing whether others will behave in a socially appropriate
manner, knowing that others understand individuals' feelings,
knowing what others mean when they communicate, and
knowing whether others will make allowances for individuals
when they communicate.
II. Anxiety Uncertainty Management Theory of Effective
Communication
1. AUM and Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) are similar in
that each theory focuses on the effects of uncertainty and
anxiety on communication. AUM shifts the focus from
uncertainty and anxiety reduction to uncertainty and anxiety
management. AUM also incorporates the concepts of
mindfulness and communication effectiveness. The focus of
AUM is toward effective communication; that is, to the extent
that interactants can manage uncertainty and anxiety, and be
mindful, effective communication can be achieved.
2. In addition to uncertainty and anxiety, AUM incorporates the
concepts of mindfulness and communication effectiveness.
Mindfulness refers to the idea that most of the time, people are
not acutely aware of their behavior, that they operate on a kind
of automatic pilot. To be sure, many communicative acts are
routine or habitual and do not require intense cognitive
attention. Mindfulness, on the other hand, refers to a person’s
conscious attention to incoming information. A mindful
communicator is open to new information and the processing of
new categories. Mindful communicators perceive aspects of the
self and others that mindless communicators miss.
III. Uncertainty Reduction and Intercultural Communication
Apprehension

1. One factor which may affect how persons reduce uncertainty
is whether they experience intercultural communication
apprehension. Because intercultural communication is loaded
with novelty and dissimilarity, people might experience
inordinate amounts of anxiety that inhibit the ability to reduce
uncertainty.
a. f uncertainty is above our maximum tolerance level we may
feel uncomfortable communicating. If uncertainty is below
your minimum threshold, you may find the interaction dull and
uninteresting.
b. Uncertainty and anxiety are related such that as uncertainty
increases so does anxiety. Like uncertainty, you have maximum
and minimum thresholds for anxiety. When anxiety is above
your maximum tolerance level, you will experience so much
anxiety that you may even evade interacting with others or
withdraw from communication. When anxiety is below your
minimum levels, you may feel unmotivated to reduce
uncertainty.
2. Although faced with large amounts uncertainty and anxiety
during initial intercultural communication, an individual's
communication style may enable him/her to effectively reduce
uncertainty. Two dimensions of communication style are called
assertiveness and responsiveness.
IV. An Intercultural Conversation about Uncertainty Reduction
and Socio-Communicative Style
1. In the intercultural conversations presented in this chapter,
we see how an individual's socio-communicative style affects
uncertainty reduction during initial intercultural
communication. In the first conversation we see Dan, who is
from the United States, interacting with Natasha, who is from
Ukraine. Dan seems unassertive and unresponsive. In the

second conversation we see Jim, who is from the United States,
interacting with Foday who is from Sierre Leone. In
comparison to Dan, Jim seems assertive and responsive. Jim's
assertiveness and responsiveness helps him reduce uncertainty
about Foday and Sierre Leone.
V. Assessing Socio-Communicative Orientation/Style
1. Assertiveness and responsiveness are measured using scales
developed by McCroskey and Richmond. These scales have
been used successfully in other cultures, including China,
Finland, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Note, however, that these
scales were designed to measure assertiveness and
responsiveness as defined in the United States and may not be
generalizable across all cultures. In fact, studies examining
assertiveness and responsiveness across cultures have reported
differences.
VI. Empathy and Similarity in Relationship Development
1. As uncertainty is reduced, people get to know each other
more and can work on developing their relationship. The ability
to empathize with someone is a crucial ingredient in any
relationship. Empathy takes on added importance in
intercultural relationships, however. Because persons from
other cultures are different than we are, it may be difficult for
us to empathize with them, their ideas, and their style of
communication.
2. Empathy is often defined as the degree to which we can
accurately infer another's thoughts or feelings. This definition
is inadequate for the study of intercultural communication.
Broome offers what he calls a model of relational empathy.
Broome argues that because our thoughts and perceptions are
based on our unique personal, cultural, sociocultural, and
individual past experiences we can never completely

comprehend or directly know what another is thinking or
feeling.
3. Intercultural researcher Donald Klopf maintains that we can
approach empathy with others by developing empathic listening
skills. Empathic listening means listening more to the meanings
than to the words of another person.
VII. Similarity
1. A great deal of research has demonstrated that similarity
plays a key role in the establishment and development of
relationships. Intercultural researchers have found that the
more we perceive another as similar to ourselves, the more we
are able to reduce uncertainty about the person and form
accurate categories of them.
VIII. Perceptions of Relational Intimacy Across Cultures
2. Although the same types of relationships exist across
cultures, the level of intimacy varies considerably. Gudykunst
and Nishida studied the influence of culture on perceptions of
intimacy and communication behavior between the United
States and Japan. They reasoned that because of their
collectivistic tendencies, the Japanese students would perceive
ingroup relationships as more intimate than would United States
students who are individualistic. They also maintained that
because Japan is considered a masculine-oriented culture where
sex roles are clearly differentiated, these types of relationships
(e.g., lover, spouse, boy/girlfriend) would be perceived as less
intimate than in the United States.
IX. Eastern and Western Cultures and Relationships
1. In individualistic cultures like the United States,
relationships are typically viewed from the perspective of the
self. Individualists see themselves as distinct individuals who
participate in relationships to maximize their own self-interests.
In many collectivistic cultures, like China, relationships are

