7 Psychological and Cultural dimensions of Business Communication

Dr.Priti Hingorani

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 1.  Module 7: Psychological and Cultural dimensions of Business Communication

 

2.  Learning Outcome:

 

By the end of this module, students will be able to: Understand the psychological dimension in communication Know the different communication styles used cross culturally Learn what preparations are required for communicating across cultures

 

3.  Introduction

 

Psychological and Cultural dimensions may lead to challenges in communication. The approach of solving problems and participation in groups and communities is influenced by different cultures & different perceptions. For different nations there will be different cultures. If a person changes a region and economic status, he may shift to another culture. Psychological factor affects not only cross culturally but even in same cultures while communicating.

The ways in which various societies relate to each other, to interact and understand views, effect communication.

  1. Psychology & Communication

   Communication is the basis of all interactions. Psychologists have suggested that communication is directly related to our perception of external information, as we identify the object and react to it according to our past experiences though communication.

 

Psychological dimension of communication include various aspects:

 

4.1 Selective Perception:

 

The term selective perception denotes that people see what they want to see and hear i.e. they understand and mould the information according their own expectations. Based on their perception of the listeners or receivers, the senders draft and deliver their communication messages.This aspect of selective perception is governed by family background, physical and personality characteristics, experiences, cultural differences etc.

 

4.2 Personality and Communication:

 

“The famous nineteenth century psychologist, William James, described personality as the master of mental functions” (Bhatnagar, 2012). The aspect of personality has a close link with communication as it is related to the way we receive messages and respond through communicating. Personality as a psychological dimension is equally influential part of a person; it aids the skill of communication and attracts the audience to listen with much interest.

maintained and expressed. The persons involved in communication process are benefited by the information passed if the conversation is direct, open, clear and relevant. The participants may also feel confused, dissatisfied, misunderstood, if the message is unclear, ambiguous, or inadequate.

 

Confirming responses includes:

 

Direct acknowledgement: Responding directly to another person’s message  Agreement about content: supporting the opinions and ideas expressed by others  Clarifying ideas: understanding the in-depth meaning of the message Expressing positive feelings: it motivates the person and spreads positivity

Source: Jacobs N. (2011) “Communication: It Can Make or Break You”, available online at  http://takingthehelloutofhealthcare.com/blog/2011/03/08/communication-it-can-make-or-break-you/

Disconfirming Responses includes:

Impervious response: ignoring or not acknowledging the message or idea Interrupting response: cutting off something that is being said, or interrupting in between Irrelevant response: introducing new idea or thought which is not at all relevant to things that are being discussed Incoherent response: using unclear words or incomplete sentences or rephrasing a lot that the idea is lost.

 

4.5 Emotions & Communication

 

Emotions play a vital role in any conversation as due to various emotions of love, hatred, happiness, sadness, calmness, anger, courage, frustration etc. the communication changes. Individuals with positive emotions are more optimistic and enthusiastic in their works and are better communicators. On the other side Individuals with negative emotions are pessimistic and lack in zeal, are dull while working and the impact of negative emotions on communication leads to aggression and miscommunication.

 

4.5.1 Emotional Intelligence

 

Though the concept of Emotional Intelligence was proposed long back, this term came into focus after the popular book of Daniel Goleman in 1995 “Emotional Intelligence: Why it matters more than IQ”. In this book Goleman suggests five components i.e. Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Self Motivation, Empathy and Social Skills which are correlated with each activity of communication.

 

Individuals with high Emotional Intelligence are higher in Empathy, more social as they have better ability to manage relationships, they use proper words while communicating, and they are emotionally stable along with handling the stress. Thus individuals with Emotional intelligence have stronger interpersonal relationships and more effective communication skills.

 

4.6 Communication temperament

 

Individuals use certain dispositions while communicating. These temperaments can be argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness.

