Psychology of Communication

Los datos del curso son:

• Duración:25 Abr a 25 Oct 2011 (6 meses)
• Dedicación: 4 créditos ECTS (125h)
• Precio: 730 USD (unos 550 euros)
• A Distancia: por Internet
• Libro Referencia: Influence. Science and Practice de Robert B. Cialdini. Es Imprescindible.
• Evaluación. Tareas Escritas (60%), Debates (15%) y Examen Final (25%)
• Profesor: Michael Swett

• Introduction
  • Communication is the foundation of relationships
  • We need Relations to coordinate and survive
  • We make Connections (thoughts/feelings)
  • Several Sensorial Channels Simultaneously
  • Self Talk (Intrapersonal Comm) Who do I speak?
• Consciousness/Perception
  • We are changing (everyday)
  • Sensation + Brain Process (Emotional / Memory / Arousal) = Perception
  • We form our own reality
  • We are biased (in-group / out-group)
  • First Impressions matters (and it could be stereotypes)
• Cognition
  • Get memory info and put it in another configuration (f.e problem solving)
  • Memory Info/Processes: logic, intuition, imagination, inference, abstraction and analysis
  • Problem Solving: Get Info + Apply Strategy (and Check and restart)
• Heuristics
  • We have rules of thumb (shorcuts)
  • But they don't guarantee right answer all the time (no algoritmia)
  • So don't tell, sometimes, the book after see (only) the cover
  • Example of Faulty Heuristics (Test Yourself): Availability Heuristics or Gender/Sexual Stereotypes
  • Example of Useful Heuristics
• Emotions:
  • Responses to stimuli
  • Stimuli are in the environment or in our minds
  • Neurophisiologycal Processes: hormonal (slow and persistent) and neural (very selective and quick)
  • Emotions are (mostly) related with hormonal
  • Powerful (saved with info)
  • Emotional arousal can be bad (if too high or too slow)
  • Optimal arousal is dependable (person and task)
  • Cognitive, Physiological and Behavioral Components
• Motivation:
  • Process to get our goals (start, maintain and direct)
  • Energizers can be: drives (innate) and motives extrinsic/intrinsic (learned needs)
  • Theories: Instinct Theories, Sociobiological, Drive, Incentive and ...
  • Maslow's Need Hierarchy:
    1. Phisiological
    2. Safety (Shelter/Security)
    3. Belongliness (and love)
    4. Esteem (recognition)
    5. Cognitive (learn and know)
    6. Aesthetic (beauty)
    7. Self-Actualization (Fulfill ourselves)
  • Reiss Profile: 16 different motives
  • Unconscious Motives (Freud): Life and Death Drives
  • Motivation and Emotion
• Learning:
  • Experience can change brain actitivity (metal process)
  • We need memory to learn
  • Language allow us to categorize
  • Learning, Memory and Language provide mechanisms to self talk
  • PET Scans: provide proof of change in brain activity
• Intelligence:
  • Sternberg's Triarchic Theory (Videos):
    • Analytical/Componential: metacomponents / performance / knowledge adquisition
    • Creative/Experiential: novelty and automation
    • Contextual/Contextual : street smart (selection / adaptation / shaping)
• Personality
  • Trait Perspective: Similarities
  • Trait: patterns of (individual) thought, feelings, self-talk and behavior
  • Traits remains but Behaviour change (during life)
  • Traits Taxonomy: The Big Five
  • Personality Tests
• Social Roles and Behavioral Setting
  • The roles that we play in society can have profound effects on our self-talk (Masculinity Crisis, f. ex.)
  • Power has many effects (The Stanford Prison Study of Zimbardo)
• Values and Stereotypes:
  • Values are made (not born)
  • Our values are affected by attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices
  • Membership in social groups can shape our values and attitudes
  • They can affect the way we think and the quality of our self-talk.
• Tests: Queendom / Psychology Today