guided by Confucianism.
a. The fundamental theme of Confucianism is that proper
relationships form the cornerstone of society.
2. Relational partners in Eastern cultures engage in long-term
and asymmetrical reciprocity whereas in many Western cultures,
short-term symmetrical reciprocity is practiced, sometimes
contractually.
3. Another difference between Eastern and Western
relationships is that in many Eastern cultures there is a clear
difference between who is and is not a member of the ingroup
and outgroup.
4. A fourth difference between relationships of Eastern and
Western cultures is the use of intermediaries (i.e., go-
betweens). Many Eastern cultures require intermediaries.
X. Interethnic and Interracial Relationships and Marriages
1. The most common type of marriage practice is monogamy;
that is, marriage between one man and one woman. Monogamy
is practiced in the United States and in most western cultures.
Most cultures prefer not to limit the number of spouses
available to a person. These cultures practice polygamy; that is,
marriage to more than one spouse. Contrary to popular belief,
polygamy is not the practice of a husband having multiple
wives. Actually, there are two types of polygamy, including
polygyny, where a man has multiple wives, and polyandry,
where a woman has more than one husband. According to
Howard, polygyny is permitted in the majority of societies.
2. The number of interracial marriages in the United States is
growing. In 2013, 12% of newlyweds married someone of a
different race, although this statistic does not include
interethnic marriages between Hispanic/Latinos and non-
Hispanic/Latinos. Some racial groups are more likely to
intermarry than others. Of the 3.6 million adults who got
married in 2013, 58% of Native Americans, 28% of Asian

Americans, 19% of Black Americans, and 7% of White
Americans married someone of a different race. She also notes
that Black men are much more likely than Black women to
marry someone of a different race.
3. A common assumption is that interethnic and interracial
relationships experience more difficulties than intraethnic or
intraracial relationships because of the cultural or ethnic
differences. And evidence suggests that interracial marriages
are more likely to end in divorce than are intraracial marriages.
About two thirds of interracial marriages end in divorce,
compared with 40% to 50% for all marriages. Interracial
partners may face obstacles that intraracial partners do not. For
example, interracial couples are often stared at in public; are
negatively stereotyped; face social network opposition,
including pressure not to marry; are discriminated against by
restaurant staff, real-estate agents, hotel managers, and retail
clerks; and experience obscene phone calls, hate mail, and
vandalized property. Ethnic and/or racial differences might also
intensify conflict management differences.
4. In addition to the growing number of interracial marriages,
American attitudes about these relationships are changing.
Eighty-six percent of Black respondents said their families
would welcome a White, Asian, or Hispanic person into their
family. Among White Americans, 66% said they would accept
Hispanics or Asian Americans, but only 55% would accept a
Black person. Among Hispanics, 86% would accept White
Americans, 79% would accept Asian Americans, and 74% would
accept Black Americans. Among Asian Americans, 77% would
accept White Americans, 71% would accept Hispanics, and 66%
would accept Black Americans.
XI. Intercultural Relational Maintenance
1. A substantial body of literature in the social sciences has
emerged focusing on relational maintenance, which centers on
how relational partners uphold and sustain their established
relationships. A typology of seven relational maintenance

behaviors that couples use to sustain their relationships
includes: self-disclosure, relationship talk, positivity,
understanding, assurances, networks, and tasks.
2. Two additional relational maintenance behaviors might affect
intercultural relationships include open communication and
support.
3. Although gay and lesbian couples are not fully accepted in
many societies, they rely on the same type of maintenance
behaviors as those reported by heterosexual couples, with the
exception of two particular relationship maintenance behaviors,
including (a) gay/lesbian supportive environments and (b) being
the same as heterosexual couples.
XII. The Internet as Relational Maintenance
1. The Internet has profoundly changed the way humans
communicate. Estimates vary, but we can be sure that billions
of people across the planet use the Internet to connect with
others. One of the primary Internet tools for initiating and
maintaining relationships is its social networking sites, such as
Facebook and Twitter. Facebook use is motivated by two
primary needs: the need to belong and the need for self-
presentation. Persons in collectivistic cultures are conditioned
to want to belong and may use Facebook to satisfy that need.
Members of individualistic cultures are more likely to share
private information on Facebook and more likely to raise
controversial topics, compared with Facebook users from
collectivistic cultures.
a. White Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Indian Americans,
Latin Americans/Caribbean Islanders, and
b. Black Americans use different strategies in self-presentation
constructions on Facebook.
c. Fifty million Japanese (i.e., 40% of the population) use Line,
an application for instant communication on smartphones,
tablets, and personal computers. Japanese Line users can
exchange text messages, photos, videos, and conduct free

