A cross‐cultural comparison of self‐monitoring

This study examined the goodness of fit of three alternative models of self‐monitoring to data collected in five cultures (two individualistic and three collectivistic cultures) and the influence of individualism‐collectivism on self‐monitoring. It was predicted that the 18‐item unidimensional self‐monitoring scale is the best fit among the three and individualistic cultures exhibit higher self‐monitoring than collectivistic cultures. Data were collected from respondents in the United States, Australia (individualistic cultures) and Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (collectivistic cultures). Results supported the predictions. The data suggest, however, that it is necessary to develop self‐monitoring measures which are sensitive across cultures.     

Willingness to communicate: A cross‐cultural investigation

This study examined the means of and correlations between perceptions of willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and communication competence of college students in the United States and Australia. Comparisons indicated a high degree of similarity in the relationships between communication orientations in the two cultures but substantial differences between the cultures in terms of mean scores on willingness to communicate and self‐perceived communication competence. Results of the study suggest similarities between people of two different cultures on one communication orientation do not necessarily indicate similarities on other communication orientations. However, relationships between orientations may have some generalizability across cultures.     

A cross‐cultural analysis of children's television use

This study compared uses of U.S. television by foreign children residing in the U.S. and their American counterparts in light of theories of acculturation, cultivation, and uses and gratifications. Compared with U.S. children, foreign children: used television more for learning purposes, were relatively more interested in television programs, spent more time watching television, identified more frequently with television characters, and expressed stronger beliefs in the social reality portrayed by television.     

A cross‐cultural comparison of implicit theories of requesting

The primary aim of this paper is to identify cross‐cultural similarities and differences in people's implicit theories of requesting. Implicit theories are conceptualized as containing information about five interactive constraints that influence choices about requests: (1) Clarity, (2) Perceived imposition, (3) Consideration for the other's feelings, (4) Risking disapproval for self, and (5) Effectiveness. The paper compares how these five constraints are perceived and rated across cultures and traces possible links between the constraints and perceptions of the likelihood of using various request strategies. Participants are a total of 595 undergraduates: 296 Koreans (native speakers of Korean) and 299 Americans (native American English speakers) studying in their respective countries. After reading a hypothetical request situation, participants evaluated request strategies along the five constraint dimensions as well as for likelihood of use. The rank‐ordering of the request strategies along the dimensions were similar across cultures except for effectiveness of strategies. Striking cross‐cultural differences were found in the rank and mean strategy ratings for effectiveness judgments: U.S. participants considered the direct statement strategy as the most effective way of making a request, while Korean participants rated it as the least effective strategy. Regarding the incompatibility among interactive constraints, U.S. participants saw clarity to be closely related to effectiveness of strategies; for Korean participants clarity of strategies was counterproductive to effectiveness. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Hong Kong media system in transition: A socio‐cultural analysis

This paper examines the media system of Hong Kong from a socio‐cultural perspective. It proposes to analyse five major factors that determine a media system, namely, political structure, economic structure, media proprietors’ culture, media practitioners’ culture, and audience's culture. Interactions of these five factors result in four ideal‐type media systems. They are: Type I, Free System; Type II, Relatively Free System; Type III, Relatively Repressive System; and Type IV, Repressive System. Analysed in this context, the present media situation in Hong Kong can be considered to be a relatively free system. However, it is also observed that the media system in Hong Kong is likely to become a relatively repressive system after 1997. The paper further suggests that the socio‐cultural model developed here can be used for cross‐cultural comparison.     

International students’ network patterns and cultural stress: What really counts

The cultural adaptation literature indicates that direct contacts with host people and international students have positive effects on adaptation. However, it is not clear how the quantity of host people affects this relationship. Therefore, this study investigates the question by exploring the role of “quantity”; in terms of the numbers of host people in international students’ communication networks and cultural stress (CS). This effect was examined from close interpersonal communication ties and casual communicative contacts perspectives (i.e., quantity alone versus quantity‐with‐quality of relationship). One hundred and two international students were asked to complete a questionnaire from which their CS scores were determined. The scores were used to determine the effect of casual versus close contacts for the students. In general, the findings indicate that the quantity of host people in a network is an important determinant of CS (i.e., both casual contacts and close communication contacts). However, the extent to which these interaction types are able to determine CS is dependent on the stress type.     

A cross‐cultural test of the association between temperament and communication apprehension

The research reported in his study was a cross‐cultural test of the communibiological model of communication apprehension as temperamental expression. The study was designed to replicate the findings reported by Beatty, McCroskey, and Heisel (1998) in the U.S. and Japan. In this study participants from Japan and the U.S. completed measures of communication apprehension, neurotitism, and extroversion. The results indicated that, for both Japanese and U.S. college students, scores on the measure of communication apprehension were significantly correlated with measures of neuroticism and extroversion. Multiple regression analyses indicated that both neuroticism and extroversion predicted unique variance in communication in both cultures and that the multiple correlations for the two cultures did not differ significantly. It was concluded that the replication was successful and that temperament scores are substantially predictive of communication apprehension across the cultures tested.     

