Difference Between High Context And Low Context Culture

Differences in High context and Low context cultures: “My family honor”

“Contexts or Environment are fields of experience that help communicators make sense of others’ behavior” (Interplay, the process of interpersonal communication. P.11.) Environment not only refers to a physical location but also the personal experiences and cultural background that the individuals bring to the conversation. There are two specific norms that shape the way people of a culture communicate. One is High Context Cultures and the other one is Low Context Cultures. High context cultures communicate their thoughts and ideas by giving cues while low context cultures tend to communicate their ideas and feelings more directly by using language. Conflicts often result

According to the Interplay textbook, one of the characteristics of low context culture is that “the majority of information is carried in explicit verbal messages,” in contrast to high context cultures in which “important information is carried in contextual cues such as time, place, relationship, situation.” This difference can cause clashes while communicating. For instance, Sarah as a low context culture individual was asking for directions to get to Ceccé 's place and the Corsican men as high context culture individual was giving her a cue by pointed to the road that she had to drive in order to get to Ceccé’s place. Although Sarah understood what he means, she was initially afraid that she was in the wrong

In other words, those who are members of these cultures know how the rules are and how to behave because they are part of the culture. For instance, when Sarah was explaining to Letizia the decision she had already taken of moving out of the apartment; Letizia was very angry because she felt that they were disrespecting her hospitality and she thought that Sarah did not like her. Sarah, who is part of a low context culture thought she was angry because they were moving out earlier and Letizia would lose money for the rent but, that was not the case. Letizia felt bad because they took the decision without consulting the problem in the first place with her. Letizia felt that Sarah did not consider her relationship. While members of low context culture like Sarah communicate their behaviors and thoughts in certain way; members of high context cultures may communicate theirs in an opposite way.

The difference in discussing a topic by stating clearly ideas and talk around the point can cause conflict in communication because communicators might get confuse trying to make sense of others’ point of view. In the article “Cross-cultural Conflict” by Kevin Avruch, the author describes another situation in which negotiations across borders led to a war between Egypt and Israel because they