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Documente Cultură
SOCIAL COMMUNITIES
1. Culture: a way of life—a system of ideas, values, beliefs, customs, and language that is
passed from one generation to the next and that sustains a particular way of life
[intercultural communication]
1. Individualistic cultures:
regard each person as distinct from other people, groups, and organizations.
value personal freedom, individual rights, and independence
tends to be assertive and often competitive
celebrate successful individuals—Most Valuable Player, Salesperson of the Month
Self-reliance is highly valued, as are personal initiative, accomplishment, and growth.
rely on a low-context communication style (very direct, explicit, and detailed)
argument and persuasion are perceived as appropriate
2. Collectivist cultures
regard people as deeply connected to one another and to their families, groups, and
communities.
value intergroup order and harmony, group welfare, and interdependence
tends to be other-oriented and cooperative
collective accomplishments are more valued
tend to celebrate communal achievements more
rely on a high-context communication style (indirect and undetailed; conveys
meanings more implicitly)
assumed as alike in terms of their values and understandings
a person’s history (family, status in community) forms a context for understanding
what a person says – context > message
1. Reason:
Social communities - to resist the mainstream’s efforts to define their identity
helps propel change by naming things in ways that shape how we understand them
(e.g. environmental racism and environmental justice)
prompts changes in cultural life (e.g. The Civil Rights and Black Power) – also to
persuade non-black citizens to rethink their attitudes and practices
1. Ethnocentrism - tendency to regard ourselves and our way of life as normal and superior to
other people and other ways of life.
2. E.g. Nazi Germany’s declaration that Aryans were the “master race” -> massive genocide of
Jewish people
3. Cultural relativism - cultures vary in how they think and behave as well as in what they
believe and value.
4. Cultural relativism =/= moral relativism - reminds us that something that appears odd or
even wrong to us may seem natural and right from the point of view of a different culture
1. Resistance
Can be seen in hate crime
Insulation within a single culture
Assimilation - people give up their ways and adopt the ways of the dominant culture
(melting pot metaphor)
Is used to provoke change in cultural practices and viewpoints
2. Tolerance
respecting others’ rights to their ways even though we may think their ways are
wrong
3. Understanding
Builds on the idea of cultural relativism (differences are rooted in cultural teachings
and that no cultural teachings are intrinsically best or right)
4. Respect
appreciate the distinct validity and value
5. Participation
incorporate some practices and values of other groups into our own lives
e.g. practicing multilingualism
Chapter 9: Communication and Self Respect
Particular Others
1. specific people who are especially significant to us and who shape how we see ourselves
2. reflected appraisal - The process of seeing ourselves through the eyes of others
Generalized Others
1. the collection of rules, roles, and attitudes endorsed by the overall society and social
communities to which we belong
2. communicated by other people who have internalized those views
3. role of institution:
convey the perspective of the generalized other (e.g. judicial system)
reflect and express prevailing social prejudices
1. Direct definition
Def: communication that explicitly tells us who we are by labelling us and our
behaviors
learn how others see them and what others value and expect of them
2. Life Scripts
Def: rules for living and identity
define our roles, how we are to play them, and the basic elements of what our
families see as the right plot for our lives
unconscious process by which we internalize scripts that others write and assign to
us
3. Attachment Styles
Def: patterns of parenting that teach us how to view ourselves and personal
relationships
Secure attachment style
o Caregiver: consistently attentive and loving way to a child;
o Child: positive sense of self-worth and a positive view of others
o outgoing, affectionate, & able to handle the challenges and disappointments
of close relationships without losing self-esteem
Fearful
o Caregiver: negative, rejecting, or even abusive ways to a child
o Children: unworthy of love and that others are not loving
Dismissive
o caregivers who are uninterested in, rejecting of, or abusive
o do not accept the caregiver’s view of them as unlovable; dismiss others as
unworthy
o child: develop a positive view of themselves and a low regard for others and
relationships
o defensive tendency to view relationships as unnecessary and undesirable
Anxious/ambivalent
o Most complex
o fostered by inconsistent treatment from the caregiver; unpredictable
o child: creates great anxiety; often assume that they themselves are the
source of any problem
o tend to be preoccupied with relationships
o may act inconsistently
o uneasy with closeness
1. Reflected Appraisals
Judgments; knowing their perspectives about ourselves
2. Direct definitions
Def: communication that explicitly tells us who we are by labelling us and our
behaviors
3. Social comparisons
Def: our rating of ourselves relative to others with respect to our talents, abilities,
qualities, and so forth
we use others to evaluate ourselves
How?