 

Argumentativeness is considered the constructive temperament as it involves an individual who attack on the arguments of others while protecting his or her own argument. People with high argumentativeness are known for good decision making, are more competent and dynamics. On the other hand people with verbal aggressiveness have lower communication and interpersonal skills. They attack on the ideas of others with a wrong motive and it becomes the cause of psychological hurting.

 

5. Theories of Psychological Communication

   5.1 The Social Exchange Theory

 

John Thibault and Harold Kelly in their publication titled The Social psychology of groups in 1952 gave the social exchange theory  The exchange theory is a theory which talks about socio psychological exchange. In today’s era each individual tries to measure the costs, benefits, and rewards at various situations. Every person tries to minimize costs and maximize returns and rewards. They try to work less and get more. This approach forms the basis of developing a relationship with someone on the apparent outcomes. When the rewards are higher, people are motivated and develop a close relationship.

 

For instance, Seema was a brilliant Management graduate. She got two offers in her campus placements. One was from a small company, and the other was from a big company. Seema did not wished to be a small fish in the big pond.

 

So, she took the offer from the small company. However, after a couple of years, she noticed that working with a small firm had not given her the practical exposure at all. She had grown at a snail’s pace, and she had not been able to handle big projects. So she went to her manager and threatened to resign from the job. The manager, however, convinced her to stay back. Seema remained with the company and was given a more important profile with more rewards.

 

The main aspect of this theory is that the relationship between individuals is often on the basis of its outcome. Managers working at every organization need to understand this theory. Even the relationship with superior or subordinate is based on the results.

 

However, this theory faces criticisms, the main one being that ‘relationships’ are made through the way of communication with others and not always on the basis of outcomes.

 

5.2 Transactional Analysis Theory

 

Conflict is a psychological aspect arises due to the difference in opinion or due to the gap in communication while we interact with our colleagues, boss, or managers. The Transactional Analysis Theory was developed by Dr Eric Berne. It is based on two notions:

 

A human being has ‘ego states’ attached to his or her ‘personality’. These ego states talk to each other as ‘transactions’ or dealings.

 

Due to the ego of individuals the problems arises and leads to misunderstandings during communication, and therefore people deal with each other for coming out of problems or conflicting situations. This theory talks about three Ego states: (quoted in Mukerjee, H., 2013)

Source: Beuerlein A. (2015) “Counseling”, available online at http://www.alissabeuerlein.com/apps/blog/entries/show/43304926-communication

 

Parent This ego state is of two types. The first is a nurturing parent, who is caring and concerned about other people. The second is the critical parent, who wants his or her child to do as told.

 

Adult The adult is the rational person within us, who is reasonable and assertive but avoids aggressiveness.

 

Child The child is open and a person who is willing to try new things. The child tries to change his or her situation by rebelling. Ego states are not a function of age. A person may be at the same or different ego stages during the same conversation.

 

Complementary transactions occur when both persons engaged in a conversation are at the same ego level. Transactions are also complementary when for eg: the child ego state of an individual sends a message to the parent ego state of the other person or the receiver of the message and the receiver of the message responds from his parent ego state to the child ego state of the sender. In such cases, communication is effective. Complementary transactions takes place when the sebders message and receiver’s response move parallel to each other across their ego states.

 

When the communication becomes a crossed transaction the communication is not effective, for eg: the child ego state of a person sends a message to the parent ego state of the receiver but the adult ego state responds to the receivers responds to the adult ego state of the sender.

 

In a professional scenario, the best way is to adopt the mature adult-adult transactions to be effective at work place.

Source:     Melwin     M.       (2014)     “Transactional     Analysis”,     available       online       athttp://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/transactions-33677298

 

For building good relationship at workplace it is essential for the manager to communicate with colleagues or subordinates at their level of ego. If the transaction gets crossed, conflict arises. If one wishes to have a rationale conversation it is necessary to move to the adult level conversation. Sometimes, it is even required for the manager to change gears according to situation as if the subordinates come to us with irrational terms that we need to handle it as ‘parents, or it could be a case where the person in front of you is in a ‘child ego’ state, and you need to behave in the adult state.

