Obstacles of Perception in Intercultural Communication

Culturally Shaped Perceptions	Personal Perceptions within a Cultural Framework
Preconceptions Collectivism vs. Individualism Face Hierarchy History and Experience Master Symbols Power Role Gender Social Class Rules Social Organization Family Government Thought Patterns Values Worldview	Uncertainty Attitude Ethnocentrism Adaptability

Some explanation of each of the categories of potential obstacles outlined in the Table above are necessary in order to understand how they apply to com­munication across cultural borders.

• How can you define perception?

• Comment the practical example above (Madame Dubois in North American culture). What are the reasons and results of perception differences across cultures?

• How can we classify obstacles of perception in intercultural communication? Are all the categories known for you?

Culturally Shaped Perceptions

Preconceptions

How does culture shape perception? Culture engenders precon­ceptions in each and every one of us, in training us from birth in the be­havior patterns to which we are expected to conform and which each of us in turn expects from others. We then carry these subliminal expectations or preconceptions into cross-cultural encounters, until we learn to suspend at least some of them because they may not be relevant to successful com­munication with a specific foreign culture.

Prejudices and stereotypes are preconceptions.

Stereotypes are widely held beliefs about a group of people. They may be positive or negative. Even positive stereotypes can be damaging in that they create unrealistic expectations for individuals.

We pick up stereotypes in many ways, including from the media. In TV shows and movies, older people often are portrayed as needing help, and Asian Americans, African Americans, or Latinos/as rarely play leading, assertive roles. Current research also shows that although obvious negative stereotypes of Native American Indians are less common in the media, they are still commonly represented in print media as degraded outsiders, often “corrupt, alcoholic and doomed objects of pity” (Miller & Ross, 2004, p. 255) or as either the “good” or “bad” Indians. Communication scholar Bishetta D. Merritt (2000) analyzes portrayals of African American women on television shows and decries the lack of multidimensional roles. She identifies the kinds of roles that perpetuate stereotypes:

Portrayals that receive little or no attention today are the background characters that merely serve as scenery on television programs. These characters include the homeless person on the street, the hotel lobby prostitute, or the drug user making a buy from her dealer. They may not be named in the credits or have recurring roles, but their mere appearance can have an impact on the consciousness of the viewer and, as a result, an impact on the imagery of the African American women. ( p. 52)(In Context 205)