SPC Final Exam Review Chapter 31 Communication Accommodation Theory Of Howard Giles Giles claimed that when two people from different ethnic or cultural groups interact they tend to accommodate each other in the way they speak in order to gain the other s approval Specifically focused on nonverbal adjustments of speech rate accents and pauses We tend to like others who strike us as similar Speech accommodation is frequently used strategy to gain the appreciation of people who are from different groups or cultures Accommodation the constant movement toward or away from others by changing your communication behavior CAT Communication Accommodation Theory A theory of intercultural communication that actually attends to communication Communication Accommodation Strategies Convergence a strategy of adapting your communication behavior in such a way as to become more similar to another person o Similar to constructivism s person centered messages o Talk to an elderly man in a way he could understand i e enunciate o Abandoning longwinded phrases when talking to someone who speaks in short phrases o Discourse management the sensitive selection of topics to discuss Divergence a communication strategy of accentuating the differences between you and another person o Insisting on using a language or dialect in an intercultural interaction o Employing a thicker accent o During intergenerational encounters researchers found that divergence is the norm and convergence is the exception Young people categorize old as close minded out of touch angry complaining and negatively stereotyping youth Elderly increase the social distance through a process of self handicapping a defensive face saving strategy that invokes age as a reason for not performing well o Maintenance under accommodation persisting in your original communication style regardless of the communication behavior of the other similar to divergence under accommodation o Over accommodation demeaning or patronizing talk excessive concern paid to vocal clarity of amplification message simplification or repetition Baby talk Motivations for Convergence and Divergence o Desire for social approval Convergence Positive Response o There are two problems with the model above 1 This motivational sequence can t explain why we frequently communicate in a divergent way 2 The causal chain doesn t take into account the fact that we often act as a representative of the group Social Identity Theory o Social identity group memberships and social categories that we use o Our motivation is to defend our ties to our identities when we talk to o Need for distinctiveness social identity Divergence Negative to define who we are other people response Initial Orientation o Initial orientation Communicators predisposition to focus on either their individual identity or group identity during a conversation o Predicting which route a person will take is difficult but the additive presence of five factors increases the odds that a communicator will see the conversation as an intergroup encounter 1 Collectivistic cultural context 2 Distressing history of interaction if previous interactions were uncomfortable competitive or hostile both interactants will tend to ascribe that outcome to the other person s social identity i e Men are like that The poor are lazy If the previous time together was positive the result is often ascribed to the individual rather than to a group or class 3 Stereotypes the more specific and negative the images that people have of an out group the more likely they are to think of the other in terms of social identity and then resort to divergent communication This is a big factor in intergenerational communication the young and old stereotype each other 4 Norms for treatment of groups Norms expectations about behavior that members of a community feel should or should not occur in particular situations respect your elders 5 High group solidarity high group dependence Lucille a 70 yr old widow living in a retirement village She organizes a successful food co op She has a high status When a young health department official questions the food s handling practices Lucille goes to talk to them as what she regards as an us against them practice Because this communication depends on each other and they are all elderly Recipient Evaluation of Convergence and Divergence Bottom line listeners regard convergence as positive and divergence as negative Accommodation is in the eyes and ears of the beholder Objective vs Subjective Accommodation Disconnect between the communication behavior that he saw and observed and what participants heard and saw He described this gap as the difference between objective and subjective communication A speaker s accent rate pitch could actually be shifting toward a conversational partner s style of speaking but the partner might regard is at divergent What strikes a person as someone else s preferred style of communication may woefully miss the mark Right on that s hip that s square Attribution Theory Attribution the perceptual process by which we observe what people do and then try to figure out their intent or disposition How will we interpret our partner s convergent or divergent behavior Three factors come into play 1 The other s ability 2 External constraints 3 Effort expended If you know an elderly man has hearing aids the room is noisy and he cares about your words you will probably relate to him more Listeners who interpret convergence as a speaker s desire to break down cultural barriers react quite favorably Applying CAT to the Police Officer Citizen Interaction Not limited to elderly and young intergenerational issues Based on CAT a Cincinnati study predicted that interracial interactions would be less accommodating than those where the officer and driver were the same race Critique Social Psychology Theory Meets criteria for a good social psych theory but may be too complex to even test hypotheses Chapter 32 Face Negotiation Theory Of Stella Ting Toomey This theory helps explain cultural differences in responses to conflict Ting Toomey assumes people of every culture are always negotiating face The term is a metaphor for our public self image the way we want others to see us and treat us Face the projected image of one s self in a relational situation Facework specific verbal and nonverbal messages that help to maintain and restore face loss and to uphold and honor face gain Facework of different cultures are
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