UNDERSTANDING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Contents
Preface
About the Authors
Acknowledgments

PART I FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS IN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Chapter 1 Why Study Intercultural Communication?
Six Practical Reasons to Study Intercultural Communication
The Impact of Technology on Everyday Intercultural Communication
The Global and Domestic Diversity Workforce
The "New Norm": Nontraditional Interpersonal Relationships (Relationship Development, Families, and Identity Complexity)
Global Health Care Concerns and Opportunities
Personal Empowerment, Social Advocacy, and Social Justice
Inclusivity Reason: Increasing Self-Awareness and Other-Sensitivity
Culture: A Learned Meaning System
Surface-Level Culture: Artifacts and Pop Culture
Intermediate-Level Culture: Symbols, Meanings, and Norms
Deep-Level Culture: Traditions, Beliefs, and Values
Updating Your (Virtual) Intercultural Passport
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 2 What Is Intercultural Communication Flexibility?
Defining Intercultural Communication: A Process Model
Intercultural Communication Process: Overall Characteristics
Intercultural Communication: Meaning Construction Characteristics
Cultivating Intercultural Communication Flexibility
Three Content Components: Knowledge, Attitude, and Skills
Three Criteria: Appropriateness, Effectiveness, and Adaptability
Practicing Intercultural Communication Competence
A Staircase Model
An Essential Hook: A Mindful Perspective
Deepening Intercultural Process Thinking and Outcome Goals
Process Consciousness: Underlying Principles
Movements Toward Outcome Goals
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 3 What Are the Essential Cultural Value Patterns?
Functions of Cultural Values
Analyzing Cultural Values
Identity Meaning Function
Ingroup-Outgroup Evaluative Function
Explanatory Function
Motivational Function
Analyzing Cultural Value Continuum Dimensions
Discovering Cultural Continuum Values
Identity: Individualism-Collectivism Value Dimension
Power: Small-Large Power Distance Value Dimension
Uncertainty: Weak-Strong Uncertainty Avoidance Value Dimension
Sex Roles: Feminine-Masculine Value Dimension
Understanding Personality Styles and Value Tendencies
Independent Self-Construal Versus Interdependent Self-Construal
Horizontal Versus Vertical Personality Style
Uncertainty-Oriented Versus Certainty-Oriented Attributes
Androgynous Versus Conventional Sex Role Dispositions
Cultural Values Connecting With Personality Styles and Social Situations
Additional Classical Value Orientation Patterns
Value Orientations: Background Information
Meaning: Activity Value Orientation
Destiny: People-Nature Value Orientation
Time: Temporal Value Orientation
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 4 What Are the Keys to Understanding Cultural and Ethnic Identities?
Family and Gender Socialization
Families Come in Different Shapes
Gender Socialization and Interaction Patterns
Group Membership: Intercultural Boundary-Crossing Factors
The Process of Acculturation and Enculturation
Systems-Level Factors
Individual-Level Factors
Interpersonal Face-to-Face and Relational Network Factors
Mass Media and Social Media Usage Factors
Intergroup Adaptive Strategies
Sociocultural Group Affiliation and Identity Formation
Conceptualizing Cultural Identity
Conceptualizing Ethnic Identity
Ethnic-Racial Identity Change Process
Cultural-Ethnic Identity Typological Model
Racial-Ethnic Identity Development Model
Identity Complexity
Multiracial and Biracial Identity
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Part II CROSSING CULTURAL AND COMMUNICATION BOUNDARIES ADAPTIVELY
Chapter 5 What Is Culture Shock?
Unpacking Culture Shock
Characteristics of Culture Shock
Pros and Cons of Culture Shock
Culture Shock Encounters: A Variety of Culture Shockers
International Students and Cultural Exchange Students
Global Workplace Transferees and Global Mobility Families
Third Culture Kids/Global Nomads (TCK/GN)
International Tourists as Short-Term Sojourners
Initial Tips to Manage Culture Shock
Culture Shock Factors, Adjustment Approaches, and Strategies
Motivational Orientations and Personal Expectations
Cultural Distance Factors and Two Adjustment Approaches
Initial Cultural Adjustment, New Media, and Social Support
Cultural Adjustment Competence Strategies
Personality Attributes
Intercultural Adjustment: Developmental Patterns
The U-Curve Adjustment Model
The Revised W-Shaped Adjustment Model
Culture Shock Adjustment Summary: Peaks and Valleys
Reentry Culture Shock
Reentry Culture Shock: Surprising Elements
?Where Is Home??
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 6 What Is the Connection Between Verbal Communication and Culture?
Human Language: Distinctive Features and Rule Patterns
Distinctive Language Features: Arbitrariness, Abstractness, Meaning-Centeredness, and Creativity
Multiple Rule Patterns: Phonological, Morphological, Syntactic, Semantic, and Pragmatic Rules
Appreciating Diverse Language Functions
Cultural Group Membership Identity Function
Everyday Social Reality Function
Worldview Reasoning Function
Perceptual Filtering Function
Social Change Function
Verbal Communication Styles: A General Framework
Defining Low-Context and High-Context Interaction Patterns
Direct and Indirect Verbal Variation Styles
Compact and Verbose Interaction Styles
Self-Enhancement and Self-Humbling Verbal Styles
Status-Equality and Status-Sensitive Respectful Styles
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 7 What Are the Different Ways to Communicate Nonverbally Across Cultures?
The Impact of Nonverbal Communication
Comparisons of Verbal and Nonverbal Cues
Cross-Cultural Nonverbal Display Rules
Nonverbal Display Preferences Across the Digital Divide
One Code, Countless Interpretations
Functions and Forms of Nonverbal Communication
Forming Initial Impressions and Attraction
Expressing Emotions and Attitudes: Kinesics and Paralanguage
Managing Conversation with Hand Gestures and More
Reflecting Sociocultural Membership Identities
Regulating Spatial and Temporal Boundaries
Asserting and Defending Spatial Boundaries: Proxemics and Haptics
Environmental Boundary Effects
Cross-Cultural Psychological Boundaries
Monitoring and Regulating Time: Chronemics
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