o to decide whether we are like them or different from them
o to assess specific aspects of ourselves
4. Self-disclosure
Def: the revelation of personal information about ourselves that others are unlikely
to learn on their own.
take place when the communication climate is affirming, accepting, and supportive
The Johari Window:
o Open area
o Blind area
o Hidden area
o Unknown area
Is used to reduce uncertainty – refer to uncertainty reduction theory (Chapter 8)
Effect:
o fosters personal growth and increase closeness
1. Race
E.g. white privilege
race is socially constructed
2. Gender
Western society: men > women
Society’s gender prescriptions is less rigid today
3. Sexual orientation
Focuses on the LGBTQ+ community
E.g. passed laws on gay marriage
Rejecting and resist negative social views – supporting positive self-images
Become more aware of their sexuality
4. Socioeconomic level
Difficult to pinpoint – not necessarily visible
basic part of how we understand the world and how we think, feel, and act
affects our ideas about what we need and what we are entitled to
1. values and views endorsed by a society at any given time are arbitrary and subject to change
2. has an ethical responsibility to speak out against social perspectives that we perceive as wrong
or harmful
1. Group
three or more people who interact over time, depend on one another, and follow
shared rules of conduct to reach a common goal
interdependent – needing one another to achieve something,
2. Team
a special kind of group characterized by different, complementary resources of
members and by a strong sense of collective identity
Differences:
i. consist of people who bring different and specialized resources to a
common project
ii. develop greater interdependence and a stronger sense of identity
3. Group teams develop rules:
Constitutive rules – state what counts as what
Regulative rules – regulate how, when, and with whom we interact
4. Having shared goals
1. Project Teams
consist of people who have expertise related to different facets of a project and who
combine their knowledge and skills to accomplish a common goal
2. Focus groups
to find out what people think about a specific idea, product, issue, or person
mainstay of advertisers
guided by a leader or facilitator who encourages members to express ideas, beliefs,
feelings, and perceptions relevant to the topic
3. Brainstorming groups
to come up with as many ideas as possible
work together to appraise the ideas generated
4. Advisory Groups
develop and submit recommendations to others, who make the final decisions
provide expert briefing to an individual or another group that is empowered to make
a decision
5. Quality Improvement Teams (continuous quality improvement team)
include three or more people who have distinct skills or knowledge and who work
together to improve quality in an organization
also involves people at different levels in an organization’s hierarchy
focus on complaining about problems, identifying needs or problems
often generate impressive and creative solutions to organizational problems
usually make reports on a regular basis (weekly or monthly) to keep management
informed
6. Decision-Making Groups
to make a specific decision
1. Def: degree of closeness among members and the sense of group spirit
2. Groupthink – members cease to think critically and independently; extreme cohesion
Group Size
Power Structure
Interaction Patterns
Centralized patterns – one or two people hold central positions; goes directly to them or is
funneled through them
Decentralized patterns – more balanced; members have roughly equal power
Group Norms
1. Norms – guidelines that regulate how members act as well as how they interact with each
other
2. By noticing patterns and tendencies, you can exert influence over the norms
Reward Power - The ability to give people things they value, e.g. attention, approval
Coercive Power - The ability to punish others through demotions, firing, and undesirable
assignments
Legitimate Power - The organizational role (e.g. manager, CEO) that results in others’
compliance
Expert Power - Influence derived from expert knowledge or experience
Referent Power - Influence based on personal charisma and personality
Provide Leadership
1. Leadership
Effective participation
o to organize discussion
o to create a productive climate
o to build group morale
o to discourage egocentric communication
1. Disruptive Conflict
communication that is competitive as members vie with each other to wield
influence and get their way
a self-interested focus
fosters diminished cohesion and a win–lose orientation
Group climate deteriorates
