Different cultures have vastly different communication norms. For example, different cultures have different expectations about eye contact, body gestures, and especially proxemics and tactile communication styles. "In areas of the Middle East and South America, people stand very close when talking. European-Americans like to have more distance between them, while some African-Americans prefer even more space." (McGee)
Low-contact cultures, such as North American, Northern European and Asian cultures, prefer to communicate in the Social Zone (four to twelve feet) and tend to avoid physical contact. High-contact cultures, such as Mediterranean, Arab, and Latin cultures, prefer to communicate within the Intimate and Personal Zones (up to four feet) and do use a great deal of tactile communication. (Bremer) Even different races within the same country may have a difficult time with tactile communication because of the significant differences in comfort levels. "Halberstadt's (1985) gave a review of race differences in nonverbal behavior. Among adults, blacks establish larger interpersonal distances than whites do but engage in more interpersonal touch." (Chang)
These communication differences can cause judgments to be made regarding a person without proper reasoning involved.
When making judgments, stereotyping is among the "shortcuts" people use. Poor decisions can be due to hurried or unthoughtful judgments being made. The Halo shortcut is used to base judgments on a general impression, so factors like physical appearance (including ethnicity or body type) have a large...
"Everybody generates stereotypes as a form of organizing information. Stereotypes can be useful for making predictions about future behavior. However, a stereotype may not describe any one individual accurately. People will rely more heavily on their stereotype when other information about a person is not available." (SIOP) Heuristics are the general rules that each person develops for making judgments faster and easier, and they can help enforce the use of stereotyping in judgments.
Works Cited
Bremer, J. (2004) Proxemics - how we use space. Image insights (Bremer Communications). Retrieved July 19, 2005 at http://www.bremercommunications.com/Proxemics_How_We_Use_Space.htm
Chang, Y. (2001) Theories of persuasive communication and consumer decision-making. Nonverbal communication.
Retrieved July 19, 2005, at http://ciadvertising.org/student_account/fall_01/adv382j/utamychang/1st_assignment/Preface_content.htm
Human Rights Commission. (2004). Racial Harassment Resource: The Co-ordinator's Handbook. Retrieved July 19, 2005, at http://www.hrc.co.nz/index.php?p=13834&format=print&id=&keywords=&month=&year=&Submit=
McGee, K. (2001) Cultural differences in communication. Schwab Learning. Retrieved July 19, 2005, at http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.asp?r=290&g=1.
SIOP. (2004) Judgement and Decision-Making: Industrial-Organized Psychology Learning Module. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Inc. Retrieved July 19, 2005 at http://siop.org/Instruct/Judgment/sld001.htm.
