Psychology:
COMMUNICATION HINDERANCES
Something as basic and as simple as communication can become an uphill task with the factoring in of certain influencing factors key among which is culture. People from different cultures have distinctly different modes and forms of communication, which distinctly draw the line between the different cultures.
Perhaps the largest communication barrier in relation to people from different cultures is language. Human beings have developed a large number of languages, which are distinctly different, and in certain instances contradictory to each other. This makes it almost impossible for people from different cultures with different languages to communicate at all without one person learning the language of the other. Language is perhaps the largest barrier when it comes to cross cultural communication.
Behavioral constraints also play a pivotal role in the hindrance of cross-cultural communication. Every culture in existence has a set of particular rules, which govern behavior that is considered proper. This in turn greatly affects both verbal communication and nonverbal communication. In certain cultures, it is considered a sign of disrespect to look someone in the eye during the process of communication. While in other cultures, it is considered a sign that one is paying attention. An issue as simple and as minute as this one can completely hinder effective communication between people from these two different cultures. Another example is that in certain cultures during communication people get right to the point while in other cultures, they have a tendency of talking around the issue at hand and avoiding hitting the nail on the head. This may hinder effective communication between people from these two different cultures and might even prevent them from understanding each other irrespective of whether or not they speak the same language or they understand each other’s respective languages.
Emotion also plays a big part in effective communication. Different cultures display different emotional dispositions while communicating, and this leads to further ambiguities of exactly what it is they are trying to say. In certain cultures, emotions have very important during communication and people tend to get more and more emotional when communicating. These emotions may range from anger to yelling and even crying. Other cultures on the other hand have this tendency of perfectly cloaking their emotions and keeping them as hidden from the outside world as possible. These cultures may only share the rational aspects pertaining to a certain situation with their emotional disposition being perfectly relegated to the sideline. Clearly, these different forms of emotional expression can hinder effective communication and prevent the main points of communication from being put across.
Different cultures have different points of view on different issues to say the least. Therefore, each culture has a measuring bar by which each new information is measured and its validity and significance determined. Different cultures will therefore have different points of view on certain key aspects of society and communication. Their understanding of a scientifically universal aspect can vary greatly to the extent that different cultures view and perceive the same phenomena in completely different ways and in certain instances completely contradictory ways. This can lead to people from different cultures having a conversation on the same thing but not knowing that they are actually discussing the same issue or that they are on the same side. They can even proceed to argue on the issue based on their cultural perspectives. This can clearly hinder effective communication even in instances where people share the same language.
