1. Another Definition of Culture
Edward Hall’s
High Context & Low context cultures

2. John Bodley (1994): Diverse Definitions
Topical:
Culture consists of everything on a list of topics, or categories, such as social organization, religion, or economy
Historical:
Culture is social heritage, or tradition, that is passed on to future generations
Behavioral:
Culture is shared, learned human behavior, a way of life
Normative:
Culture is ideals, values, or rules for living
Functional:
Culture is the way humans solve problems of adapting to the environment or living together
Mental:
Culture is a complex of ideas, or learned habits, that inhibit impulses and distinguish people from animals
Structural:
Culture consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols, or behaviors
Symbolic:
Culture is based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that are shared by a society

3. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Sapir (1921): “Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression in that society.”

4. As a result of differences in language, people in different cultures will think about, perceive, and behave toward the world differently.
Reality itself is already embedded in language and therefore comes preformed.
Language determines, enabling and constraining, what is perceived and attended to in a culture, as well as the upper limits of knowledge.

5. Dr. Edward Hall Anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher
Distinguished cultures on the basis of the role of context in communication
Context: the whole situation, background, or environment connected to an event, a situation, or an individual.
“It was taken out of context”: without the words or circumstances and so not fully understandable.

6. High-context cultures
Hall's Model
High-context cultures
Long-lasting relationships
Exploiting context
Spoken agreements
Insiders and outsiders clearly distinguished
Cultural patterns ingrained, slow change
Low-context cultures
Shorter relationships
Less dependent on context
Written agreements
Insiders and outsiders less clearly distinguished
Cultural patterns change faster

7. Cultural Classification--Hall
Low-Context Cultures - What Is Said Is More Important Than How or Where It Is Said
U.S.
Germany
High-Context cultures - What Is Said and How or Where It is Said Are Significant
Asia
Latin America
Middle East

8. Low-context in business
Business before friendship
Credibility through expertise & performance
Agreements by legal contract
Negotiations efficient

9. High-context in business
No business without friendship
Credibility through relationships
Agreements founded on trust
Negotiations slow & ritualistic

10. High and Low Context Cultures
Factors /
Dimensions
High
Context
Low
Context
Lawyers
A person’s word
Responsibility for organizational error
Negotiations
Examples:
Less important
Is his or her bond
Taken by top level
Lengthy
Japan Middle East
Very important
Get it in writing
Pushed to lowest level
Proceed quickly
U.S.A. Northern Europe

11. Contexts: High and Low Low-Context High-Context
Information and meaning are explicitly stated in the message
Individual “internalizes” meaning and information, so that less is explicitly stated
Values Individualism
Values Group Sense
Values direct verbal interaction and is less able to read nonverbal expressions
Values indirect verbal interaction and is more able to read nonverbal expressions
High--Less Words (more other clues
Low- words, words, words

12. Contexts: High and Low Low-Context High-Context
Tends to use “logic” to present ideas
Tends to use more “feeling” in expressions
Tends to emphasize highly structured messages, give details, and place great stress on words
Tends to give simple, ambiguous, noncontexting messages
Emphasizes linear logic
Emphasizes spiral logic

13. Low-Context Ideas
In a low-context culture, Hall argues, “Most of the information must be in the transmitted message in order to make up for what is missing in the context.”
To members of a low-context culture, speakers in a high-context culture seem to talk around a subject and never get to the point.