Activity 3: Week 3
Chapter 3 Questions
1. Why is communication with another person or group described as an action chain?
Give an example of an action chain that might occur when you meet (1) a friend, (2)
your new boss, and (3) a young child.
Communication with another person or group is described as an action chain because it
involves “a whole series of unwritten expectations regarding how a person should respond”
to certain cues and actions from the other party (ch.3, p.57). Thus one action or word leads to
response with another gesture or word – this back and forth is like a chain. For instance, if
two Japanese people meet one person might bow as a show of respect to the other person.
The other party, depending on their social status relative to the first person, might bow or just
bend their head slightly as a conversation ensues. While the sequence of actions and
responses are natural when the parties are from the same culture, confusion might take over
when one does not know how to act to respond to certain cues.
In deed even in same cultures people behave and communicate differently with each other
depending on their relationship to each other. When I meet a friend, for instance, we spread
our hands out and exchange a hug followed by a few friendly teases. Meeting a boss,
however, includes only a firm handshake when they stretch their hands out, and very official
greetings. Unlike the boss communication chain – where the boss normally takes the lead and
I respond accordingly – meeting a child requires that I take the lead, lean down to get closer
to their face, shake their hands lightly, and only ask simple questions and give simple
answers to their questions.
2. Why is it important to become familiar with other cultures’ communication
behaviors? Give three examples of nonverbal communication behaviors.
Communication occurs within cultural premises. Accordingly, different people
communicate differently according to their own cultural worldviews. According to chapter 3,
“cultural context is so embedded in the individual that many people believe it is innate and
assume all other people share the same background” (p.58). But the chances are that most
people from other cultures do not understand action chains and communication cues from
other cultures. Accordingly, it is paramount that one understands the communication
behaviors of other cultures – both verbal and nonverbal. For instance, the in the culture of the
Maasai ethnic group of East Africa, young women do not shake the hands of elder men.
Instead they bend their foreheads and the elder responds by touching the forehead. Likewise,
Chapter 3 Questions
1. Why is communication with another person or group described as an action chain?
Give an example of an action chain that might occur when you meet (1) a friend, (2)
your new boss, and (3) a young child.
Communication with another person or group is described as an action chain because it
involves “a whole series of unwritten expectations regarding how a person should respond”
to certain cues and actions from the other party (ch.3, p.57). Thus one action or word leads to
response with another gesture or word – this back and forth is like a chain. For instance, if
two Japanese people meet one person might bow as a show of respect to the other person.
The other party, depending on their social status relative to the first person, might bow or just
bend their head slightly as a conversation ensues. While the sequence of actions and
responses are natural when the parties are from the same culture, confusion might take over
when one does not know how to act to respond to certain cues.
In deed even in same cultures people behave and communicate differently with each other
depending on their relationship to each other. When I meet a friend, for instance, we spread
our hands out and exchange a hug followed by a few friendly teases. Meeting a boss,
however, includes only a firm handshake when they stretch their hands out, and very official
greetings. Unlike the boss communication chain – where the boss normally takes the lead and
I respond accordingly – meeting a child requires that I take the lead, lean down to get closer
to their face, shake their hands lightly, and only ask simple questions and give simple
answers to their questions.
2. Why is it important to become familiar with other cultures’ communication
behaviors? Give three examples of nonverbal communication behaviors.
Communication occurs within cultural premises. Accordingly, different people
communicate differently according to their own cultural worldviews. According to chapter 3,
“cultural context is so embedded in the individual that many people believe it is innate and
assume all other people share the same background” (p.58). But the chances are that most
people from other cultures do not understand action chains and communication cues from
other cultures. Accordingly, it is paramount that one understands the communication
behaviors of other cultures – both verbal and nonverbal. For instance, the in the culture of the
Maasai ethnic group of East Africa, young women do not shake the hands of elder men.
Instead they bend their foreheads and the elder responds by touching the forehead. Likewise,
