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Chapter 11
Episodes, Contexts, and Intercultural Interactions
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Social Episodes in Intercultural
Relationships
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Social Episodes are interaction sequences that are
repeated over and over again.
People’s interactions are structured by their
repeated participation in events or social
episodes that are quite predictable and routine.
The nature of social episodes varies from culture
to culture.
In social episodes that include intercultural
interactions, participants will have very different
expectations and interpretations about people’s
behaviors and intentions.
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Components of social episodes
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Cultural patterns
Social roles
Rules of interaction
Interaction scenes
Interaction contexts
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Components of social episodes
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Cultural patterns are the shared judgments
about what the world is, what it should be,
and the widely held expectations about how
people should behave.
◦ Cultural patterns are like tinted glasses that color
everything people see and to which they respond.
◦ The episodes that structure people’s lives –are
common to many cultures; however, the
interpretations that are imposed on these
behaviors can vary greatly from one cultural
group to another due to differences in cultural
patterns.
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Components of social episodes
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Social roles are sets of expected behaviors that are associated
with people in a particular position.
◦ Common social roles include that of student, mother,
father, brother, sister, boss, friend, and employee.
◦ The role that you take in a particular social episode strongly
suggests to you the way in which you should act.
◦ In many episodes, you play clearly defined roles that give
you guidance about what you should say to the other
person and even how you should say it.
◦ The role you are playing is matched by the roles of others
in the episode.
◦ Even though you may think you are fulfilling a particular
role, the expectations of the role may vary widely between
your culture and the culture in which you are interacting.
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Components of social episodes
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Rules of interaction provide a predictable pattern
or structure to social episodes and give
relationships a sense of coherence.
◦ These rules are not written down, nor are they
typically shared verbally; instead, they operate at
the level of unwritten, unspoken expectations.
◦ Most of the time, people are not consciously aware
of the rules that govern a social episode until they
are broken.
◦ Rules of interaction include such diverse aspects as
what to wear, what is acceptable to talk about, the
sequence of events, and the artifacts that are part
of the event.
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Components of social episodes
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Interaction scenes are made up of the recurring,
repetitive topics that people talk about in social
conversations.
◦ Many cultures share a standard set of scenes or
topics used to initiate and maintain
conversations, and the conversations flow from
beginning to end in a more or less predictable
pattern.
◦ The actual topics in a interaction scene can vary
widely from one culture to another.
◦ Difficulties can arise in intercultural interactions
when the participants differ in their
expectations of interaction scenes.
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Components of social episodes
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Interaction contexts are the settings or
situations within which social episodes occur.
Contexts compose a “frame” or reference
point around communication experiences by
helping people to determine what specific
actions should mean, what behaviors are to
be expected, and how to act appropriately
and effectively in a particular interaction.
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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Healthcare context
Education context
Business context
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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The health care context affects doctors, nurses, counselors,
and health care workers, as well as patients, families,
communities, and cultural groups.
Cultural patterns affect how people understand the health
care context.
3 general approaches that characterize beliefs about health.
◦ The magico-religious or personalistic approach refers to a
belief that health and illness are closely linked to
uncontrollable supernatural forces.
◦ The holistic or naturalistic approach refers to a belief that
humans desire to maintain a sense of harmony with the
forces of nature.
◦ The biomedical or Western approach refers to beliefs that a
person’s health is controlled by biochemical forces.
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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Family and gender roles influences on the health
care context.
◦ Cultural patterns influence the definition of the
patient, family responsibilities, ideas regarding
medical treatment, and medical interviews.
◦ Some cultures believe only the individual being
treated should be informed of his or her illness and
possible treatments.
◦ In many cultures, health care providers are
expected to talk about the nature of the illness and
its prognosis with family members but not the
patient, and the family members make decisions
about the nature of the treatment.
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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Intercultural competence in the health care
context
Health care professionals must assume the
responsibility of assuring intercultural
competence – which requires an
understanding of cultural patterns – in order
to treat people effectively.
However, an individual may or may not share
the preferences of his or her cultural group.
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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The educational context
◦ Participants in educational settings bring with them their
cultural backgrounds and patterns.
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The role of the teacher
◦ Teachers come to the classroom carrying with them both
their unique personality characteristics and the influences
of their culture.
◦ Cultures that prefer a more hierarchical relationship
between individuals will structure the relationship between
student and teacher with greater status differences.
◦ Cultural characteristics influence what is considered
appropriate and effective communication within the
classroom and shapes what is considered to be desirable
and undesirable classroom behaviors.
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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Intercultural competence in the educational
context
◦ Creating a constructive learning environment in an
age of cultural diversity requires that people be
sensitive to different and sometimes competing
experiences.
◦ The starting point for developing intercultural
competence in the educational context is to
understand one’s own cultural background.
◦ Because the culture of teachers and administrators
influence student knowledge and behavior, the
educational context has the potential to help or
harm students and their families.
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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The business context
◦ Differences in cultural patterns create widely
dissimilar expectations for how a business is
structured and what is considered appropriate and
effective communication within that business.
◦ 4 variations include:
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Who speaks for the organization?
Who makes decisions for the organization?
What motivates employees?
What is the basis for the business relationship?
◦ There are also differences in business negotiation
and deal making which may lead to difficulties and
to failure for the unwary. (Table11.3)
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Contexts for Intercultural
Communication
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Intercultural competence in the business
context
◦ When working in multicultural and international
groups, increased attention and effort in the
following 4 areas is most useful:
 Gathering information about the multiple perspectives
that will inevitably be present.
 Maintaining flexibility and a willingness to adapt to
differing situations, issues, and needs.
 Building social relationships as well as task cohesion.
 Clearly identifying and emphasizing mutual long-term
goals.
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Episodes, Contexts, and
Intercultural Competence
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Intercultural competence requires an
understanding of the episodes and contexts
within which interaction occurs.
Cultural differences related to episodes and
contexts can be a cause of misunderstanding
in intercultural interactions.
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What are social episodes? When, if ever, are
people affected by them?
What are some specific social contexts
influenced by culture?
What actions can people take to be more
interculturally competent in everyday
contexts?
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