Читать книгу The Communication Playbook - Teri Kwal Gamble - Страница 52

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After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

 2.1 Explain the significance of intercultural communication in the global community.

 2.2 Explain how U.S. society evolved from a melting pot philosophy to a philosophy of cultural pluralism.

 2.3 Analyze attitudes toward diversity.

 2.4 Explain influences on cultural identity, distinguishing the difference between cultures and co-cultures.

 2.5 Illustrate the five main dimensions of cultural variability.

 2.6 Explain how technology brings diversity into our lives.

 2.7 Apply communication skills to reduce the strangeness of strangers.

A lot of different flowers make a bouquet.

Anonymous

Have you ever decided that you liked or disliked someone without really knowing him or her? Has anyone ever done the same to you—forming a positive or negative opinion of you—judging you, without really knowing you? If your answer to either of these questions is yes, it is likely that stereotypes, the mental images that guide our reactions to others, played a role.

A stereotype expresses the knowledge, beliefs, and expectations we have of the members of a particular group.¹ Whereas some of the stereotypes we hold of cultural groups are positive, others are astoundingly negative and overly generalized. Some contain kernels of truth, whereas others prevent us from recognizing our misconceptions.

What groups of people do you stereotype positively and/or negatively? What stereotypes might others hold of you? And how do our evaluations of one another affect our communication?

Some years back, Representative Peter King, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, convened a series of controversial hearings on the radicalization of Muslims in the United States. Critics of the hearings objected to the broad-stroke inquiry, arguing that we should view the Muslim community more objectively and stop treating Muslims with automatic suspicion. Furthermore, they asserted that individuals should be able to distinguish between mainstream Muslims and those belonging to the radical fringe.² Representative Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, observed that individuals, not communities, commit terrorist acts. He said, “When you assign their violent actions to the entire community, you assign collective blame to the whole group. This is the very heart of stereotyping and scapegoating.”³

It’s not just Muslims who face stereotypes. Relations between all groups are complicated by stereotypes. Yet we all share a common desire—and a need—to get along better with one another.⁴ Stereotyping is just one of the topics we address in this chapter as we explore a host of factors that influence our ability to communicate in a multicultural society and world.