Reflection paper in communication

The  Reflection  is out of 30 points.

I have upladed 3 files.

A) Power Point ( The chapter) 

B) Summary 

C) Sample of  Reflection  ( just a sample from different chapter) 

 This Reflection  paper should show insight and understanding of the material     

 You are allowed to respond based on your supported opinions or reflections based on your own experiences which are related to the topic.  

Name

Date

FLAN 3440

Gaby Semaan

Reflection: Chapter 10

(Your Own Title)

Conflicts are an unavoidable part of life. No one can go their entire lives without coming

across an opposing idea from one’s own. Conflicts are so common that conflict resolution has

become a full time occupation for millions across the world. From lawyers to judges to

professional mediators, conflict resolution has become a money making industry. We can see

this in shows such as Judge Judy, Divorce Court, and more barbarically Jerry Springer. Conflicts,

however, do not have to be fights or arguments and how a person handles a conflict not only says

a lot about their conflict resolution style but also about the cultural they were raised in.

I come from a high-context home but a low-context culture country. At home my parents

dealt with conflicts by silently ignoring them until they, hopefully, went away. If they didn’t go

away naturally then the end result was a very loud argument until both parties felt like they were

satisfied. This is in line with the high-context cultures of preferring a non-confrontational

conflict resolution. The United States as a low-context culture means that on average most

people prefer to deal with the conflict in a direct style and become frustrated when all parties are

not being open and honest. Both of these styles have shaped the way in which I handle my own

conflict resolution.

Not surprisingly my conflict resolution style has changed over time. When I was younger

and still living with my parents I had a more individualistic style of conflict resolution. I didn’t

like my parent’s avoidance style and so I took on the opposite resolution strategy of being direct

and very assertive with my feeling; such as the engagement style. I would become agitated when

other people were not as forth coming with their feelings and I wanted a quick and speedy

resolution. This led to more aggressive conflicts that were very emotionally expressive. As I got

older and experienced conflicts away from my family and more in a professional setting, I

learned to adapt to a more collectivist style. Now I have a mix between the low-context and high-

context cultures conflict resolution characteristics. On one hand I still want a quick and speedy

resolution where everyone is up-front and direct with their feelings. I now, however, understand

that some conflicts go away naturally with time and that a more direct style can actually add to

the conflict.

Despite one’s conflict resolution style when it comes to successful intercultural

communication we have to adapt in order to resolve conflicts. There can be no resolution to a

conflict if all sides are refusing to be open about their opinion. In addition, both sides need to be

willing to listen and be empathetic to the opposing party. As long as this is the foundation to any

conflict resolution strategy then there is bound to be some resolution no matter the differing

styles of resolution.

Neuliep: Intercultural Communication, 7th Edition

SAGE Publishing, 2017

Chapter 6: The Sociorelational Context

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Compare and contrast the nature of group membership and group behavior across cultures

2. Define and discuss the concept of role relationships across cultures

3. Compare and contrast sex and gender roles across cultures

4. Compare and contrast families and family roles across cultures

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

All human beings, regardless of culture, belong to groups. Although some cultures (like the United States) promote individuality and independence, our survival depends on our interdependency and cooperation with other humans. This, of course, requires human communication. In many ways, intercultural communication is a group phenomena experienced by individuals. In other words, when people from different cultures come together to interact, they typically view each other not as unique individuals, but as members of a different cultural group. Think about your own communication experiences with strangers from different cultures. When we meet a stranger from a different culture, we see that person as a member of a cultural group that is different from our own. Even intraculturally; that is, within our own culture, when we meet strangers, we typically see them in terms of the groups to which they belong, (e.g., sex, race, age, etc). In fact, there is no other way to describe a stranger than by the groups to which he/she belongs. The socio-relational context, then, refers to how group memberships affect communication. Whenever people from different cultures come together to interact, their verbal and nonverbal messages are defined by, and filtered through, their group memberships. The social relationship they develop is significantly influenced by the groups to which they belong, hence the term socio-relational context.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. Dimensions of Group Variability

1. For individuals in any culture, there are those groups to which they belong, called membership groups, and those groups to which they do not belong, called nonmembership groups. There are two classes of membership groups, including voluntary and involuntary.

a. Involuntary membership groups are those groups to which people have no choice but to belong (e.g., age, race, sex).

b. Voluntary membership groups include those groups to which people consciously choose to belong (e.g., political affiliation, religion, occupation).

