1.1 Perception
1.2 Beliefs 1.3 Values 2. Cultural Patterns
1. 1 What is perception?
• Perception is primary in the study of intercultural communication, because our information about and knowledge of our physical and social world are mediated(传 达 )by perceptual processes. Our perceptions give meaning to all those external forces: symbols, things, people, ideas, events, ideologies and faith.
1.3 Values
1)A Value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to another. 2)Values are shared ideas about what is true, right, and beautiful which underline cultural patterns and guide society in response to the physical and social environment.‖ (Nanda &Warms) 3)) Values are a learned organization of rules for making choices and for resolving conflicts.
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• Where to find 1. from people’s behavior pattern 2. from what people say about themselves; 3. from myths, tales of heroes and rituals; 4. from folk tales, movies, proverbs, sayings, etc.
Chapter Three
Cultural Values/Patterns/Orientations
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Contents
1. Perception, Belief and Values
2. Cultural Patterns 3. Application of theories
1. Perception, Belief and Values
2. 1 Cultural Patterns
Perceptions are stored within each human being in the form of beliefs + values = cultural patterns. • Cultural pattern taxonomies are used to illustrate the dominant beliefs and values of a culture.
2.How to classify different culture patterns?
Variations of Value Studies
Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientation Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural Variability Individualism Vs Collectivism Uncertainty Avoidance Low-Context Power Distance Edward T Hall’s Context - Culture Theory
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1.3The Value Hierarchy
•US
hospitality to guests • cleanliness
•
Tertiary Values
Alleviation of the pain and Secondary Values suffering of others securing material possessions
• • • • • 1) What is the character of human nature? 2) What is the relation of man to nature? 3) What is the orientation toward time? (temporal focus) 4) What is the mode of human activity? 5) What is the mode of human relationship? 1) = Human nature orientation 人性取向 2) = Man-nature orientation 人与自然的关系取向 3) = Time orientation 时间取向 4) = Activity orientation 行为取向 5) = Social orientation 人际取向 2013-12-26
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US Dominant cultural patterns (P62-65)
• • • • • • • Individualism, Equality, Materialism, Science and technology, Progress and change, Work and leisure, Competition
•Democracy • the protection of oneself and close family member
Primary Values
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1.3. How to get and where to find values?
• How to get: 1. from one’s family 2. from school teachers; 3. from one’s peers (friends, schoolmates, play mates; 4. from society at large
1.2. Beliefs
4. Beliefs are usually reflected in your actions and communication behavior. Eg
1) A good tan（棕褐色） is a reflection of a healthy, active lifestyle and makes a person more attractive. you will probably ----(find time to lie out in the sun or even go to a tanning salon. ) 2)Suntanned skin reflects a low social status, you will probably----( make an extra effort to avoid exposing yourself to the sun by wearing a hat, long-sleeved shirt, and perhaps gloves, and carrying an umbrella, on sunny days. )
1.1. Perception & cultures
Two ways that culture influences the perception process:
1. Perception is selective. What is allowed in is, in part, determined by culture. 2. Your perceptual patterns are learned. ―perception is culturally determined. We learn to see the world in a certain way based on our cultural background.‖ [see P57-58 ]
1.3 Values
4) Hofstede: Values are “a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others”. E.g. evil vs. good, dirty vs. clean, dangerous vs. safe, decent vs. indecent, ugly vs. beautiful, unnatural vs. natural, abnormal vs. normal, paradoxical vs. logical, irrational vs. rational, moral vs. immoral.

1.1. Perception & cultures
Perceptions are stored within each human being in the form of beliefs + values = cultural patterns
1.2. Beliefs
1.What are beliefs? Beliefs are our convictions in the truth of something— with or without proof..(p58) 2. How did you acquire them? Beliefs are shaped by the individual‘s culture.‖ 3. What function do they perform? • Beliefs are important because they are accepted as truths. • One of the most important functions of beliefs is that they form the basis of your values,