By Mari D. González

According to anthropologist and intercultural communication pioneer, Edward T. Hall, North European and North American macro-cultures would be defined as “Low-context.” Their communication preference is characterized by explicit verbal messages. Hall explains that in Low-context, “Effective verbal communication is expected to be direct and unambiguous.” Low-context communication is related to an individualistic identity in which people are “I” conscious and express private opinions publicly.

Societies from the rest of the world including Latin America, Asia, and Arab countries utilize High-context communication in which, “most of the information is part of the context or internalized in the person; very little is made explicit” (Hall, as cited by de Mooij, 2014). In these countries, people are programmed to read context and meaning between words.

In High-context or collectivist societies expressing personal opinions and disregarding the group of reference’s perceptions is not the norm. The personal identity is related to the group of reference and a shared “we” identity. There is a risk of making them feel uncomfortable. An offense to a person of that cultural group is an offense to all the in-group members to which Asians call “losing face.”

* Image by Icons8 Team on Unsplash