2. Nonmembership groups are those groups to which people do not belong. Like membership groups, nonmembership groups can be voluntary or involuntary. Some people may want to belong to a group but are ineligible to join because they do not possess the needed qualifications (e.g., age, education, etc.). In other cases, people might be eligible for membership in a group but choose not to join. The distinction is important because people who are eligible to join a group, but choose not to belong may be more likely than ineligible nonmembers to accept and embrace the norms and behaviors of the group.

II. Ingroups and Outgroups

1. Ingroups represent a special class of membership group characterized by a potent internal cohesiveness among its members and a sometimes intense hostility toward outgroups.

a. An ingroup is a group whose norms, aspirations, and values shape the behavior of its members.

b. An outgroup is a group whose attributes are dissimilar from those of the ingroup, or who opposes the accomplishment of the ingroup’s goals.

2. The tendency to distinguish between ingroups and outgroups is universal. When we meet someone from a different culture for the first time, we immediately categorize the other as an ingroup or outgroup member. Attributions about ingroup and outgroup members are typically biased in favor of the ingroup at the expense of the outgroup.

III. Reference Groups

1. A reference group is a group to which we may or may not belong but in some way identify with in an important way. A reference group possesses some quality to which we aspire and hence serves as a “reference” for our decisions or behavior. Reference groups can be membership or nonmembership and positive or negative.

2. Reference groups serve two functions, including a comparative function and a normative function. We often use reference groups to compare ourselves in making judgments and evaluations. Individuals also use reference groups to establish the norms and standards to which they conform.

IV. Role Relationships

1. Whenever we join a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, we assume a role. A role is one’s relative position in a group; that is, one’s rank. Any group role exists in relation to some other role in that group

2. With all roles, in all groups, certain behaviors are expected. A role, then, can be defined as one’s relative position in a group with an expected set of verbal and nonverbal behaviors.

3. There are two types of roles in most cultures, including formal and informal. Formal roles have very well defined, and often times contractual, behavioral expectations associated with them. Formal roles and their prescriptions vary across cultures. Informal roles are learned informally and are much less explicit than formal roles.

4. Roles and communication are integrally linked. Roles prescribe (1) with whom, (2) about what, and (3) how to communicate with others.

5. Our social identity is created by our total combination of roles.

6. There are at least four dimensions upon which roles vary across cultures. These dimensions include the degree of personalness, formality, hierarchy, and deviation from the ideal role enactment.

IV. Role Differentiation and Stratification

1. The rank ordering of roles within a culture is called social stratification. Social stratification varies across cultures. Not all roles are valued the same across cultures. Some cultures make relatively few distinctions while others make many. This is called role differentiation. A highly differentiated culture may make numerous role distinctions.

2. Many collectivistic, high context, and high power distance cultures possess a relatively strict hierarchical role stratification compared to low context, individualistic, low power distant cultures.

V. A Cultural Conversation Between Roles

1. In this conversation, Mr. Mammen does not understand why he cannot be seated in the restaurant. In his native culture, Mr. Mammen occupies a high status role that gives him certain privileges not accorded others. In his native culture, Mr. Mammen would have been seated immediately.

VI. Family Groups

1. All human beings, regardless of culture, belong to a family. One’s biological family is the first and probably most significant socialization influence on a child. The structure of the family and the degree of influence a family has on its children differ notably across cultures. As a unit, the nuclear family is prevalent in most low context, individualistic, low power distance cultures. In collectivistic cultures, families are generally cohesive and well integrated.

2. Two terms related to the family structure, which are sometimes confused, are patriarchy and matriarchy. By definition, patriarchy refers to a social system (e.g., familial, political) in which the father, or eldest male, is head of the clan or family unit and descent is traced through the male line. In patriarchal societies, males wield power disproportionately compared with women. This does not mean all men are powerful or all women are powerless. In patriarchal societies the most powerful roles are held predominantly by men and the less powerful roles by women. Matriarchy, on the other hand, is often incorrectly thought to mean the opposite of patriarchy. In matriarchal cultures the natural differences between men and women are acknowledged and respected, but they are not used to create social hierarchies, as in patriarchal societies. Men and women complement each other, and their natural differences function interdependently to meet societal needs

3. In the Hmong culture of Laos, the most important sociocultural groups are the family and the clan, both of which are headed by men (i.e., patriarchal). The Hmong clan system combines social, political, economic, and religious dimensions and is the primary guide for Hmong behavior. Within a clan, each person has certain obligations to others.

