Remember these guys?

Stormtroopers

And these guys?

Also, stormtroopers

Different backgrounds Different t cultures Different conclusions

Unfortunate judgments

Conversations
across cultures, genders and generations

Across cultures

What are you and I?

1. Cultural background of your family? 2. Characteristics that distinguish it?
Food Courtship Language Music Traditions and customs Managing relationships

3. Do any aspects of the cultural heritage manifest themselves in your family today?

Culture defined
Hard to pin down
Place (e.g. French culture, Midwest culture) Ethnicity Religion Even occupation (e.g. police or military) The deaf culture The culture of the rich Your high school (St. Louis only) College

Do we have a St. Louis culture?

You know youre from St. Louis if...

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. You've had to switch from heat to AC and back to heat in the same day You know what a pork steak is. Youre tired of hearing about the 1904 worlds fair. Your favorite summer treat is handed to you upside-down Youve tried at least once to imitate Mike Shannon You believe toasted ravioli is a food, not a mistake Its not a real wedding reception without mostaccioli. You think Imo's is larger than Pizza Hut. There's a tornado warning and you run outside watching for it. You know what and where Fast Eddies is. You remember what the Veiled Prophet is/was. AND FINALLY you know that a hometown guy from Ballwin might be the next Pope!

Time to define ...

Culture: Learned and shared symbols, language, values and norms that distinguish one group of people from another Culture learned, not genetic - enculturation
Society: Groups of people who share symbols, language, values and norms (this is where culture comes alive)

We have in-groups and out-groups

In-group: any cultural group we belong to or feel a part of
Many prefer to be around their in-groups Issue of homophily

Out-group: Any and all cultures that we do NOT belong to, or feel a part of
People often suspicious of other cultures Suspicion leads to biased stereotyping, then to discriminatory behavior

Culture clashes
The Irish influx in the 1800s Catholicism vs. evangelicals Protestant abolitionists vs. Southern Protestants in pre-Civil War era Gay community vs. straight community South City vs. West County

Components of a culture

Symbols Language Values Norms

C0-cultures, communities
Co-cultures: Groups of people within cultures who share values, customs, norms related to mutual interest or characteristic How many cultures do you belong to? By politics By tech savvy By hobbies By ethnicity By religion

C0-cultures, communities
While a part of a larger culture, cocultures can have their own ...
Terminology: 10-4 ... F-stop ... PRN Norms, e.g. client/lawyer privilege Values, e.g. : Academia and publishing Customs: Initiation ceremonies for fraternal groups

The British and Americans are two peoples separated by a common language.
-- Playwright George Bernard Shaw

Cross-cultural communication
Individualistic focus on individual vs. group needs; self-responsibility Collectivistic primary responsibility is to family, community, employer not self High-context ambiguous language; meaning comes from facial expressions, tone Low-context Explicit communication; meaning of words literal

Cross-cultural communication
High-power distance most power concentrated in few Low-power distance power is allotted more evenly Masculine ambition, achievement, wealth, favor males in charge Feminine nurturance, quality of life, service to others Mono vs. polychromatic time is a commodity; time is like a flowing river

Cross-cultural communication
Full of opportunities to offend, make mistakes People have expectations you know their culture If possible, learn culture beforehand Listen carefully then paraphrase Attend to language, nonverbals Understand differences in conflict, decisionmaking, task completion, disclosure

Tips, techniques
Avoid humor, touching Keep it simple Remember: some words have no equivalent in the other language Other language has words English does not Avoid jargon, slang, obscenity Avoid two-word verbs (e.g. I give up) Check often to be sure you are understood And that you understand

Tips, techniques
Realize there will be differences
Will never be easy Latin cultures want social relationship before business relationship Eye contact a US norm, but not everywhere else Other person may know English, but not American (futbol vs. soccer) Even same words can mean different things in different cultures (e.g. Yes vs. hai) Code words, idioms, jargon always present

Summing up

Turning to gender
Note the change in background colors on the slides pink and blue, get it?

