COM 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Intercultural Communication, Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism
Document Summary
Intercultural communication: the exchange of information between individuals who are unalike culturally. Communication with people from other cultures is increasingly common. The influx of foreign born immigrants, aliens, and refugees who have changed the face of the u. s. Culture: unique combination of rituals, religious beliefs, ways of thinking and ways of behaving that unify group of people. Dominant culture: determined by who has the power and influence in a group; in the u. s. the dominant culture is white, male, able-bodied, straight, married, and employed. Non-dominant culture: exists within a larger, dominant culture but differs from the dominant culture in some significant characteristic. This includes people of color, women, gays/lesbians/bisexuals/people with disabilities, the lower/working class, the unemployed, the underemployed, the bankrupt, the young, and the elderly. Non-dominant groups seek three possible goals to relate to dominant groups: Assimilation goal: the marginalized group attempts to fit in with the dominant group.
