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Diversity and the Effects of Culture 83

Recap: A Quick Review

group member’s culture or co- culture has a major influence on that member’s
A communication behavior:
1. The pluralism of U.S. society and the fact that societal diversity is increasing
guarantees that groups of the future will be increasingly culturally diverse.
2. The more similar group members’ cultures are, making the communication more
intracultural, the easier it will be for them to take communication for granted;
however, the increase in diversity, making communication more intercultural,
demands that members try to understand and embrace their differences.
3. Diversity confers a number of competitive advantages, including creativity and
problem solving.
4. Ethnocentricity— judging someone’s behavior through the lens of your own
culture— creates unnecessary problems in groups.
5. We all simultaneously belong to several co- cultures, smaller cultures within the
larger one, whose values and communication patterns may be very important to us.

Cultural Characteristics That Affect Communication
A number of researchers have investigated particular characteristics along which
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cultures vary. Five especially relevant for communication in small groups are
individualism— collectivism; power distance; uncertainty avoidance; masculinity—
femininity; and high- and low- context communication. As with intra- and intercultural
communication, each dimension should be thought of as a continuum. Cultures do
not fall exclusively at one end of the continuum or the other; they are complex and
exhibit the following characteristics in varying degrees. These characteristics are
summarized in Table 4.2.

Individualism– Collectivism
In individualistic cultures the development of the individual is foremost, even when Individualistic Culture
this is at the expense of the group, whereas in collectivist cultures the needs of the Culture in which the
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group are more important, with individuals expected to conform to the group. needs and wishes of
People in the United States admire the person who “marches to a different drummer.” the individual
The identity of I takes precedence over we, so they give high priority to self- predominate over
development, self- actualization, and individual initiative and achievement. Group the needs of the
members may be encouraged to leave a group if they feel their individual values, group.
beliefs, and preferences are being compromised. This contrasts with most Asian, Collectivist Culture
Native American, and Latin American cultures (including the Mexican American co- A culture in which the
culture within the United States). A Chinese proverb states, “The nail that sticks up is needs and wishes of
pounded down.” Thus, if a member is standing out from the group, the group has the the group
right— even the obligation— to force the individual to conform. Collectivist cultures predominate over the
value cooperation within the group and slow consensus building rather than direct needs of any one
confrontation in which individual opinions are debated. individual.

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