Mass media and cultural identity: Issues of ethnic co‐existence in India

This study aimed to analyze the respective effects of cognitive and emotional elements on political judgments, and the effects of media use and political talk on those two elements. Along with the cognitive judgment about political and economic issues/policies, we explored the effect of emotional responses to political and economic situations. During this process, we also looked at the effect of media use and interpersonal communication channels. By analyzing survey data gathered in December 2007, it was first found that voters' cognitive judgment and emotional responses to political and economic situations, respectively, affected their evaluation of the incumbent president. Second, emotional reactions such as ‘pride’ in politics, and ‘hope’ and ‘anger’ for economics, showed significant influence on their evaluation of the president's performance. Third, voters' patterns of media use and interpersonal talk appeared to exert significant influences on those cognitive judgments and emotional responses to political and economic reality.     

Perceptions of world view among Japanese and American university students: A cross‐cultural comparison

The Gilgen & Cho (1979a) Questionnaire to Measure Eastern and Western Thought was administered to 240 Japanese and 163 American respondents. Results indicate that significant differences exist between the two cultures. The Japanese reflect an Eastern thought mode while the Americans favor a Western one. Also, results indicate gender differences between cultures and within the American culture. American females are more Eastern thought inclined than are the males.     

Gender portrayal in Hong Kong and Korean children's TV commercials: A cross‐cultural comparison

This study examined gender portrayal in a sample of 345 television commercials broadcast during children's programmes in Hong Kong and Korea using content analysis. Literature suggests that Hong Kong culture differs from Korean culture on the dimension of Masculinity/Femininity proposed by Hofstede. The differences between the two countries provide a valid test of theory, and suggest hypotheses about the gender portrayal in children's advertising. The results of the study showed, contrary to expectations from Hofstede's framework, that the gender portrayal of central characters and the level of gender stereotyping in Hong Kong commercials was similar to those of Korean commercials. Possible explanations include the emerging homogeneous youth market using a standardized advertising strategy, and the rising concern for women's rights in Korea.     

Reconstructing <equality>: Culturetypal and counter‐cultural Rhetorics in the martyred black vision

A guiding purpose of most social and political minority movements in a pluralistic society is to achieve legitimacy in the terms of the dominant ideology. In Anglo‐American liberal democracies such legitimation is located in the ideograph <equality>, an ideological commitment which promotes “sameness” and “identity.” An interesting feature of <equality> is that it functions implicitly as a rhetoric of control, requiring those who would achieve legitimacy to sublimate their “difference” from the dominant ideology. As such, it poses serious contradictions for a society that is truly interested in promoting a humanistic and pluralistic egalitarianism. In this essay the authors examine the way in which the culturetypal rhetoric of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the counter‐cultural rhetoric of Malcolm X functioned together to negotiate this characteristic of <equality> as black Americans in the 1960s strove to achieve legitimacy for their struggle for civil rights, and in so doing constructed a revised and emancipatory conception of cultural <equality>.     

Patterns of digital uses among Israeli Arabs – between citizenship in modern society and traditional cultural roots

This study examines the digital divide between the Jewish majority and Arab minority in Israeli society as manifested by Internet access and patterns of use. The goals of this paper were to examine the digital divide between these two groups and to identify the factors that influence these gaps. The study is based on data from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics Annual Social Survey, collected in 2011 through face-to-face interviews of 5872 interviewees aged 20–65 years. Jews were found to have an advantage over Arabs in terms of Internet access and in terms of the two types of uses: capital-enhancing and recreational. Our important conclusion is that, theoretically, with background variables being the same, the first-level digital divide between Jews and Arabs can be considered closed; in contrast, the second-level digital divide remains even if human resources in both groups are the same. This gives reason to assume that beyond the impact of human resources, the second-level digital divide between Jews and Arabs originated from their cultural background. Israeli Arabs are a unique minority indigenous group with two affinities – to Israeli modern society (because of citizenship) and to the Arab traditional world (because of their religious and cultural roots). Closing digital gaps requires changes in basic social, economic, and cultural aspects of the Arab sector on the individual level, i.e., personal motivation, as well as on the community level, including collective sociocultural preferences.     

A test of a cultural model of patients' motivation for verbal communication in patient‐doctor interactions

In theory, two‐way communication between patient and physician is desirable. However, there is a dearth of research that has explored the effects of patients’ culture and cultural orientations on patients’ ability to actively participate in the medical encounter. The purpose of this paper was to test the effects of patients’ culture and cultural orientations on assertiveness and communication apprehension during medical interviews. According to the proposed model, culture and self‐construals are causal antecedents to patients’ beliefs about verbal communicativeness. Our model suggests that cultural values (self‐construals) are determined in part by culture. In regards to the mediation process, the model proposes that the greater the patient's construal‐of‐self as independent, the more positive her/his beliefs regarding patient participation, which, in turn, leads to a higher degree of motivations to communicate verbally with a physician. Our model also suggests that the greater the patient's construal‐of‐self as interdependent, the more negative her/his beliefs regarding patient participation, which, in turn, leads to a higher degree of communication avoidance and apprehension during medical interview. The data were partially consistent with the theoretical predictions made. The implications of the model for theory and practice are discussed.     