Defining gender complicated

Term comprises
influence of gender roles, a persons biological sex, and a persons sexual orientation

Masculinity an assigned role ... Emphasizes strength, dominance, competition, logic Femininity an assigned role, refers to expressive, nurturing behavior Androgyny combination of male and female traits

Other points about gender roles

Gender roles can change over time
Leave it to Beaver Julia Two-and-a-Half Men

Gender roles can vary among cultures

Norwegian masculinity: modesty, soft-spoken Japanese masculinity: strength, aggressiveness

Other factors:
Anatomy, psychological difference, sexual orientation all affect communication across genders Men and women each have own gender cultures Women are from North Dakota and men are from South Dakota (not Venus and Mars!)

Gender culture
If dispute arises during playground game ...
Males argue until one side wins the argument Females bypass the argument will quit rather than argue

Wife says, I have a problem.

She wants to talk, vent shes not looking for a solution He wants to get it solved, move on

Gender culture
When couples argue ...
Wife advances Husband withdraws

Genders communicate differently

Verbal
Man direct, explicit, aggressive Woman works to manage the relationship

Non-verbal
Men more likely to touch women than other way around But women can use touch to put selves in control

Emotional communication
Women more comfortable expressing emotions to one another
Men less comfortable only one emotion they are comfortable expressing.

Across generations

Five generations celebrated Christmas at great-grandma Marilyn Grants house in Lawrence. Pictured, from left, are great-great-grandma Elaine Davison of Lawrence, great-grandma Marilyn Grant, grandma Ginny Sims of St. Louis mom Dara Baskins with daughter Klaire, 1, of San Diego, and mom Melissa Eye with daughter Peyton, 18 months, of Lawrence.

Across generations
1927-45 --Traditionalists: loyal, hardworking, disciplines, civic-minded, patriotic 1946-64 -- Boomers: Optimistic , driven, competitive, career-centered 1965-77 Gen X: Cynical, self-starters, independent, resourceful, media savvy 1978-84-- Gen Y Edgy, focused on urban style, more idealistic than Gen X 1985-02 Millennials: Tech savvy, raised in affluence, multicultural

A dangerous triangle for-Intergeneration communication

1. Ageist attitudes, age stereotypes, and age identity 2. Communication Accommodation Theory 3. Communication Predicament of Aging (CPA) Model

Communication Predicament of Aging (CPA Model)

Characteristics of an older person can act as cues that trigger age stereotypes and that patronizing speech is often produced in response to these stereotypes.

Communication Predicament of Aging (CPA) Model

Leads to stereotypes
Positive
Perfect grandparent Grandchildrens advocate Golden ager John Wayne Conservative Activist Liberal matriarch/patriarch Small-town good neighbor

Negative
Severely Impaired Shrew/Curmudgeon Despondent Recluse Self-Centered Mildly Impaired Vulnerable Elitist

Stereotypes shape our intergeneration communication

Communication OVER-accommodation
Loud Simple words

Tend to make them lesser parts of group conversations Avoid discussion of anything but the good old days with them Under-estimate importance, wisdom of what they say

Stereotypes shape their self-esteem

Readily notice baby-talk, being ignored, or not being allowed to take part Blame the victim effectwhen people overhear someone being patronized, they assume person cognitively deficient in some way (Hummert & Ryan,2001). Recipients of patronizing talk evaluate themselves as less competent. (Kemper and Harden (1999)

Things to remember
They have had many more life experiences than you have They have a better perspective on social, economic, financial change than you What you write off as ancient history is a real part of their lives They are individuals Stereotyping with seniors, as bad as stereotyping any other group

Across culture, generation, gender

Communication Accommodation Theory

We tend to adjust our speaking style in relation to the other persons style, i.e. we accommodate (or repudiate)
Convergence: We seek to sound more like them to increase immediacy, credibility. Divergence: We seek to differentiate our speech from the other persons speech to create distance, to express disapproval

Why do we do this?
Convergence:
Increases immediacy (strengthens relationships) Increases credibility Makes both speakers more comfortable

Divergence:
Demonstrate youre smarter, more sophisticated A put-down of the other person

Examples/anecdotes
The Bible salesman from Delaware who said everything in Texas was broken The Minnesota you betcha! The African American Yknowwhuhmsayin The pervasive like in high school, college The embarrassment of hearing someone try to sound like someone theyre not
Someone my age saying Im down wit that A New Yorker saying Howdy!