conversations and video conferences. The second-most used
social media in Japan is Twitter, which has 26 million monthly
users. Wong notes that Japan is the only market where Twitter
is more popular than Facebook. Twitter is so popular among
Japanese, especially young Japanese, primarily because of their
anonymity on it.
d. There are over 350 million Internet users in India. That’s
more people than there are in the United States. Internet use in
India is not distributed equally, with the majority of users
residing in urban locations. Connection speeds in India are slow
compared to most countries and that the average Internet user
spends 5 hours a day online. Of those, there are over 140
million users of Facebook, with men accounting for nearly 75%
of those users. For women, Facebook functions to do more than
initiate and maintain friendships; it gives them a voice to air
their grievances and expose the sexual violence inflicted against
them in a social system where such violence is often ignored
(recall the
e. In 2016, 120 million Africans use Facebook. Most of those
users are in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. Overall, only
about 9 % of Africans use social media. Social media use in
Africa is much like that anywhere else on the planet where users
discuss life, love, politics, and philosophy.
f. Social media users in Mexico use Facebook more than any
other social media site. In 2016, over 52 million Mexicans use
Facebook. Mexicans use Facebook to initiate and maintain
connections, especially professional connections that are
essentially impossible to make without social media outlets. In
small, rural towns in Mexico, where the economy is largely
based on agriculture, making professional connections unrelated
to agriculture is virtually impossible. Teachers in these small
towns also recognize the value of Facebook for their
classrooms, using the social media site for a variety of
classroom projects such as organizing school trips and events,
as well as establishing collaborative projects with other schools
in urban areas and even abroad.

2. Facebook and Twitter are used primarily for social
interaction with friends with whom users have a pre-established
relationship offline and that they serve mostly to support
preexisting social relations within geographically bound
communities. That is, as far as we can tell, most SNS users are
not using social media to initiate new relationships outside their
geographical areas.
XIII. Mate Selection Across Cultures
1. Professor David Buss has lead The International Mate
Selection Project. The focus of Buss's work has been to
identify preferences people have when they choose a mate.
According to Buss, scholars from myriad academic fields are
interested in mating practices and mate selection.
2. The purpose of his research was to identify which
characteristics individuals value in potential mates, to identify
similarities among countries in their values, to identify the ways
cultures differ in their values, to identify clusters of countries
that are similar to each other and to identify sex differences
within each country on the degree of variation of mate
selection.
3. Buss and his research collaborators surveyed over 10,000
people from 33 different countries. In the study, individuals
were asked to complete the "Factors in Choosing a Mate" scale
and the "Preferences Concerning a Potential Mate" instruments.
After analyzing the completed surveys, Buss found that in spite
of the unique cultural variability associated with each sample,
there were substantial commonalities among all samples.
4. But how people from different cultures define love may
differ. Research has found that students
of Asian descent score higher on measures of companionate and

pragmatic love styles and
lower on erotic love styles compared with their European-
descended counterparts.
5. In comparison with U.S. love songs, Chinese love songs
focus on love in the natural world and
love as a value of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, with
an emphasis on interdependence.
U.S. love songs focus on the love partner without regard to
context. Other studies have found
that Chinese concepts of love typically stress love as related to
sadness, jealousy, and betrayal,
while U.S. concepts of love equate it with happiness.
6. In another study American and Chinese couples completed
the Love Stories Scale, an
instrument designed to assess preferences for 25 metaphors for
love. Results showed that
fantasy emerged as a prototypical theme for Americans that was
missing from the Chinese
responses. For the Chinese, democracy and history emerged as
themes, where the sharing of
power and history between partners was an important ingredient
of love. Pornography emerged
in both Chinese and American themes.
7. Another study examined the influence of one’s social network

on intention to marry and relational commitment to another in
both China and the United States. The familial network of a
potential mate is highly valued in East Asian cultures,
particularly in China. To be sure, however, social network
support is positively related to relationship development and
stability in the United States as well
XIV. Arranged Marriages
1. In some cultures an individual's preference in selecting a
mate becomes moot because the person's marriage is arranged
by his/her parents or a trusted family friend and/or mediator. In
many instances, the bride and groom of an arranged marriage do
not even meet until the day of the wedding. In many cultures, a
bride price similar to that of a dowry is an essential ingredient
to the arranged marriage. Although not as common as they once
were, arranged marriages are still practiced in a variety of
cultures and within some micro-cultural groups in the United
States, such as the Hmong.
XV. Marital Dissolution and Divorce Across Cultures
1. Like marriage practices, divorce customs vary across
cultures. In many cultures social and economic issues often
play a role in divorce decisions. Factors such as income, sexual
dissatisfaction, childlessness, women's equality issues, religion,
and the ease with which one can obtain a divorce all vary across
cultures. In general, monogamy is correlated with lower
divorce rates than polygyny.
PAGE
1
FLAN 3440/UT/Fall 2017

Chapter 91Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE P.docx

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