From ‘poison’ to ‘seeder’: the gap between propaganda and xuanchuan is cultural*

Propaganda has been perceived as ‘poison’ in the field of communication study. Xuanchuan, propaganda’s counterpart in China with a master metaphor of ‘seeder,’ however, has different histories and traditions that do not fit into the ideology-charged theoretical framework. Drawing upon Chinese thought and scholarship on xuanchuan/propaganda, the author demonstrates a deep conceptual and perceptual gap, rooted in culture, between propaganda and xuanchuan. Revelation of the gap is of paramount importance for studying China’s propaganda, both theoretically and empirically.     

Assessment of indoor air quality and the risk of damage to cultural heritage objects using MEMORI® dosimetry

Air pollution is one of the environmental influences that degrade cultural heritage objects situated indoors. Other essential influences, such as temperature, relative humidity, and light are often well monitored. The presence of air pollutants is less often measured or included in risk assessment. The MEMORI^® technology presented in this paper was developed as a tool for easy measurement and assessment of the general risk of degradation of heritage objects situated indoors due to indoor exposure to air pollutants. MEMORI dosimetry was performed in locations belonging to English Heritage and Tate (both located in London) and the National Archives of Norway in Oslo, to assess air quality. The related damage risk for collection objects and the protection offered by display and storage designs was assessed. A high level of acidic effect was observed inside a number of showcases, and a high level of oxidizing effect was observed in some room locations. Relatively simple mitigation measures, such as constructing tightly sealed showcases using low emitting materials, installing active carbon absorbing media inside a ‘microclimate’ frame, and using cardboard storage boxes for paper, significantly improved air quality. Overall, implementation of such measures is likely to improve the preservation of objects and reduce conservation costs.     

Political advertising in Taiwan and the US: Across‐cultural comparison of the 1996 presidential election campaigns

This study applies Hall's (1977) culture‐context theory and Hofstede's (1991) individualistic/collectivistic aspects of cultural differences to understand how content and appeals of political advertising in Taiwan and the US differ. The aspects examined included the presence of direct and indirect attacks, the presentation of issues, types of settings, and the use of metaphors, symbols, and songs. Analyses showed that most of the findings were consistent with cultural expectations.     

Indigenous cultural values and journalism in the Asia-Pacific region: a brief history of Māori journalism

A number of scholars in the Asia-Pacific region have in recent years pointed to the importance that cultural values play in influencing journalistic practices. The Asian values debate was followed up with empirical studies showing actual differences in news content when comparing Asian and Western journalism. At the same time, such studies have focused on national cultures only. This paper instead examines the issue against the background of an Indigenous culture in the Asia-Pacific region. It explores the way in which cultural values may have played a role in the journalistic practice of Māori journalists in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past nearly 200 years and finds numerous examples that demonstrate the significance of taking cultural values into account. The paper argues that the role played by cultural values is important to examine further, particularly in relation to journalistic practices amongst sub-national news cultures across the Asia-Pacific region.     

A new normal? Competing national cultural discourses and workers’ constructions of identity and meaningful work in Norway

We examine how conceptions of identity and meaningful work are influenced by a nation's changing economic and political environment. We collected research in Norway – a country with a rich economy that has heavily relied upon oil production since the 1980s. Yet depleting oil resources are prompting an economic transformation. Twenty-seven interviews and a thematic analysis revealed how Norwegian workers safeguarded their traditional, collective workplace values, yet were simultaneously confronted with modern – more masculinized – workplace performances ushered in with the oil era. We contribute to theory by suggesting that work's meaningfulness is constructed by competing national cultural discourses that evolve over time. These discourses become narratives that citizens draw upon to evaluate work and to negotiate their personal and professional identities.     

The concept of trustworthiness: A cross‐cultural comparison between Japanese and U.S. business people

A card sorting procedure was used to explore the structure of Japanese and American business people's concept of trustworthiness. Each of115 Japanese and 121 U.S. respondents was asked to sort thirty trust‐related words. Hierarchical cluster analyses and multidimensional scaling indicated that Japanese emphasize organizational commitment, while Americans emphasize personal integrity in judging another's trustworthiness. These differences between the two cultural groups were interpreted as evidence of an “interdependent”; versus an “independent”; view of trustworthiness in an organizational setting, and may help explain persistent miscommunication about trustworthiness between Japanese and U.S. colleagues.