  1. Cultural Dimension in Communication

Communication is not only about substance and style but the cultural dimension is also very important with respect to communication, which is often ignored. Learning cross cultural communication helps to understand how people, from different cultural backgrounds communicate. It also facilitates in communicating in an effective manner across various cultures.

 

Cross Cultural Communication Styles –

The manner in which people communicate varies a lot between different cultures and even in same culture.

Source: Raman & Singh (2006) Business Communication, Oxford University Press

 

6.1 Language usage

 

6.1.1. Learn new words of other languages:

 

If a person is taking to someone who belongs to Germany, or French it would be helpful to learn some important German words to easily connect with that person.

Source: Gulati, N. (2015) “Cross Cultural experiences: What lies beyond”, available online at

 

https://www.thirstt.com/droplets/Crossculturalexperiences/564302218de033717ecdb280

 

6.1.2. Avoid abbreviations:

 

All abbreviations are not universally known. For example, the abbreviation ‘IAS’ is widely known in India as Indian Administrative Services but, it might not be understood by a person from another country.

 

6.1.3. Avoid complex words:

 

As a word may not have similar meaning across the globe. Example Biscuit even means a cookie in many places and the word cookie has various different meanings. Thus, it is better to avoid these words.

 

6.1.4. Avoid causal words:

 

Words like Whats up, Howz you, Yup etc. are casual expressions and should be avoided.

 

6.1.5. Good conversation required:

 

Listen carefully and speaks slowly as the language may be same but pronunciation is different. So concentrate and keep up with the speed.

 

Also, the following things to be remembered while communicating in written form:

 

6.1.6. Ensure grammatically correct writing:

 

Conversation in written form should be grammatically correct. The ideas need to be placed in sequence and clear in understanding.

 

6.1.7. E- Mails not preferred:

 

Writing emails is not preferred in some cultures and people from these countries who want to have a direct conversation either face to face or telephonically.

 

6.1.8. Double check:

 

Written conversations have strong proof and value. Therefore, it is important to check twice whatever is written i.e. a text, graphs or figures all must be appropriately done.

 

Writing is not easy, especially when you are communicating to people from difference cultures. One needs to be careful and practice before communicating in written form.

 

6.2 Non verbal communication

 

Non verbal communication has deep meaning when we interact with people across cultures. Certain non verbal expressions play important role during cross culture communication:

 

6.2.1. Eye contact:

 

It is vital to have proper eye contact in western culture, but, it may be offensive in oriental culture for eg: Japan. As in Japan if a woman avoids making an eye contact it is not that she is not interested in talking or lacking in confidence. It is just that she is polite and respecting the person. In India, we have both situations. Eye contact is important at the time of discussions or interviews, but, not considered good while conversing with elders.

 

6.2.2. Expressions:

 

Facial expressions plays important role while communicating cross culturally. Smile is important aspect in expressions while in some cultures people constantly maintain smile on their faces and in other cultures the smile occasionally or with reasons. ‘Researchers determined Dutch people pay attention to the facial expression more that Japanese people do. On the other hand, Japanese people express emotion in the tone of voice, not in the face. They found that Japanese participants paid attention to the voice more that Dutch people did-even when they are instructed to judge the emotion by the faces and to ignore the voice’(Nauert, R. 2010).

 

6.2.3. Gestures:

 

Gestures are needed to be observed very carefully. Examples, forming a circle with figures denote a sign of okay which means all right in US. But, means nothing in France as it just has the additional meaning of zero or worthless.

Source: Kotelnikov, V. “Cross Cultural Communication: Understanding, Identifying and Overcoming

 

Blocks to Communication”, available online at

http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/communication_cross-cultural.html

 

6.2.4. Time:

 

Cultures will be divided according to the time.

6.2.5. Attire:

 

The appropriate dress for all occasions should be considered while communicating cross culturally. As wearing white in some cultures shows that traditional and peaceful look but, in East Asia it is sign mourning.