2. Constructive Conflict
members understand that disagreements are natural and can help them achieve
their shared goals
should demonstrate openness to different ideas, willingness to alter opinions when
good reasons exist
Chapter 12: Communication in Organizations
provides predictability for members so that they understand roles, procedures, and
expectations
rely on a hierarchical structure
Communication Networks
Organizational Culture
Vocabulary
1. Hierarchical Language
designate status
reflects the close ties among rank, respect, and privilege
Unequal terms of address
2. Masculine Language
Taken from sports (develop a game plan), military life (battle plan), and from male
sexual parts and activities (screw, hit on a person)
may also normalize sexist practices, including sexual harassment (sweetheart)
Stories
1. Corporate Stories
Function: to socialize new members into the culture of an organization
2. Personal Stories
tell stories about themselves; announce how people see themselves and how they
want to be seen by others
3. Collegial Stories
offers accounts of other members of the organization
assert identities for others in an organization
1. Rites - dramatic, planned sets of activities that bring together aspects of cultural ideology in
a single event
Rites of passage - to mark membership in different levels or parts of organizations
Rites of integration - affirm and enhance the sense of community in an organization
Blaming rites (counterpart of enhancement rites) - Firings, demotions, and
reprimands
Renewal rites - to revitalize and update organizations (Training workshops)
Conflict resolution rites - standard methods of dealing with differences and discord
(e.g. arbitration, collective bargaining, mediation, executive fiat, voting)
2. Rituals - forms of communication that occur regularly and that members of an organization
perceive as familiar and routine parts of organizational life
Personal rituals – routine behaviors that individuals use to express their
organizational identities
Social rituals – standardized performances that affirm relationships between
members of organizations
Task rituals – repeated activities that help members of an organization perform their
jobs
# workplace bullying – recurring hostile behaviors used by people with greater power against
people with lesser power
Structures
1. Roles
Def: responsibilities and behaviors expected of people because of their specific
positions in an organization
Each role is connected to other roles within the system.
2. Rules
Def: patterned ways of interacting
Constitutive rules – specify what various kinds of communication symbolize
Regulative rules – specify when, where, and with whom communication should
occur (e.g. organizational chart)
3. Policies
Def: formal statements of practices that refl ect and uphold the overall culture of an
organization
4. Communication Networks
link members of an organization together through formal and informal interactions
and relationships
Formal – Job descriptions and organizational charts
Informal – Friendships, alliances, carpools, and nearby offices
Grapevine – Communication outside the formal channels of an organization;
suggesting free-flowing quality
1. have a cafeteria-style benefits package – allow employees to select benefi ts from a range of
options (family leave, flexible working hours, employer-paid education)
2. Flexible rules and policies
1. To entertain
to engage, interest, amuse, or please listeners
by sharing stories – to share experiences, teach a lesson
2. To inform
increasing listeners’ understanding, awareness, or knowledge of some topic
may take in the form of demonstration
3. To persuade
aims to change listeners’ attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors or to motivate them to take
some action
an advocate who argues for a cause, issue, policy, attitude, or action
1. Select a topic
Select topics that they know and care about
Must be appropriate
Limited in scope
2. Define the Speaking Purpose
General purpose: to entertain, inform & persuade
Specific purpose: exactly what you hope to accomplish
3. Define the thesis
Having a clear thesis statement – main idea of the speech
Summarizes the focus of the speech
Organising Speeches
1. Introduction
should gain listeners’ attention, give them a reason to listen, establish the credibility
of the speaker, and state the thesis
2. Body
Development of the thesis
Chronological patterns (time patterns): emphasize progression, sequences, or
development
Spatial patterns: according to physical relationships; explaining layouts, geographic
relationships, or connections between parts of a system.
