Intercultural Communication

and the Self

Self-Concept:
Your subjective description of who you think you
are.
How do you describe yourself to others? What
are your attitudes, values, and beliefs?
Self- Esteem:
An evaluation of who you think you are. Your
self-worth

How Self-Concept
Develops

Looking-glass self (Charles Horton-Cooley, 1902).

Interactions with others greatly inform our self-concept.
Depending on the following:

a. Repetition
b. Credibility of the communicator
c. Consistent with our own experience
Self-Labels: The power to self label shapes our selfconcept (AKA as avowal)
Self-reflexiveness- We talk to ourselves about ourselves.
We often
evaluate ourselves and are critical of the
feedback others have
given us.
Your Personality- your individual personality
characteristics

Our Many Selves

William James

Different ways to define ourselves:

Material Self:

Tangible things you own: your body, your possessions

Social Self:
We potentially have many social selves: friend, family
member,
significant other, colleague, etc.
Spiritual Self: infinite, or finite?
An amalgam 0r your
religious beliefs and your sense of who
you are in
relationship to other forces in the universe.

Identity/Self-concept (K and
L)
K and L
Cultural: built on traditions, language,
heritage, religion, ancestry, etc.
Social: age, gender, work, ideology,
religion, neighborhood, interests
(sports).
Personal: your unique characteristics.

Social and Cultural Identities

M and N
Gender Identity

Sexual Orientation Identity

Age Identity
Racial and Ethnic Identity
Physical Ability Identity
Religious Identity
Class Identity
National and Regional Identity

Avowel and Proactive ascription

Martin and Nakayama

Avowel is a process by which

individuals portray themselves.
Ascription is a process by which others
attribute identities to them.
I see myself as a young guy, you may
view me as a really old dude.

Characteristics of Identity
(Martin
and Nakayama)
Identities:
Are created through communication (Looking
Glass self)
Are created in spurts
Are influenced by society
Are dynamic
Are developed in different ways in different
cultures

The Formation of Cultural Identity

Koester and Lustig

Unexamined Cultural Identity: Little

interest in exploring cultural issues.
Identity is taken for granted.
Cultural Identity Search: A process of
exploration of ones own cultural
identity.

We become more socially, politically aware. Anger accompanies stage two sometimes

Cultural Identity Achievement: a clear,

confident acceptance of oneself and
internalization of ones culture
They can deal with stereotypes and discrimination withut it affecting their self esteem.; Self-confident well adjusted

Identity Negotiation Theory

M and N (Ting Toomey 2005)

Individuals define themselves in

relation to groups they belong to due to
the basic need for security and
inclusion. At the same time, humans
need differentiation from these same
groups. (The core of Intercultural
Communication, separateness and
connectedness).

doesnt consider context

Interpretive:
Research Goal: Describe behavior, but not
predict behavior.
Method of study: Participant/observation
Contribution of the approach: Recognizes
differences should
be studied in context.

Critical:
Research Goal: Change behavior
Method of Study: Textual Analysis of Media
Contribution of the approach: Asserts that all
intercultural interactions are characterized, or
affected by power. (Political, economical)