Have you ever wondered why we interact or behave in a certain manner when we come from different societies? According to Edward Hall's Classic Dimension of Cultures there are high and low context cultures. Let's discuss about Chinese and American culture today.
Chinese culture is considered to be on the extreme end of the spectrum for high context culture. It is described as
-Having restricted codes
-Subtle cues are more important than actual speech
-Silence is integral in communication
-Explict communication style as rude, coarse and insensitive.
Do you ever wonder why there is this comparison between east vs west all the time? Perhaps it just boils down to the way we communicate that acts as an invisible barrier to accepting another culture.
American Culture, on the other hand is deemed as low context culture. It is characterised by
-Use of direct, explicit and unambiguous verbal communciation style
-A form of expression, to calrify and to influence
-Silence means incomprehension
-Indirect communication style is seen as tricky and deceptive
With such juxtaposition we should all be surprised why there is such tension when America and China hold diplomatic talks.
Having said the above, have you wondered where does Singapore stand in this spectrum? I tend to believe we are still a high context culture society because of our deep Asian roots but with American influence through the media we might see ourself as a more open society. Would you like that?Share your views!
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8 comments:
i guess singapore would be in the middle of high and low context, which is a good thing, since we will have "the best of both worlds" :)
I guess a BIG problem in our society is how we want to be seen as low context..but very often..we cannot handle the possible societal backlash.. therefore resulting in "outspoken-ness" only when one feels sufficiently confident of support from the floor. Singaporeans like people to "speak up" so that they can hear their ideas and comment on it using "low context" communication skills. So somehow, someone must start the ball rolling. Singaporeans have absolutely no qualms about speaking out and loud when they disagree with a public statement. But very often, we try our hardest not to have to make public statements. Confusing and flawed perhaps, but perhaps thats what makes Singapore alot more complex than what people tend to think. The subtle Singlish slangs and obtuse Hokkein metaphors are enough to drive any foreigner nuts.
I love Singapore.. don't you?
as much as we want to be low context, there are still many restrictions regarding free speech here in Singapore. the change will come I believe, but it will be slow.
we have no soul. we'll adapt to whichever superpower
I think Singapore holds a big advantage when it comes to high or low context wise, at least for the modern society. We are mostly brought up with deep Asian roots and culture as you said, but we are also exposed to the culture of low context through one of the most important mediums where we learn culture: mass media, of course. So I hope to believe we are able to adapt to both contexts if we choose to. But it'll never be 100% affirmative regardless of our environment's culture cos each individual is ultimately, (said to be), unique.
I feel that we are still working our way through towards a low context, perhaps one day we might see ourselves as a more liberal society. In response to all your posts, i feel that Singapore should stay the way it is, because innately we are still Asians and we should hold true to our roots
high context, definitely. singapore is still high context.
come to america and you'll see low context. =)
oh and open or not open as a society has very very very little to do with high or low context societies. high or low context has to do with communication; on which aspects of communication we rely more. americans tend to rely more of what is spoken and body language figures minimally while the chinese and japanese look more at body language. in short, context in a society is how we communicate.
openness in a society is dependent on whether the society itself is mature enough to discuss certain issues. in short, what we choose to communicate about.
and about your america and china tension, i don't think the context issue figures much in sino-us diplomacy. firstly, these are among the smartest people in the world whose jobs are to talk across the body, i'm sure they try to reduce such a petty mistake as miscommunication to a minimum. secondly, the real tension in sino-us relations is caused by disagreements in issues like democracy and ethics. these are not issues of context in communication nor issues of openness but rather issues of morality and philosophy.
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