Topical patterns (classification patterns): order speech content into categories or
areas
Wave patterns: feature repetitions
Comparative patterns: compare two or more phenomena
1. Evidence – material used to support claims, such as those made in a public speech
used to make ideas clearer, more compelling, and more dramatic
fortifies a speaker’s opinions, which are seldom sufficient to persuade intelligent
listeners
heightens a speaker’s credibility
Types:
o Statistics
o Examples
o Comparisons
o Quotations
Halo effect
1. Oral style
Should be personal
Tends to be immediate and active
2. Impromptu delivery
extemporaneous delivery
Manuscript delivery
memorized delivery
1. need to understand what listeners already know and believe and what reservations they
might have about what we say
2. be observant
3. gather information through conversation or survey
Listen Critically
1. People are active agents who make deliberate choices among media to gratify themselves
2. “we select media that we think will give us something we value or want”
3. offers a more realistic view of audiences, but it tells little about how media affect society
4. Not only to gain information, but also for pleasure
5. Question: What are the reasons people use media? – individuals’ motivations shaped their
choices of mass communication
Agenda Setting
1. Def: media’s ability to select and call to the public’s attention ideas, events, and people and
to offer frames, or ways of seeing, those phenomena it selects
2. Mass media set the public agenda.
3. Processes: (a) direct us to pay attention to particular topics (b) lead us to ignore or give
minimum attention to other topics
4. Gatekeeper
the people and groups that decide which messages pass through the gates that
control information flow to reach consumers (e.g. editors, advertisers and political
groups)
screens information and its sources
Cultivation Theory
Def: a theory exploring the relationship between mass communication and popular culture
1. Textual analysis
involves closely reading texts
Frame analysis: examination of consistent patterns in the ways stories are presented
2. Audience studies
A.k.a. reader-response research
focuses on the meanings that audiences (readers or viewers) assign to their
engagement with media
audiences are active, not passive
3. Political economy studies
offers critical analysis of tensions between the current corporate media system and
democratic ideals and practices
the logic of the market increasingly shapes every facet of cultural life
driven by capitalism
media primarily benefit wealthy individuals and corporations
mass communication’s survival depends on attracting and keeping advertisers
Product placement: the practice of featuring products in media and ensuring that
viewers recognize the product
Methods by the media to gain profit: advertising, reality TV
Immersive advertising: incorporates a product or brand into actual storylines in
books, television programs, and fi lms
Respond Actively
1. must recognize that you are an agent who can affect what happens around you
2. question or challenge the views of reality they advance
3. must speak out their mind
Chapter 15: PERSONAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Written Communication
Telephonic Communication
1. e.g. facsimile machine (or the fax) – fast & inexpensive; Cell phones and text messaging
2. stay in touch without the inconvenience of coordinating different time zones
Computer-Mediated Communication
1. Wi-Fi
increases our ability to connect with the Internet
2. Email
speed of transmission and the convenience of using the technology when we please
does not automatically produce hard copy for records
not truly appreciated as a medium of touch
Electronic Conferencing
1. Interconnectivity - connecting of various devices to each other and to the Internet so users
don’t have to independently configure each new system
1. Encourage multitasking
engaging in multiple tasks simultaneously or in rapid sequence in overlapping and
interactive ways
humans can’t really concentrate on more than one thing in the same time
2. Encourage Response to Visual Stimuli [visual emphasis affects thinking]
Humans will expect new stimulation frequently
hold attention for only short spans of time and to expect—perhaps need—new
stimuli continuously
respond to dazzling images more
unequally stimulates the two brain lobes (stimulates the right side of the brain
more)
3. Discourage Independent, Critical Thinking
make it easy to rely on external authorities
may undermine imaginative, independent thought and sustained mental focus
comes from the democratization of the Internet
1. cookies - bits of data that websites collect and store in users’ personal browsers.
2. spyware - allows a third party to track individuals’ online activity, gain personal information,
and send pop-up ads tailored to users’ profi les