Adapting Communication to People and Contexts1 Focus Questions 1.How does cultural membership affect communication? 2.What are social communities? 3.How do culture and social communities shape individuals’ communication? 4.How does gender affect communication? 5.How do people commonly respond to differences in communication?

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts2 Adaptation as a Basic Communication Process Sensitive to particular people and contexts One-size fits all? (See “Myra & Aaron” example) Other examples (contexts, & people) –Age / Gender –Relationship (family, work, negotiation,….) –Educational background / Social status –Race / Nationality

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts3 Communication is “Systemic” Occurs in contexts, and are affected by contexts. Can’t be understood without examining contexts 1.All parts of communication systems are interrelated 2.Communication systems are organized wholes

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts4 Communication is “Systemic” -(2) 3.Communication systems are more than the sum of their parts System evolves, discards, creates Interactions create new elements Openness: a system affects and is affected by outside factors and processes. Systems vary.

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts5 Communication is “Systemic” -(3) 4.Communication systems strive for but cannot sustain equilibrium State of equilibrium (homeostasis) Routines, rituals, norms, habits, traditions… No absolute equilibrium. Change is inevitable. System members continuously adjust and change.

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts6 A Culturally Diverse World We learn culture in the process of communication –Culture: Definition…a way of life. –Both conscious & unconscious, continuous internalization Multiple cultures and social communities may coexist in a single geographic location –Mainstream: dominant –Standpoint: the social, symbolic, and material circumstances of a particular social group… –Social communities: groups of people within a dominant culture also belong to another social group(s) –Subculture; Co-culture

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts7 A Culturally Diverse World -(2) Cultures and social communities develop distinct forms of communication –Eastern-western; boy-girl; men-women (pp ) Communication expresses and sustains cultures Communication is a source of cultural change –Ways of naming things Environmental racism; environmental justice Date rape; sexual harassment

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts8 Guidelines for Adapting Communication Engage in person-centered communication Respect what others present as their feelings and ideas Resist ethnocentric bias –Ethnocentrism –Cultural relativism

Adapting Communication to People and Contexts9 Guidelines for Adapting Communication -(2) Recognize that adapting to diversity is a process (common responses below…) –Resistance Assimilation ( Surrendering); Melting-pot –Tolerance Open-mindedness, accepting difference –Understanding –Respect –Participation Multilingual