Low-context cultures can seem slightly more formal due to the explicit & precise nature of their messages. Wurtz found something similar while analyzing website design. Sourabh Yadav is a freelance writer & filmmaker. On the other hand, certain intercultural communication skills are unique for each culture and it is significant to note that these overlaps in communication techniques are represented subgroups within social interactions or family settings. Power Distance Index & Examples | What is Power Distance? A 2008 meta-analysis concluded that the model was "unsubstantiated and underdeveloped".[5]. Unlike low-context cultures, high-context cultures prioritize the group over the individual (Hofstede, 1984). This is in contrast to lower-context cultures in which the shared experiences upon which communication is built can change drastically from one generation to the next, creating communication gaps between parents and children, as in the United States.[18]. Your email address will not be published. [32] Awareness of miscommunication between high- and low-context cultures within the workplace or intercultural communication settings advocates for collected unification within a group through the flexibility and ability to understand one another. These problems can be separated into differences concerning "direction", "quantity" and "quality." In high-context cultures, communication cues are transmitted by posture, voice inflection, gestures, and facial expression. We cite peer reviewed academic articles wherever possible and reference our sources at the end of our articles. Goodwill Messages and Recommendations. Low-context cultures also want these communications to revolve around basic questions, like: What's happening? For example, the body language and methods of communication experienced by a group of close friends in a casual setting differs greatly from a group of peers presenting at a professional business meeting. Same as low context communication high context do have its own peculiarities like they talk in hidden meanings and often double meanings or coded information. The reverse holds true for High (Collectivistic) Context Cultures. Moreover, their communication is often task-oriented and driven by rational decision-making, which can further add to their formality.. [2] High-context cultures often exhibit less-direct verbal and nonverbal communication, utilizing small communication gestures and reading more meaning into these less-direct messages. - Effects & Types, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Definition, effects & Types, Trepanning: Tools, Specialties & Definition, What is Pseudoephedrine? The cultural context. 231 lessons. Members of the culture place emphasis on interpersonal relationships. Culture and Interpersonal Communication. Published: 2020/12/03. In comparison, the United States is perhaps the best example of a diverse and low-context culture. They are considered less direct, and they put a lot of weight on gestures and body language to draw significance from messages. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Low context is a communication environment that doesn't heavily rely on common understanding such as shared culture, experiences and norms.This can be contrasted with high context communication that relies on common background or understanding. Learn more about our academic and editorial standards. France is a high-context culture. Relationships are easy to build, can start very quickly but end just as soon. In anthropology, high-context culture and low-context culture are ends of a continuum of how explicit the messages exchanged in a culture are and how important the context is in communication. People within high-context cultures tend to be more aware and observant of facial expressions, body language, changes in tone, and other aspects of communication that are not directly spoken. Since they value collectivism and interdependence, it makes sense that their communication requires an understanding of the communitys shared values. The hypotheses tested indicated the high-context culture in Mexico would provide different motives for communication when compared with the low-context culture of the U.S. Communication is seen as a way of exchanging information, ideas, and opinions. Furthermore, cultural aspects such as tradition, ceremony, and history are also highly valued. In high cultures, much of the communication is understood by the group either by non-verbal coding, which refers to common body language; distinct in-groups and out-group's, which refers to the cohesiveness of the group; and covert and implicit messages, which refers to what we refer . In these cultures, people may rely on body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions to convey meaning, and may not always say exactly what they mean directly. Initially, high culture rejects these outsiders but eventually embraces them or appropriates . A few relevant examples of differences in communication between low- and high-context cultures are found in Table 1. Examples of low context cultures include: Scandinavia; Germany, and the US. [31], Between each type of culture context, there will be forms of miscommunication because of the difference in gestures, social cues, and intercultural adjustments; however, it is important to recognize these differences and learn how to avoid miscommunication to benefit certain situations. This means that the members' identity is heavily rooted in groups, i.e., families and work units. Culture also affects how individuals interpret other people's facial expressions. What is a high-context culture and how does this communication culture differ from a low-context culture? All rights reserved. Both the speaker and listener act under the assumption that all relevant information has been explicitly stated. A case study was done on 30 Romanian and 30 Russian employees, to compare high- and low-context cultures, and results strongly suggested that Russia and Romania are both high-context cultures. In contrast, take a look at the ads on the front page of Weibo, which is considered China's version of Facebook. Meanwhile, in low-context cultures, more explicit speech is needed in order to allow the listener to fully understand the message. An individual