4. Two important variables in understanding Korean family structure are family surname and Confucianism. There are only about 250 family names in South Korea and North Korea. In fact, more than half the population uses one of five family names: Kim, Yi, Pak, Ch’oe, and Chong. One in five family names in Korea is Kim. Many Koreans believe that because of their common family names, they are descended from a common ancestor. Hence, many Koreans belong to formal family name organizations called taejonghoe and one’s social status is often determined by membership in a specific family name lineage. Patriarchal Confucianism has been the dominant social force in Korea. They point out that Confucianism imposes a rigid hierarchy and inequality between different age groups and between men and women, especially within families.

5. Family in Israel is defined as “two or more persons who share the same household and are related to one another as husband and wife, or as an unmarried couple, or as parent and child.” Israel is unique in that a strong family orientation is a formal part of Israeli social policy. A central goal of the Israeli government has been to increase the Jewish population via family. For example, the Israeli income tax system includes tax benefits for families, at least two state programs provide housing assistance for families with children, and various child support and child health programs have been established for families.

6. The Mosuo are one of China’s microcultural nationalities. In recent years, the Mosuo have become the focus of national and international attention (much of it distorted) because they follow the matrilineal family principle of descent, are thought to be matriarchal, and practice zou hun—sometimes called “walking” or “visiting” marriages. Many household heads are women, only one third of households are headed by men. Perhaps one of the most intriguing dimensions of the Mosuo family structure is the idea of the “walking” or “visiting” marriage. In Mosuo culture, the primary function of marriage is to satisfy the individual’s emotional and biological needs. Both the man and the woman continue to live with their native biological families, rather than with each other, while raising their offspring. In fact, the father does not take any responsibility for the children. The terms walking marriage or visiting marriage stem from the practice of the father visiting the mother only at night, engaging in sexual relations with her, and leaving early in the morning.

7. While contemporary Kenyan society is in transition, traditional Kenyan society includes patriliny (the practice of tracing descent through the father’s line), patriarchy (a family that is controlled by a man or a group of men), and polygyny (the practice of having more than one wife or female mate at a time). An important part of marriage in Kenya is the phenomena of bridewealth, in which money or some form of payment is passed from the groom’s family to the bride. Another familial phenomenon widely practiced in Kenya hypergamy, which is when a woman marries a man of higher status than her, although this is certainly not unique to Kenya. High-status urban women may find it difficult to marry because they may desire to be free of the patriarchal control, they may fear losing face by marrying a man of lower status, or they may be too old to compete with younger women who have yet to establish their high-status credibility.43

8. Violence and abuse within married and cohabitating couples remains a problem in Kenya. Just over half of Kenyan women report physical abuse, 40% report sexual abuse, 64% report verbal abuse, and 54% report emotional abuse. Moreover, 43% claimed the abuse was ongoing, while 53% reported that the abuse was increasing. And the abuse of women is not just by their husbands or partners, but is often committed by their mothers and fathers-in-laws.

VII. Sex and Gender Groups

1. One group to which every human being belongs, regardless of culture, is biological sex. Biological differences between males and females are universally recognized. But like any other group, to be a member of a sex group is to assume a role, in this case a sex role. And like any other role, one’s sex role, or gender, is a set of expectations about how one should behave.

2. The terms sex and gender are used interchangeably, but the terms are not synonymous. Sex refers to the biological and anatomical classifications of males and females. Gender, on the other hand, is a social and symbolic creation that we learn through enculturation and socialization. Our sex-role orientation is the extent to which we take on the learned socialization for our sex group.

VIII. Gender Stereotypes

1. In most cultures, men and women carry out different sex roles, yet there is remarkable consistency in how cultures view the roles of men and women. Since 1990, John Williams and Deborah Best, professors of psychology at Wake Forest University, have conducted a series of cross-cultural studies investigating gender stereotypes.

IX. Sex and Gender Roles Across Cultures

1. The variability of sex roles across cultures is dramatic. But many anthropologists and some feminist writers contend that while the customs and practices with which women’s subordination is expressed differs from culture to culture, the secondary status of women across the globe is one of the few universal cross-cultural truisms.

