Working with Edward Halls

Model of Cultural Differences

Course Summary
Definitions and Concepts
Characteristics

Differences

Edward Twitchell Hall, Jr. (May 16, 1914 July 20, 2009) - an American
anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher.

Low Context Definition and Concepts

Spoken words carry most of the meaning;
People explicitly say what they want to convey;
Goal is to give and receive information when communicating;
Spoken words have to make up for what is missing in context;
Less intuitive understanding, therefore slow and less efficient;
Task centered;
Compartmentalized: division of responsibility.

High Context Culture Definition and

Concept
Physical context carries most of the meaning, including facial expressions, tone of
voice and gestures;

People imply what they want to convey;

Goal is to strengthen relationships and ensure harmony;
Faster and more efficient as they rely on intuitive understanding;

Slow to change and need time to create a common understanding between sender
and receiver.

High and Low Context Cultures

Every individual uses both high and low context communication.
Most countries have both high and low context cultures\when individuals from
high-context and low-context cultures collaborate, there are often difficulties that
occur during the exchange of information.

High and Low Context Cultures

Characteristics
Low Context Culture

High Context Culture

Logical

- Intuitive

Linear

- Relations more important than

Action-oriented

information

Compartmentalized

- Contemplative

Language is precise, functional

and necessary

- Language valued less to

convey meaning and more to assist
developing relationships.

Are you from a high context or low context culture?

Do I recognize implied messages from others, and am I aware of the verbal and
nonverbal cues that let me understand the speaker's meaning? (High-Context)
Do I "let my words speak for themselves? Do I prefer to be more direct, relying on
what is explicitly stated in my speech? (Low-Context)

High & Low Context Cultures - Countries

Low Context Culture

High Context Culture

America

- Brazil

Australia

- China

England

- Japan

Germany

- France

Canada (English)

- Canada (French)

New Zealand

- Italy

Scandinavian Countries

- Russia

High & Low Context Cultures

Differences: Workplace
Low Context Culture
-

High Context Culture

Employees: limit communication

- Employees: share very specific and

to smaller, more select groups of

extensive information with their

people, sharing only that information

in-group members;

which is necessary;
-

Office Set-up: closed floor plan,

- Office se-up: open floor plan,

executives have their own offices and

executives share offices to easily

receive visitors one at a time;

share info and promote accessibility;

Executives control content and flow

of information.

- Everyone stays informed about

every aspect of the business and knows
who is best informed on which subjects.

High and Low Context Subcultures

Subcultures:
Regional;

Urban vs. rural;

Ethnic;
Social class;

Professional;
Gender;
Generational subcultures.
USA low context is the norm, but Latin people in USA are high context.

High and low Context Subcultures

In multicultural societies, people can be high context at home and low context at
work/ school or vice versa.

People in rural areas can be higher context than urban.

Women are high context.
The older generation prefer higher context that younger generation.

Monochronic Cultures

In Monochronic Cultures, time is expressed linearly, from the past to the future.
Monochronic time can be easily segmented, into blocks of time diary.
That is called COMPARTMENTALIZATION.
It means you can concentrate on one thing at a time.
Time is tangible.
Monochronics dont like being interrupted and are champions of deadlines.

Monochronic Cultures
Monochronic time is usually norm in low context cultures:
The Anglo-Saxons;
North-Western Europe;
USA and English speaking Canada;
Australia:
New Zealand.

In monochromic cultures, relationships are also compartmentalized.

Polychronic Cultures
Time moves spatially for polychronics, in all directions.
They prefer doing many things at a time, and are more concerned with people than
with planning.
Time is elastic, being adjusted to the needs of the group.
Polychronics are capable of combining a lot of activities

at once, follow several conversations simultaneously, and

do not find interruptions a problem.

Polychronic Cultures
Similar to the high context countries:
Latin Europe;
Latin America;
The Mediterranean;
The Middle East;
Africa;
Asia;
Oceania.

Personal Space - Proxemics

The physical during social situations is your personal space.

However, when you enter into a cross cultural conversation, you may want to keep your
personal distance in mind.
Proxemics (E.T.Hall, 1960s)- to describe the effects of personal space, with a model of
concentric circles around our body that make up different levels of personal space.
Specifically, we have four levels of personal space:
Intimate 0 to 10 inches Reserved for close friends and family

Personal 18 inches to 4 feet For friends and informal conversation

Social 4 to 12 feet An area for formal conversation and business transactions
Public beyond 12 feet

Assignments
High or Low Context Communicator
Describe your house, room, neighbourhood.
Monochronic or Polychronic
A German businessman cannot understand why the person he is meeting is so
interruptible by phone calls and people stopping by. Is it meant to insult him? When do
they get down to business?
How large is your personal space?
How does the norm of politeness influence territory defenses?

What are the factors that affect crowding?

1. Environmental factors- such as reduced space, unwanted noise
2. Personal factors- such as gender, personality
3. Social factors- high frequency of unwanted social contact from many
people at close places.
4. goal- related factors- the inability to accomplished what is desired.

What are the factors that affect personal

space preferences?
Sex- Male vs female. Females stand closer than males do. Female and female sit
closer. Male and Male- not closer. Females are more comfortable.

Age- Closer when we talk to young ages. Older people tend to be closer together.
Cultural and ethnic background- In our culture, we maximize space. Some other
cultures are very comfortable getting close to each other. Hall called it context
culture- small conversational distances. Non Context- less comfortable with touch.
Further distance. No real eye contact.
Topic or subject matter.

What are the factors that affect personal space

preferences?
Setting for the interaction- The environments people are in.
Physical characteristics
Attitudinal and emotional orientation.
Characteristics of the interpersonal relationship- if you know the person well or like
them..you will stand or sit closer to them.

Personality characteristics- your own personality.

The more extraverted you are, the more closer you
are too people compared to a introverted person.