from Texas (a higher-context culture) may communicate with a few words or use of a prolonged silence characteristic of Texan English, where a New Yorker would be very explicit (as typical of New York City English), although both speak the same language (American English) and are part of a nation (the United States of America) which is lower-context relative to other nations. The High Context / Low Context cultural dimension is a broad and far reaching theory which touches on many aspects of cultural communication including verbal and non-verbal messaging, internal and external locus of control, inward and outward reaction, cohesion of groups, people's bonds and commitments, as well . succeed. They are not simply complementary but are often used as the primary means of conveying a message and require the members to have greater cultural understanding. For a communicator to successfully interact with others from a different culture he must know whether his own culture is high or low context and which context is the culture in the interaction. What is high and low context culture examples? Conclusions are explicitly stated. Amount of Detail Expected - High-context cultures such as Japan, China, and France provide little details in their writing. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 [18] A trade language will typically need to explicitly explain more of the context than a dialect which can assume a high level of shared context. Cultural Perceptions of Communication in Organizations: Low Context and High Context. High-context communication tends to be more indirect and more formal. Negotiators basically say what they mean. [32] Since all sets of cultures differ, especially from a global standpoint where language also creates a barrier for communication, social interactions specific to a culture normally require a range of appropriate communication abilities that an opposing culture may not understand or know about. Low-context countries, on the other hand, relied more on linear processes and verbal communication. 9. We know that the way in which we say things at these gatherings is more important than what we say. High-context cultures promote the development of ingroups. The Nine Competencies that Characterize an IEP, Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits and Obstacles, Intercultural Communication in the Workplace, Additional Resources to Help you Format your Paper in APA Style. Low-context cultures (including North America and much of Western Europe) are logical, linear, individualistic, and action-oriented. Intercultural Business Communication by Confederation College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. [12] Typically a low-context culture will be less close-knit, and so individuals communicating will have fewer relational cues when interpreting messages. In the 1970's, anthropologist Edward T. Hall coined the phrases "high-context culture" and "low- context culture.". According to Hall's theory, the Chinese and Korean samples represented higher-context cultures while the American sample represents a lower context culture. [26] The terms high- and low-context cultures are not classified with strict individual characteristics or boundaries. Family gatherings, religious congregations, and other social outings with a close-knit group of people are forms of high-context communications that take place regularly in most cultures. The results show significant differences between the American, Chinese, and Korean samples on 15 out of 16 items, with 11 items significant at the .01 level, one at the .05 level, and three at the .10 level. The low-context websites had multiple images of individuals, while the high-context websites contained images and animations of groups and communities.[42]. The study tested 16 items, covering various aspects of the high-versus-low context concept, including social orientation, responsibility, confrontation, communication, commitment, and dealing with new situations. Individualism and collectivism are related to low-context and high-context cultures, respectively. For example, families typically engage in high context communication whereby they can communicate much with subtleties such as a glace. (The pedestrians example) A low-context culture is a culture in which people communicate explicitly. Generally, high-context cultures prefer oral communications, while low-context cultures favor written communications. Some common characteristics of high-context cultures include: Though the United States has a low-context culture, we have all been placed in situations that are considered high-context. [33] This significance follows into many situations such as the workplace, which can be prone to diversified cultures and opportunities for collaboration and working together. The high and low context cultures in this concept refers to how important contextual cues are in interpreting a message. High context culture is common wherever there is a relationship between people. High-context cultures are built on a sense of shared experiences and history. However, no country is low-context or high-context in absolute terms; instead, there is a mix of explicit & implicit communication everywhere. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Verbal message is explicit. Information has to be explicit and detailed for the message to be conveyed without distortion. For an outsider, it is easier to enter into low-context cultures because one does not need to be aware of the shared history/values of the group. In high-context cultures, people are said to prefer symbolic, artful language that is implicit. Writing Topic Sentences and Body Paragraphs, 38. [23] For example, Native Americans in the United States have higher-context cultures with a strong sense of tradition and history, compared to general American culture. [13] Not all individuals in a culture can be defined by cultural stereotypes, and there will be variations within a national culture in different settings. Table 2 shows a classification of countries in low and high context, their characteristics and the expected role . The use of an elaborated code indicates that speaker and listener do not share significant amounts of common knowledge, and hence they may need to "spell out" their ideas