 

In Mexico formal dressing is important. But, in New Zealand semi-formals do work. In India, Sarees considered as formal but in Europe Skirt is considered as formal.

 

Hence, to have a better cross cultural communication: One must read about the people and culture before making a deal with them.

 

Talk to people and ask about their experiences who have already visited the different countries.

 

Be a patient listener, observe and learn about how to speak and what to speak? Get cross culture communication tips from some expert.

  1. Strategies for communicating across cultures

 

The important aspect of communicating across cultures is knowledge. It is significant for people to comprehend the problems of communicating cross cultural and to overcome them. As communication problems arise due to cultural differences so it is required for persons to be tolerant and merciful, rather than argumentative & hostile.

 

Giving another thought before responding is a good aspect, as carefulness surely pays rewards, therefore one must move slowly to make any conclusions. Active listening helps in understanding the message and communicating accurately. People who act as translators helps in communicating cross culturally, as they can understand not only the substance but also the manner of speaking. Though, sometimes mediators may make communication more difficult due to the disputes between nations, or due to more close feelings for the person of their region.

 

The important aspects of Cross Cultural Communication are:

 

7.1. Knowing another culture:

 

A direct experience on familiarity with other culture helps in communicating more effectively. One can be more familiar by other cultures through listening to radio stations, or by visiting religious institutions, which may be helpful ways.

Cross  Cultural  Communication,  available  online  at

http://www.slideshare.net/bhalgamiya/cross- cultural-communication-33679886

 

7.2. Feeling Threatened:

 

The lack of knowledge and understanding towards other culture make people feel like a stranger and lonely. This creates threat in the mind of being alone.

7.3. Tendency to Overlook Similarities:

 

Whenever we interact with people of another culture we first notice the differences rather than similarities. Therefore, people draw the wrong conclusions. The important common identity is of humanity which is overlooked.

 

7.4. Variations within groups:

 

It is not only that people are different in different groups but we may also see the variations within the group. Every culture may have variety of people they may be extroverts, introverts, honest, dishonest, hardworking, lazy etc. Therefore, we must not dwell in our mind the negative assumptions of other culture. Each culture is a mix of variety of people following their particular customs and rituals.

 

Raman and Singh (2006) quoted the example of software companies Apple & Microsoft, they said, “Both Apple & Microsoft operating systems allow you to accomplish work with a word processing system. The work is the same, but the language and the coding through which that basic work is accomplished are different. This is why cross cultural communication- we have to go back and examine aspects of our own ‘operating systems’ and understand the systems of others to be able to communicate between the two platforms.”

 

7.5. Changing Cultures:

 

Cultures are not stagnant; they keep on changing through time to time. Cultures reinforce different styles of communication and interact through different customs and values. One should not stick over by feeling their own culture as superior as we should learn the best things from every culture.

 

As it is written in Rig-Veda, “Let the noble thoughts come to us from all directions”. Therefore, individuals who bridge the gap between cultures are the pioneers for making the world as a global family.

 

8. Managing Global teams

 

Today the World has become a Global village and so the Businesses have also gone Global. People working in one company need to deal with many other people from different cultures. And so sometimes it seems difficult to manage things. The factors affecting are:

 

8.1. Ethnocentricism:

 

It talks about that the culture and values of some countries are superior to another. A person from America may be aggressive but an Indian may not be. Deadlines may be considered very important in some countries but may not in other countries. Thus, this works as a huge barrier.

 

8.2. Motivation factor:

 

Difficulty seems in motivating different people. As people from Japan would be motivated from non monetary rewards, but people from America may be motivated from monetary awards. And, Indians may be motivated with the combinations of these two and even by healthy working environment.

   8.3. Different time zones:

  The time zone varies from country to country and so the organisations going globally need to adjust according to the different time zones. This sometimes leads to frustration for people as they need to stay back till late at night or need to arrive too early in the morning.