PART III MANAGING CHALLENGES IN INTERCULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS FLEXIBLY
Chapter 8 What Causes Us to Hold Biases Against Outgroups?
Human Perception Tendencies: Some General Principles
Selective Attention
Selective Organization and Labeling
Selective Interpretation
Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
Ethnocentrism and Communication
Stereotypes and Communication
Stereotypes: We Are What We Watch
Marking Ingroup/Outgroup Membership Boundaries
Us Versus Them
Group Membership Struggles
Intergroup Attribution Biases
Shattered Lens: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism
Prejudice: Multiple Explanations and Functions
Different Types of Racism
Power, Privilege, and Microaggression
Reduction of Prejudice and Discrimination
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 9 How Can We Manage Intercultural Conflict Flexibly?
Intercultural Conflict: Cultural Background Factors
Culture-Based Conflict Lenses
Intercultural Workplace Conflict Grid
Intercultural Conflict Perceptions
Intercultural Conflict Goal Issues
Perceived Scarce Resources
Intercultural Conflict Process Factors
Conflict Face-Negotiation Theory: A Brief Introduction
Defining Conflict Styles: Different Viewpoints
Cross-Cultural Conflict Communication Styles
Cross-Ethnic Conflict Styles and Facework
Developing Intercultural Conflict Competence and Skillsets
Applying Intercultural Conflict Competence
Facework Management Skills
Mindful Listening Skills
Mindful Reframing Skills
Adaptive Code-Switching Conflict Skills
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 10 What Are the Challenges in Developing an Intercultural-Intimate Relationship?
Developing Intercultural Relationships: Invisible Challenges
Cultural-Ethnic Membership Values
Anxiety/Uncertainty Interaction Management
Love Attitudes and Expectations
Voluntary Commitment and Structural Commitment
Intercultural Relationship Attraction: Facilitating Factors
Perceived Physical Attractiveness
Perceived Attitudinal Similarity
Cross-Cultural Self-Disclosure Comparisons
Online Relationship Development, Attraction, and Disclosure
Intercultural-Intimate Conflict: Stumbling Blocks
Intercultural Romantic Relationship Development
Encountering Prejudice and Racism
Countering with Coping Strategies
Relational Transgressions and Cross-Cultural Responses
Raising Secure Bicultural Children
Bicultural and Interfaith Identity Planning
Developing a Secure Multifaceted Identity
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 11 Why Does Global Identity Matter?
Wired and Ready! The Allure of the Internet
Wired-up and Swipe-Ready
The Internet Is Our Central Station
"Glocal" Living: Here to Stay
Local and Global Identities
The Entertainment Culture and Identity Sculpting
Through the Lens of Television: Global Watching
Through the Lens of Streaming
Are You Playing Together?: Video Gaming
Can You Feel the Beat?
Fashion, Influencers, and Fandomania
Living in the Intersection: E.net'ers
Defining the Characteristics of an E.net'er
An E.net'er Identity: Push-and-Pull Dialectics
Spatial Zone Dialectics
Temporal Zone Dialectics
On the Edge: Dynamic Changes in Communication Patterns
App Gadgets: Flipping Fast and Furious
Virtual . . . But Present?
The Ambiguous Selfie Face
Communication Advocacy and Social Change
Intercultural Reality Check: Doables
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

Chapter 12 How Can We Become Ethical Intercultural Communicators?
Intercultural Communication Ethics: Cultural Clash Issues
Global Collision and Local Justice Expectation
Corporate Responsibility and Workplace Ethical Questions
Value Clash and Universalistic-Particularistic Ethical Decisions
Multiple Ethical Positions: Assessing Pros and Cons
Ethical Absolutism Position
Ethical Relativism Position
Derived Ethical Universalism Position
Meta-Ethics Contextualism Position
Becoming Ethical Intercultural Communicators
Cultivating an Ethical Mindset and Questions to Consider
Promoting Global Social Justice and a Moral Inclusion Stance
Nurturing Intercultural-Intergroup Peace-Building Practices
Fostering Adaptive Flexibility: Final Passport Doables
In Conclusion . . .
Discussion and Practical Application Questions

References
Glossary
Author Index
Subject Index