Perception is part of human nature. Human beings started to perceive the world since they were born. Chen & Starosta (1998) states that human perception is a process of sensing the world by using human brain. This process is firmly influenced by a person’s first culture, which means people interpret the meaning of other’s behavior based on their cultural backgrounds and personal experiences. Scollon and Scollon (2001) state based on perceptions, people make assumptions about the other people and then choose the appropriate communicative style in order to reduce confusion and avoid miscommunication. Therefore, I agree that people ‘make significant assumption about what kind of a person the other person is and what kind of a person (they) would like us to think of them as being’ no matter in one’s homeland or a foreign country (Scollon and Scollon, 2001, p35). Making assumption seems a natural process, which unconsciously influenced by one’s cultural backgrounds and first language during the first and secondary socialization. However, when people communicate with people from different cultures, they need to think carefully about the assumptions they made, because some negative consequences could happen from holding stereotype from one’s first language and culture. Thus, we need to learn how to discard stereotype and to be an effective communicator.
China is a high power distance country in that age, occupation, economic position are the important marks of different statuses (Hofsted, cited in Chen & Starosta, 1998; Hofsted, cited in Linzey, 2011). China has been deeply influenced by Confucian philosophy, which requires Chinese people showing respect to other social members and leads them to clearly distinguish in-group and out-grou...
... middle of paper ...
...e appropriate assumptions to avoid miscommunication. In the meantime, people also intend other people to think of them. People want to use acceptable assumptions to obtain other people’s understanding in order to achieve their goals of communication. When communicating with people from different cultures, people tend to interpret the other people’s language and behavior by using generalized culture. Generalized culture, which represents beliefs of the majority within one culture, helps people make appropriate assumptions of the culture. However, ignoring individual differences may cause stereotype, which could bring different intensities of prejudice such as misunderstanding, discrimination and massacre. Therefore, people need to drop stereotype and build a multicultural perspective by accepting and learning other cultures in order to achieve effective communication.
Stereotyping is an action we all do, it is programmed in us specially when it comes to peoples race and culture, it helps us ant...
RaStereotyping is a way of thinking about groups of people. It ignores the differences of the group, while emphasizing its similarity. One belief, that is a stereotype, is that red-haired people are hot tempered. Another belief is that Scottish people are stingy. Such thinking ignores many even-tempered redheads and generous Scottish people. Stereotyping emphasizes many differences between groups while ignoring their similarities to other people. It ignores that many blond and brown-haired people also lose their tempers. Stereotyping overlooks the fact that many American, Brazilians and French people are stingy.
In our global economy requiring functional and respectful relationships between nations, prejudice and stereotypes can be a destructive force both in the world and in individual societies, especially in diverse ones.
Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” deals with the reader's perspective on stereotypes. It allows the reader’s mind to be creative and question who is the African American women and who is the Caucasian women. The short fiction is based on two main characters; Roberta and Twyla. Neither women’s race is discussed in the story but they are, in fact, different. The setting took place in St. Bonny's shelter where both had no other choice but to be placed together. Roberta and Twyla were not fully considered “orphans” because their parents were not dead; one was sick and one was a dancer. Being that they are not actual orphans, many of the others did not want to hangout with them. “Recitatif” was also filled with stereotypical references to
Race comes in various forms however; it is a topic of concern because no matter if a person claims that they are anti-prejudiced, it is impossible for this world to be free from stereotyping them. A stereotype per dictionary.com is a, “set of inaccurate generalizations about a group/race that allows others, outside the group, to categorize them and treat them according to their group/race”, (SITE DICTIONARY.COM). In the story, Recitatif, readers will come across prejudice acts or stereotypes; however, people tend to realize their own stereotypes as they read or learn about someone else’s, hence making it comfortable throughout the story for themselves.
In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is being perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate. Some hardly even apply to the particular group people it claims to. It is true that how people are perceived has a big impact on how other individuals interact with them; however, people are not perceiving these groups correctly.
In the Chinese culture they value many things and have many rights. “Benevolence, the core value of Confucianism, extends from the
Retrieved March 21, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://english.peopledaily.com. Chinatown Online is a wonderful site with an abundance of information about China. http://www.chinatown-online.com/. Henslin, J. M. (1999). The Species of the Species. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (4th ed.).
In the text, we talked about during the course of this class is stereotypes, which the text defines as “widely held beliefs about a group of people (Intercultural Communication).” In my life and in my community,
Many people who go to visit or work in another country suffer some misunderstanding from the local people, because they have a different culture. Different culture will cause disparity points of view about almost everything. In the article, Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks by Laray M. Barna, there are five stumbling blocks mentioned that are seen in a cross-culture communication. These blocks are: language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, the tendency to evaluate and high anxiety. Barna wants to use these stumbling blocks to show the common blockades between different cultures. I agree with what she thinks about the language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, and the tendency
Prejudices and stereotypes are rooted in our culture, tradition and habits and people with unwillingly can manifest signs of discrimination. It does not necessarily mean that the person has negative intension. Sometimes people simply cannot behave differently. Issuing negative judgments about foreign culture and own culture idealization often stem from tradition, and culture. Stereotypes are common in every society, and often unaware they guide our behavior. However, stereotypical views can lead to prejudice, and turn to discrimination or stigmatization.
With regards to human behavior, studies show that social perceptions are formed as a mixture of experience and expectations of how a individuals defining physical or overriding characteristics will impact how we imagine that person to be for instance through their ethnicity, nationality, religion, class or if they are living with a disability. These assumptions are often deep-rooted and formed in childhood.
When individuals or groups from different cultures communicate, this process is called intercultural communication. The transaction process of listening and responding to people from different cultural backgrounds can be challenging. The greater the difference in culture between two people, the greater the potential of misunderstanding and mistrust. Misunderstanding and miscommunication occur between people from different cultures because of different coding rules and cultural norms, which play a major role in shaping the patterns of interaction (Jandt, 2012).
...al to have an open mind to be able to gain insight toward learning new information and to gain new perspectives toward the other culture. Every group of people or country has their own issues that can impact its cultural beliefs, values, and attitudes. If a person has not had to face oppression, understanding how to relate to another person can be challenging. A person’s positions will impact his or her interests toward resolving issues. The expectations about others will affect everyday relationships. We all make mistakes, but minimizing conclusions and stereotypes will help to gain the trust of the other person.
Everyone has struggled through difficult situations, but eventually we learn from our mistakes and try to overcome them. The theory explains how Lawrence Grossberg discusses the theory of the cultural studies and how it affects the present and future, the struggles people have to go through for example, economics, culture, media and politics. Therefore, in today’s society we all have encountered cultural differences in our everyday life experiences and have changed the way we look at life for the better or worse. Cultural diversity is in our workplace and schools; we may encounter stereotypes while communicating with others, even though we have different opinions about their cultures, values and beliefs.