 

8.4. Lack of proximity:

 

As a team members of a single project are scattered. It is difficult for them to meet and discuss things face to face due to budget constraints. At that time it becomes challenging to keep people motivated to work. But, the regular interaction over video conferences can overcome this problem.

 

Managing Global teams and working in Global teams is quite similar to work in home country teams. There is bit complexity in it but things even become smooth if we understand basic requirements before working cross culturally. Working cross culturally makes the world a single entity. It minimizes differences and strengthens the relationships.

 

9. Preparations and Tips for effective cross cultural communication:

 

9.1. Learning the starting and ending of conversation:

 

It is vital to be aware of whom, how and when to address, as some ways of beginning and concluding the conversations seems rude and even disrespectful. Therefore, before communicating cross culturally one must learn the modes for salutation according to age or social position and even the acceptable ways to conclude gracefully in a particular culture.

 

9.2. Interruptions:

 

Interrupting someone during conversation in some cultures is considered the faulty conversational style. As many people from America or North Europe may mistakenly consider this kind of conversation for argument and unfriendliness.

 

9.3. Silence:

 

Use of silence in some forms of communication is necessary as it is a symbol of thoughtfulness, keeping the statement or views. But in west twenty seconds of silence during the professional conversations is considered too long and may be perceived as hostility.

 

9.4. Length of Conversation:

 

It is again vital to know how much to say as at some places wrapping the conversation in few sentences is appreciated and somewhere it is necessary to explain it in detail. The subject/ topic of conversation and the social or public area influence that how long a speech is appropriate. In monochronic time cultures as in US and Europe the workplace conversations are precise and to the point, where as in polychromic time cultures the conversations are longer and relaxed.

 

9.5 Slow Speech:

 

Even when English is the common language in a cross cultural situation, this does not mean we should speak at normal speed. Speak slowly and speak clearly with correct pronunciation to ensure effective communication.

 

9.6 Be supportive:

 

Effective cross cultural communication is in essence about being comfortable. Giving encouragement to those with weak foreign language skills gives them confidence and support and help build trust in us.

 

9.7 Repeat and Verify:

 

When communicating across cultures never assume that the other person has understood. So repeat yourself if required. Also engage in active listening. Paraphrase and summarize what has been said in order to verify it. This is a very effective way of ensuring that accurate cross cultural communication has taken place.

 

9.8 Take turns:

 

Cross cultural communication is enhanced through taking turns to talk, making a point, and then listening to the speaker.

 

9.9 Maintain cultural etiquette:

 

Many cultures have certain etiquette when communicating with respect to manner of greeting, distance between two people etc. It is always important to undertake some cross cultural awareness training or at least do some research on the target culture.

  1. Summary

Psychological dimension plays an important role in communication in a very subtle but also in a powerful way because the act of communication involves not only speaking or listening but the whole the person. The personality, beliefs, motives, emotions and attitudes are also involved in the process of communication.

 

In the same way the cultural dimension also is vital in communication as it establishes and understands how people from different culture communicate, and what are the different points to remember while communicating cross culturally as a similar act can have a different meaning while communicating across cultures.

 

So for effective communication with people of different cultures, psychological as well as cultural dimensions should be kept in mind.

you can view video on Psychological and Cultural dimensions of Business Communication

1.  References

 

  1. Points to ponder
  • Psychology & Communication are interlinked as we identify the object and react to it according to our past experiences though communication.
  • Individuals with Emotional intelligence have more strong interpersonal relationships and more effective communication skills.
  •  The adult is the rational person within us, who is reasonable and assertive but avoids aggressiveness.
  • For building good relationship at workplace it is essential for the manager to communicate with colleagues or subordinates at their level of ego.
  • Avoid abbreviations as all abbreviations are not universally known.
  • Listen carefully and speaks slowly as the language may be same but pronunciation is different.
  • People who act as translators helps in communicating cross culturally, as they can understand not only the substance but also the manner of speaking.
  • Cultures reinforce different styles of communication and interact through different customs and values Working cross culturally makes the world a single entity. It minimizes differences and strengthens the relationships.