more fully: elaborated codes tend to be more context-independent. [6] This is in direct contrast to low-context cultures, in which information is communicated primarily through language and rules are explicitly spelled out. Low context implies that a lot of information is exchanged explicitly through the message itself and rarely is anything implicit or hidden.People in low context cultures such as the UK tend to have short-term relationships, follow rules and standards closely and are generally very task-oriented. In a low-context culture, the onus for communication lies with the speaker. [42] The images found on the websites used in the study promoted individualistic and collectivist characteristics within the low-context and high-context websites, respectively. [20][21], Cultural context can also shift and evolve. What is the role of such non-verbal communication in business relationships? [6] How does her experience in Japan demonstrate what youve learned so far about the different dimensions of culture? These include specific forms of body language, the social or familial status of an individual, and the tone of voice employed during speech. For example, people in traditional high context cultures have been described as developing "shared identities." In direct contrast to low context behavior, in a negotiation, high context cultures communicate in Members of high-context cultures usually have close relationships that last for an extended period of time. Leaders in high-context cultures, such as Ethiopia, tend to communicate more implicitly, using more nonverbal communication and expressing more vague verbal messages (at least from the viewpoint of a low-context culture). [7][8] Denotation tends to be attributed to low-context culture[9] People in low-context cultures communicate in a more direct way, with explicitly speaking what they want to communicate. High-context cultures: Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, China, India, and Saudi Arabia are some of the highest-context cultures in the world. They often use written contracts and agreements to clarify expectations (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). Besides cultural context, personal experiences and preferences also shape communication. Most of the contexting categories simply have not been researched enough to make firm conclusions. Hall notes a similar difference between Navajo-speakers and English-speakers in a United States school.[18]. Create your account, 10 chapters | We also make strong distinctions between those who are a part of our family and those who are not. Sage Publications. . Individuals in such cultures must hear or read a direct order, point, etc for it to be taken as valid. Cultural contexts are not absolutely "high" or "low". Anchor Press/Doubleday. Because of this, many features of cultural behavior in high-context cultures, such as individual roles and expectations, do not need much detailed or thought-out explanation. In low-context cultures, communication tends to be more direct and to the point. Context 1. . Context is less important than words. In the United States, Native Americans and Hawaiian islanders are also considered high-context. High Context Culture And Its Importance Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. They tend to use more slangs, idioms and are generally high pace speakers. High context refers to societies or groups where people have close connections over a long period of time. Hall, E. T. (1976). High-context cultures include close-knit groups of people, while low-context cultures are generally more diverse. Give some examples of cultural differences in the interpretation of body language. The scale of high- and low-context cultures helps explain much about how we experience communication across our cultural experiences. References Gudykunst, W. B., & Ting-Toomey, S. (1988). For example, if you have ever been to a family gathering, then you have experience with a high-context culture. Cultures where the group is valued over the individual promote. [10] In low-context cultures, relationships are not viewed as important figures to identity. - Dosage & Side Effects, Anxiolytic: Definition, Medications & Dependence, What is Citalopram? In high context cultures like Native American tribes, Japan, China, and Arabic countries, communication is curvilinear, and often what is left unsaid is just as important than what is, and there is more flexibility with time and looser schedules. [1] "High-" and "low-" context cultures typically refer to language groups, nationalities, or regional communities. [14] However, understanding the broad tendencies of predominant cultures can help inform and educate individuals on how to better facilitate communication between individuals of differing cultural backgrounds. Conflict Styles and HighLow Context Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Extension. A first step in achieving this goal is to identify one's own culture before delving into the rigors of another. Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. [34], Restricted codes are commonly used in high-context culture groups, where group members share the same cultural background and can easily understand the implicit meanings "between the lines" without further elaboration. Words: 825. Low-context cultures rely on explicit communication. Emphasis on verbal vs. non-verbal communications, the existence of close personal space, emphasis on collectivism and ingroup learning and achievements, and the importance of interpersonal relationships are but a few of the most significant distinguishing factors. [14] Groups that are able to rely on a common background may not need to use words as explicitly to understand each other. High Context vs. Low Context. "[27] This implies that communication is quite direct and detailed because members of the culture are not expected to have knowledge of each other's histories, past experience or background. [39][40] In high-context cultures, facial expressions and gestures take on greater importance in conveying and understanding a message, and the receiver may require more cultural context to understand "basic" displays of emotions. The aim of this report is to evaluate the concept of different communication cultures through