2. The Japanese Constitution stipulates that all Japanese are equal under the law and outlaws discrimination on the basis of sex. To be sure, however, most private and political organizations that compose the dominant Japanese culture are controlled by men. But Japanese women enjoy more freedom today than perhaps ever in their history. Although today’s Japanese women are much more outspoken and direct than their mothers, even modern Japanese women recognize their secondary status and have not completely discarded their earmark passivity. Moreover, when asked, many Japanese women acknowledge their fate as a subordinate group. Even the modern Japanese woman’s happiness remains tied to her family—so much so that she will repress her personal feelings to an extent many American women would find unendurable. Following their collectivistic histories, most Japanese women continue to sacrifice personal goals for the sake of the harmony of the family. Because they have fewer opportunities than men, maintaining interpersonal harmony is of utmost concern for Japanese women.

3. The socialization processes for boys and girls in India differ significantly. The birth of a male child is considered a blessing because it ensures the continuation of the family name. Male children are seen as an economic asset and, when married, bring to their family a nice dowry (i.e., obligatory gift from the bride’s family, usually money). The birth of a daughter, on the other hand, is seen as a burden. A daughter is seen as an economic liability, and she never really possesses an identity of her own. Legal equality remains elusive for most Indian women. The subordination of women in India is primarily economically based. Most women work in agricultural jobs, but in the past few decades, India has developed a commercial market economy with capital-intensive production. Although laws favoring women’s rights have been passed, they have not had much impact. The phenomenon of dowry deaths, or bride burning, is particularly troubling.

4. China has a long history of women having little freedom and few rights. But the Chinese women’s liberation movement has made significant advances toward women’s rights. While the Chinese government has enacted several laws and policies that equate women and men legally and socially, they are of little use in abolishing the long-standing preference of males over females. Chinese are generally expected to live with their family circle unless there is reason to do otherwise and that such expectations are greater for women than for men. Chinese women, especially single women, are considered more vulnerable and less capable of dealing with the outside world than are men. Women are seen as needing the protection and supervision of their families to preserve their virginity and marriageability.

5. Mexico has about 110 million people, of which women hold a slight majority. The marital status of Mexican people represents the rights and responsibilities of men and women because it reflects the population’s social levels. More Mexican women than men are divorced, possibly because Mexican men tend to emigrate once they divorce. Historically, the average marrying age of the population was 16 years old. However, by 1995 both sexes started marrying later, with the national average marrying age being 20 years old for women and a little more than 23 years old for men. The increase in age results from Mexicans pursuing higher education. A Mexican woman’s childbearing rate is related to her educational, social, and economic conditions. Although women now contribute much in the work world, they also contribute at home with the family. Nearly 93% of women age 12 years and older do domestic work. But men and women often work together to maintain the family. As a result, some men do domestic activities while some women work outside the home. In Mexico, authority and responsibility are given to the father or to the oldest male, or jefe, of the household. Few women hold this position. Authority in Mexican society has been held by the men. Men are in charge of the family direction, and women take this responsibility only when the men have left home.

6. Since Israel’s establishment as a state in 1948, women in Israel have been guaranteed equal rights. In fact, Israel is the only country in the world with a compulsory military service requirement for women and where women constitute a third of all soldiers and just over half of military officers. To be sure, the Israeli Declaration of Independence guarantees equal rights to all Israeli citizens, regardless of religion, race, or sex. While Israeli women are guaranteed equal rights under Israeli law, certain fundamental religious groups reject such rights—so much so that a new term, hadarat nashim, meaning the exclusion of women, has become common in the Israeli sociopolitical dialogue.

7. Many of the misconceptions (in the United States) of Saudi women are cultivated by U.S. media. The overwhelming majority of published articles on Saudi women portray them as oppressed and passive victims of Islamic laws. To be sure Saudi is a sex segregated country, where Saudi cultural traditions mandate sex segregation in both public and private life. Women are not allowed to drive, they must dress in such a way that they are almost completely covered up when they appear in public places, and that they must have a male escort (usually a male family member or relative) accompany them when they appear in public. Saudi banks and universities have separate entrances for men and women; restaurants and public transportation are segregated; and unrelated men and women are forbidden from communicating socially, except in professional contexts, where they are expected to be kept to a minimum. But most Saudi women live very comfortable lives. Most marriages are arranged such that most women have a respectable husband, that most women have a driver to take them places, and that most women have servants and an extended family that provide financial and emotional security.

