The document discusses the essential aspects of communication, including its definitions, characteristics, and the role of culture in communication practices. It highlights how communication enables individuals to express feelings, achieve goals, and influence others while requiring shared codes and feedback. Additionally, it covers intercultural communication, the learning and expression of culture, and barriers to effective communication across diverse cultural backgrounds.

1. Chapter 1
Communication:
Essential Human
Behavior
Real Communication, Second Edition
by Dan O’Hair and Mary Wiemann

2. Why Study
Communication?
 Formal study can
− Improve our skills
− Help us make sense of what
happens in our lives
− Increase our personal impact
− Enhance our relationships
with others

3. Communication
Enables Us to…

4. Express Affiliation
 Affiliation is the affect, or feelings,
you have for others; emotion.
 It can be expressed in many ways;
both verbal and non verbal

5. Achieve Goals
 We need communication to
accomplish particular objectives
 Goal or task oriented
communication can be both direct
and indirect

6. Influence Others
 Control; ability of one
person, group, or
organization to influence
others.

7. Describing
Communication
 Communication
is the process
by which
individuals use
symbols, signs,
and behaviors
to exchange
information.

8. Characteristics of
Communication
 Symbolic
−Symbols are arbitrary
constructions that refer to
people, things, and concepts
−Symbols stand for things,
but they are not the “thing.”
There is no relationship
between symbols and the
“thing” they stand for.

9. Symbols
Tree

10. Features (cont’d)
Meaning
−the significance we bestow
on phenomena—what they
signify to us
−We negotiate the meaning of
symbols with others through
communication

11. Characteristics of
Communication
 Requires a shared code
− A code is a set of symbols joined
together to create meaning
−Involves encoding and
decoding

12. Characteristics of
Communication
Need not be
intentional
−Giving
information
vs. giving off
information

13. Characteristics of
Communication
 Occurs through various channels
−A channel is a method through
which communication occurs

14. Modeling
Communication
http://youtu.be/Btj94IHVc6I?t=22s

15. Components of
Communication (cont’d)
 Feedback is the verbal or nonverbal response to
communication. +/-
 The Channel is the medium by which the message
travels; “the medium is the message”
 Context or a specific environment that involves
several situational factors; Culture
− People simultaneously send and receive messages
− Changes over time
− Occurs within systems

16. Components of
Communication (cont’d)
 Noise is any interference that
occurs as we communicate.
Internal or External.

17. Chapter 3
Communication and
Culture
Real Communication, Second Edition
by Dan O’Hair and Mary Wiemann

18. Copyright ©2012, 2009, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

19. Copyright ©2012, 2009, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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21. Culture Described
Culture is a…
learned system of thought and behavior
that belongs to and typifies a relatively
large group of people; it is the composite of
their shared beliefs, values, and practices.

22. How do we learn
culture?
 listening and observing others'
communication
 worldview—the framework through
which we interpret the world
Learn Culture through
communication
Express Culture through
communication

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Intercultural Communication
Communication between people from
different cultures who have different
worldviews.
Why does it matter?

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Intercultural Communication
We live in a diverse society.
The world is mobile.
Computer mediated communication
Global market place

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Cultural Variation
1. High Context vs. Low-Context
2. Collectivist vs. Individualist
3. Uncertainty Tolerance
4. Masculine vs. Feminine
5. Power Distance
6. Time Orientation
7. Emotional Expression

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High-Context vs Low-Context
 High-context cultures use contextual
cues (such as time, place,
relationship, and situation) to
interpret meaning and send subtle
messages.
 Low-context cultures use very direct
language and rely less on situational
factors to communicate.

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28. Collectivist vs Individualist
 Collectivists tend to perceive
themselves as members of larger
groups first and communicate
from that perspective.
 People from individualist cultures
value individuality, autonomy,
and privacy.

30. Power Distances
Way in which a culture accepts
and expects the division of
power among individuals

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32. Copyright ©2012, 2009, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

33. Masculine vs Feminine
 Masculine cultures
place value on
assertiveness,
achievement,
ambition, and
competitiveness.
 Feminine cultures
place value on
nurturance,
relationships, and
quality of life

34. Comfort with uncertainty
 Cultures differ in the degree of anxiety that
members feel about the unknown. The
ability to adapt behaviors in order to reduce
uncertainty and risk, is referred to as
uncertainty avoidance.

35. Time Orientation
The way that cultures communicate with
and about time
 Monochronic cultures treat time as a
limited resource that can be saved or
wasted.
 Polychronic cultures are less concerned
with making every moment count and time
is a much more fluid concept.

36. Value of Emotional Expression
Hyperbole, vivid language with great
emotional intensity, is often used by
collectivist cultures.
Individualist cultures tend to use more
understatement, language that
downplays the emotional intensity or
importance of events.

37. What Co-Cultures do you
belong to?
 Groupings with unique
characteristics; race, sex, gender
religion, common interests,
activities.
 Generational cultures

38. Barriers to Competent
Intercultural Communication
Anxiety
Ethnocentrism
Discrimination
Combat with…
Intercultural sensitivity
Intergroup contact
Accommodation