the application of Hall's high and low-context model of culture. Traditionally, Western cultures are known for being more individualistic or communicating with a low context style. Because of this, communication can change drastically from one generation to the next, creating communication gaps between parents and children. In contrast, high-context cultures use facial expressions, body language, and gestures in a nuanced manner. Ironically, contexting is most frequently discussed in terms of directness, yet empirical studies nearly all fail to support this relationship. High-context cultures usually do not have rules that are explicitly written or stated. It relies on the straightforward use of language, without depending much on nonverbal cues. Required fields are marked *, This Article was Last Expert Reviewed on January 24, 2023 by Chris Drew, PhD. Guffey, D. Lowey, K. Rhodes, K., & P. Rogin. Cultures and communication in which the context of the message is of great importance to structuring actions are referred to as high context. The differences between high-context and low-context cultures is one of the most challenging things to navigate and one of the most important and distinct differences that exists across cultures. Because a low-context setting cannot rely on shared understanding of potentially ambiguous messages, low-context cultures tend to give more information, or to be precise in their language. Lower-context culture: United States, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada and other European nations. High context cultures are more common in the eastern nations than in western and in countries with low racial diversity. A simplified example mentioned by Hall is that scientists working in "hard science" fields (like chemistry and physics) tend to have lower-context cultures: because their knowledge and models have fewer variables, they will typically include less context for each event they describe. Two Types of Reflective Writing Assignments, Additional Resources for Improving Writing, Consistency in comparatives and listed elements: Parallelism, Hofstede Insights country comparison tool, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oYfhTC9lIQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvqDv4vbEg, https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/42958_2_The_Cultural_Context.pdf, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, Tend to prefer indirect verbal interaction, Tend to understand meaning at one level only, Tend to understand meanings embedded at many sociocultural levels, Are generally less proficient in reading nonverbal cues, Are generally more proficient in reading nonverbal cues, Communication in highly structured messages, provide details, stress literal meaning, Communication is simple, sometimes ambiguous, messages; understand visual messages readily, Define cultural context (Guffey et al., 2013, p. 64), Contrast communicate styles for low-context and high-context cultures (Meyer, 2017, p. 59), Explain how cultural differences can affect workplace communication (Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau, 2014). [2] Collectivist societies prioritize the group over the individual, and vice versa for individualist ones. Communication cultures differ societally between high-context and low-context cultures, a concept first described by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his 1976 publication Beyond Culture. In other words, the relationship between directness and contexting based on traditional classifications of [high-context] and [low-context] cultures is particularly tenuous. Neuliup, J. W. (2011). In contrast, a high-context language like Japanese or Chinese can use a high number of homophones but still be understood by a listener who knows the context. The composite score also indicates a significant difference among the three samples at the .01 level. "[17] On the other hand, he identified countries such as Germany, the United States and Scandinavia as low-context cultures. High vs. Low Power Distance Cultural Communications | What are High and Low Power Distance Cultural Communications? Most of the cultural behavior aspects are not open for the reason that many of the members are aware of what to do and what thoughts to engage in. "[29] A similarity that the two communication styles share is its influence on social characteristics such as age, gender, social class and ethnicity. Devon has tutored for almost two years. Hall identifies high-context cultures as those in which harmony and the well-being of the group is preferred over individual achievement. The same applies for the other characteristics in varied countries. According to Watson, "the influence of cultural variables interplays with other key factors for example, social identities, those of age, gender, social class and ethnicity; this may include a stronger or weaker influence. Hofstede, G. (1984). The study suggests that in high-context cultures, such as China and Korea, people tend to be more socially oriented, less confrontational, and more complacent with existing ways of living compared to people from low-context cultures like the US.[23]. A high-context culture is one in which communication may be more unspoken rather than explicit - for example, much attention is paid to body language, facial expressions, and other non-verbal cues in order to discern a speaker's meaning. Croucher, S., Bruno, A, McGrath, P, Adams, C, McGahan, C, Suits, A & Huckins, A. Examples of high and low context cultures It can be helpful to consider a few examples of high and low context cultures. For example, a low-context communicator can say, "I am unhappy with this outcome and . Low-context and high-context culture are anthropological concepts that describe the level of explicit information and the importance of context in a cultures communication. After completing this chapter, you will be able to: Now that we know, broadly, what culture is, lets discuss some ways to categorize aspects of different cultures. [25] There were 225 Mexican participants from three different undergraduate universities in Mexico City and 447 participants from Kent State University in the U.S.[25] The case study looked into culture shock experienced by Mexicans studying in the U.S.