8. In the past decade or so, political and cultural developments in Saudi have created new opportunities for women.

PAGE

FLAN3440/University of Toledo

Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 20

1

8.

1

CHAPTER 6

The Sociorelational Context

Flan 3440

Learning Objectives
Compare and contrast the nature of group membership and group behavior across cultures.
Define and discuss the concept of role relationships across cultures.
Compare and contrast sex and gender roles across cultures.
Compare and contrast families and family roles across cultures.
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
2

The sociorelational context refers to how group memberships affect communication.
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
3

Dimensions of Group Variability
Membership groups
Involuntary membership groups
Voluntary membership groups
Nonmembership groups
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
4

In-Groups & Out-Groups
Ingroup
a group whose norms, aspirations, and values shape the behavior of its members.
Out-group
a group whose attributes are dissimilar from those of the in-group, or that opposes the accomplishment of the in-group’s goals.
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
5

Reference Groups
A group to which we may or may not belong but with which we identify in some important way
comparative function
normative function
Voluntary membership in-groups serve as positive reference groups
Voluntary nonmembership out-groups are seen as negative reference groups.
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
6

Role Relationships
One’s relative position in a group with an expected set of verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
Formal roles (well-defined behavioral expectations)
Explicit
Violations can lead to removal from role.
Informal roles (expectations vary greatly)
Implicit.
Learn from experience.
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
7

Roles and Communication
Roles prescribe
1. with whom
2. about what
3. how to communicate with others.
Social identity
Dimensions upon which roles vary
Personalness
Formality
Hierarchy
Deviation

Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
8

Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
9

Role Differentiation and Stratification
Social Stratification
Rank ordering of roles within a culture
Varies across cultures
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
10

Role Differentiation and Stratification
Role Differentiation
Complexity of role hierarchy varies by culture
Some cultures make relatively few distinctions, whereas others make many
Differences in Cultures
High/Low Context
High/Low Power Distance
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
11

Family Groups
Socialization and children
Patriarchy and Matriarchy
Profiles of family groups in
Hmong culture
Korea
Israel
Mosuo
Kenya
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
12

Sex and Gender Groups
Sex is biological
Gender is socialized and constructed
13
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.

13

Gender Stereotypes
14
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
SOURCE: Adapted from Williams, J. E., & Best, D. L. (1994). Cross-Cultural Views of Women and Men. In W. J. Lonner & R. Malpass (Eds.), Psychology and Culture (pp. 191–196). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Japan
Japanese Constitution stipulates all are equal
Younger Japanese have more egalitarian attitudes toward sex roles
Older Japanese have more traditional attitudes toward sex roles
Japanese women continue to sacrifice personal goals for harmony of family, in accordance with collectivism
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
15

India
Preamble of the Indian Constitution guarantees equality
Male children seen as a blessing
Continue family name
Economic asset
Female children seen as a burden
Dowry
Less education
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
16

China
Patriarchal
1950 Marriage Law abolished feudal forms of marriage
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
17

China
Women have little freedom and few rights
Women discouraged from living alone
Women are considered more vulnerable and less capable of dealing with the outside world than are men
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
18

Mexico
More Mexican women than men are divorced, possibly because Mexican men tend to emigrate once they divorce
Today, Mexican women are more educated than ever.
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
19

Mexico
Nearly 93% of women age 12 years and older do domestic work
During the past few years, the roles of men as providers and women as in charge of domestic work have changed noticeably
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
20

Israel
Women have been guaranteed equal rights since Israel’s establishment as a state in 1948
Segregation still occurs
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
21

Israel
Certain fundamental religious groups reject such rights
Israel is the only country in the world with a compulsory military service requirement for women
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
22

Saudi Arabia
Overwhelming majority of published articles on Saudi women portray them as oppressed and passive victims of Islamic law
Saudi is sex segregated country
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
23

Saudi Arabia
Women have financial and emotional security
Women have less restrictions in semipublic and private settings
Women voted for the first time in December 2015
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
24

Summary
Focused on Sociorelational Contexts
Explored Group Memberships
Voluntary
Involuntary
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
25

Summary
Defined Group Roles
Formal
Informal
Examined Family and Sex Roles in various countries
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 7e. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
26