Cross-Cultural-Perception

Cross-CulturalPerceptionWhydopeoplesaythatweallmakegeneralizationseveryday?Isitanexampleofsoundjudgmentorstereotypebywhichthecaptaingotthingsdone?Withoutsuchpre-conceptions,howwehandlesituationsasaredescribedinthisexample?p264•“ItoldtheEnglishmanitwastheforbiddenthingtodo,andhejumped.ItoldtheFrenchmanitwaschic;theGermanthatitwasacommand;theItalianthatitwassporting;theRussianthatitwasrevolutionary;sotheyalljumpedoverboard.”•“AndhowdidyougettheAmericantojump?”•“Noproblem,”saidthecaptain,“Itoldhimhewasinsured.”Itisanexampleofsoundjudgmentorstereotypebywhichthecaptaingotthingsdone.Hediditinaccordancewithethnocentrism.Ethnocentrism,coinedbyWilliamGrahamSumner,istheviewpointthatone’sethnicgroupisthecenterofeverything,againstwhichallothergroupsarejudged.Withinculture,language,behavior,customscanbeabasisforethnicdistinctions,andsub-divisions.Willyouinterpretethno-relativismandthecausesandharmofethnocentrism?Howdoweovercomeethno-centrism?(PP272-275;pp309-313)•Ethnorelativism:•Itisjustoppositetotheattitudeofethnocentrism;itistheattitudeofculturalrelativism.•Maintainsthatculturescanonlybeunderstoodrelativetooneanother;thereisnoabsolutestandardofrightnessorgoodnessthatcanbeappliedtoculturalbehavior;culturaldifferenceisneithergoodnorbad;itisjustdifferent.•Involvestheviewthatallculturesareofequalvalueandthevaluesandbehaviorofaculturecanonlybejudgedusingthatcultureasaframeofreference.Origin:•Ethnocentrism,coinedbyWilliamGrahamSumner,istheviewpointthatone’sethnicgroupisthecenterofeverything,againstwhichallothergroupsarejudged.Withinculture,language,behavior,customscanbeabasisforethnicdistinctions,andsub-divisions.Harms:•Ourin-group’svaluesandwaysofdoingthingsareseenassuperiortotheout-group’svaluesandwaysodoingthings.•Ethnocentrismcanalltooeasilyleadto“us”versus“them”thoughtandlanguage.Overcomeethno-centrism:•Youmustrealizethatyoutypicallyusethecategoriesofyourownculturetojudgeandinterpretthebehaviorsofthosewhoareculturallydifferentfromyou.•Theethnocentricimpressionthatone’scommunicationstyleisnaturalandnormalpredisposessomeonetoevaluateotherstylesnegatively.•Avoidappearing“statusconscious”.•Awareofspecificculturaldifferencesincommunicationstyle.Eachpersonneedstobeawarethatheorsheisevaluatingtheother,oftenonsimilarlyethnocentricgrounds.Don’tdoit.Trytobuildagoodcommunicationstyle.Whydoweholdnegativestereotypesintermsofperception?284-285•Mostofusactasifourwayofperceivingthingsisthecorrectandonlyway.•Weoftenoverlookperceptualdifferencesandconcludethatiftheotherpersondoesn’tseethatPabloPicassoisthegreatestartistthateverlived,hesimplydoesnotknowart.Actually,itmaywellbethathehasadifferentpasthistoryandwhatisgreatestartforhimmaynotmatchourperceptionofart.Whatarethedifferencesbetweenmisjudgmentandprejudice?Howdoesprejudicecomeintobeing?canyouexemplifythedifferencesbetweenthe5formsofprejudice?Howcanwereduceorgetridofstereotypeandprejudiceinourcross-culturalcommunicationactivities?(pp289-291;pp292-295)Whatarethedifferencesbetweenmisjudgmentandprejudice?misjudgment:toformawrongopinionaboutapersonorsituation,especiallyinawaythatmakesyoudealwiththemoritunfairly.Awhitepersonisnotbehavingprejudiciallyifconcludingafterinteractingwithblacksthatheorshedoesn’tlikethoseparticularblackpersons.Prejudices:thosenegativeattitudesdirectedtowardgroups,especiallyracialandreligiousgroups,thatareformedbyhighlypersonalandunreasonedgeneralizationsaboutallormostmembersofthegroupYouKnowhowthosepeopleare!”Howdoesprejudicecomeintobeing?Ignoranceisoneoftheprimarycauseofprejudice.IndifferencehostilityWithoutknowingthevaluesandbeliefsofotherpeople,wecannotfullyappreciatetheirgoalsandexpectationsandtherationalefortheirbehavior,theirculturalbackgroundsandthecontributionstheyhavemadeorareabletomaketosociety.Nordoweknowwhattheyhaveincommonwithus.Indifferentisatoneendofthecontinuumofignorance;hostilityisattheother.•Insecurityisasecondcauseofprejudice.•MassmediaalsoplayanimportantroleinthedevelopmentofprejudiceCanyouexemplifythedifferencesbetweenthe5formsofprejudice?verbalabuseisoftenaccompaniedbyethnicjokesandname-labeling.Physicalavoidanceoccurswhenwedislikeagroupofpeople.Discriminationreferstothedenialofequalopportunitiestooutgroupmembers.physicalattackmassacreverbalabuseDeadIndiansaregoodIndiansChinese=ChinksJapanese=JapsBlacks=NegroesPolish=PolacksPhysicalavoidanceEg:someIrishCatholicsandProtestantshavebeenoutcastfordatingoneanother.DiscriminationEg:theBritishpostedthesign“DogsandtheChinesecan’tenter”atthefrontgateoftheChineseparkinthecolonialarea.physicalattack•physicalpunishingthegroupofpeoplewhoaredislikedbecomesinevitable.•E.g.:Inaneighteen-monthperiodsomefiftyAfricanAmericanchurcheswereburneddown,mainlyfromarson.Atthesametime,AfricanAmericanchurchesinNewYorkCitytriedtodriveKoreanmerchantsfromblackneighborhoodsbymeansofintimidation.massacrethegenocidalslaughterbyHitleroftheJewishpeopleandtheburningofwomenaswitchesincolonialAmericansaretwoexamples.Howcanwereduceorgetridofstereotypeandprejudiceinourcross-culturalcommunicationactivities?empathyBeopen-mindedinter