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CHAPTER 5
The Perceptual Context
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 6e. © SAGE Publications, 2015.
Culture and Cognition
People from different cultures
think about different things…
… but do higher mental
processes, such as perception
and remembering, differ
across cultures?
The Geography of Thought
The ancient Greeks focused on:
• linear methods of
understanding
• without much regard to
context
Confucian-driven Chinese philosophies
emphasized:
•
•
•
•
Fluctuation
Holism
Interdependence
harmony
Peoples from the East and West think differently
because of the influence of philosophies from the
ancient Greeks and Chinese
Model of Human Information
Processing
1
•Input/sensation
2
•Storage/memory
3
•Recall/retrieval
Stage 1—Input/sensation
Perception—the mental interpretation of external stimuli via
sensation.
Perceptual
filters:
Physiological—the senses
Sociological—demographic
information and group memberships
Psychological—attitudes, beliefs, and
dispositions
4 Explanations for Cross-Cultural
Differences
Conditions of the physical environment
Indirect environmental conditions
Genetic differences
Cultural differences in the interaction with the environment
• Carpentered-world hypothesis
Stage 2—Storage/memory
Shortterm
memory 7 plus or minus
Longterm
memory Episodic—
2
unique
experiences
Lost to decay
Semantic—
conceptual
information
and knowledge
Stage 3—Recall/retrieval
Long-term memory may
not be recalled due to:
Interference
Negative arousal (anxiety)
Age
Improper categorization
Cross-Cultural Differences in
Sensation and Perception
Culture affects one’s
ability to sense and
perceive incoming
information
Once information has
passed through the
perceptual filters, it is
processed into memory
Once information has
been stored, it is
relatively useless unless
it can be retrieved
Categorization & Stereotyping
Categorization—
grouping, sorting, or
classifying objects,
events, or living things
into identifiable groups
or compartments.
Stereotypes—
membership in social
categories that are
believed to be
associated with certain
traits and behaviors.
Cross-Cultural Differences in
Memory and Retrieval
Effects on
information
retrieval
Other factors
Culture
Socialization
Age
Education
Education
Literacy
Mental Economy
To manage
enormous
quantities of
information,
we
categorize.
• People in all
cultures do
this.
• Categorization
involves
classifying,
sorting, or
arranging
information by
similarities
Categorization
Categorization
reduces uncertainty
and increases
accuracy of
predictions about
others
In intercultural
communication
we face high
levels of
uncertainty and
unfamiliar
stimuli
Stereotypes
Categories that :
• often carry a positive or negative evaluation
• typically refer to membership in social categories
• are part of a natural and universal information-processing strategy
The difficulty arises when stereotypes carry a negative
valence and are used to over- generalize negative traits
Stereotyping is automatic whereas prejudice is a
controlled process
Stereotypes: Cultivation Theory
Cultivation
Theory
• long-term exposure
to media, especially
TV, “cultivates” in
viewers a perception
of social reality that
is reflective of the
content on screen
• The situations on TV
become the social
reality that viewers
believe is correct,
whether or not it is.
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM)
individuals’ social
perceptions are based on
the two judgments of
(a) warmth and
(b) competence
These judgments stem
from larger social
structures, specifically
competition and status
Proposes that warmth and
competence judgments
elicit one of four unique
emotional responses:
• admiration, envy, contempt, or
pity
Root in competition for
resources
Illusory
correlation
principle
Out-group
homogeneity
effect
Stereotype
Outcomes
Self-fulfilling
prophecies
Stereotype
threat
Ethnocentrism
The tendency to put one’s in-group in a position of
centrality and worth while creating and reinforcing
negative attitudes and behaviors toward out-groups.
Ethnocentric attributional bias
Ethnocentrism negatively influences intercultural
communication.
Ethnocentrism Continuum
• Ethnocentrism is negatively and significantly
correlated with perceptions of social attraction,
competence, character, and hiring recommendations.
Relationship of Ethnocentrism
and Racism
• Racism and ethnocentrism are not
synonymous, but they are related
• Unlikely to be racist and not ethnocentric.
• Possible to be ethnocentric and not racist.
• Ethnocentrism is considered innate.
• Racism is considered learned.