• It's an ongoing process:
  • An Idea
  • Encode this idea (verbal/non-verbal symbols and a sintax)
  • Use a communication channel (auditory / vissual / body)
  • Reception (internal attention and external noise)
  • Decode the visual/auditory message (perception)
  • Provide Feedback (and starts again)
• Sources of MisCommunication: in all process (and noise)
• Some Sensorial and Perception Tests
• The Personal Construct Theory (George Kelly):
  • We approach the world like scientists (Analyze / Compare with our Knowlege / Act / Test and construct our world)
  • We assign (our) meanings to the world
  • And we can choose that meaning (our history)
  • So we are not prisoners of our history (alternative constructs)
  • We try to anticipate events (Kelly's Corollaries)
• PCT funds Personal Construction Psychology
• The Attribution Theory (Heider):
  • Achivement can be attributted to: Internal (Ability and Effort) vs External ( task difficulty and luck)
  • Attribution Factors: Consistency, distinctiveness and consensus
  • Process: Observe, Judgement and Attribute
• Application of AT to interpersonal comm:
  • We attribute different responsability degree to others (Internal vs External reasons)
  • I think you fail because internal reasons and success for external reasons (and NOT viceversa)
  • We don't see all context with others (and with us)
• Our expectations and biases to others (and ourselves) can be manipulated (basically through mass media)
• We need others to know ourselves (and viceversa)
• Self-disclosure: info obout ourselves
  • A (ping-pong/dance) process
  • Depth (risk of disclose info) and Breadth (range of topics)
  • Start soft (controling Depth and Breath): big trees grow up slowly
  • Better Disclusure leads to better relationships
• Counseling: providing catharsis (self disclosure of not-healthy staff)
• Actors: we can use self-disclosure to project a (false) image
• Values:
  • Moral (good/evil) and Non Moral (preferences / tastes / lifestyle)
  • They affects and Influence our relationships
  • They are learnt (parents/community/cultural)
  • An ideology is a value structure (a way of understanding and behaving in a world)
  • Values represents our importance to beliefs, activities, feelings and material staff (benchmarks)
  • Values (must) shape our life's goals
• Non Verbal Communication:
  • Can reinforce, replace or contradict verbal comm
  • It depends (mostly) from culture
• Signs of Non-Verbal C:
  • Facial Expressions (specially eyes). It's important but NOT the only one
  • Gestures and Body Movements
  • Touching
  • Personal Space and Territory
  • Appearance: group and cultural code
  • Tone of (or no) Voice: state of mind (aroused / bored / disgusted / indifferent)
• Proxemics:
  • Intimate Space: < 1 feet (30 cm). (no step to embrace)
  • Personal Space: between 1 and 4 feet (touch)
  • Social Space: between 4 and 12 feet (2 steps to protect)
  • Public Space: between 12 and 25 feet (5 steps to run / approach)
• The Psychology of Verbal Communication (pdf)
  • Influenced by our self-concept: I'm OK. You're Ok (Transctional Analysis)
  • It's not the words it's the message (well, the meaning)
  • Gender Differences (Man vs Woman)
• The Listening Process (requires practice, risk and just plain work):
  1. Hearing. Phisical
  2. Paying Attention. Divided between sensory and cognitive tasks and very influenced by perception (our world)
  3. Understanding. Connect with sender's meaning
  4. Responding. I'm here listening
  5. Remembering.
• Some Techniques (Effective Listening):
  • To understand better: paraphrase, ask questions, provide observations and ask for feedback
  • To listen better: Eye Contact, point your navel and raise your eyebrows a bit
  • Advise/analysis/judgements MUST wait for be asked
• Barriers for Active Listening (mainly attention):
  • Information Overload
  • Environmental Noise
  • Psychological Noise (our perception)
  • Multitasking
  • Preoccupation
• We speak at about 150 words per minute (we can get 600 wpm)
• Multitask is bad (It has been studied):
  • Our working memory works worse with two tasks (and degrades with 3 or more)
  • Each Task needs a context data (and the brain has a time penalty to change contexts)
  • Too multitask leads to stress (and even some pain in anterior prefrontal cortex Brain Anatomy)
• The importance of roles: better carrot that stick approach (Ego Needs self steem not hard stick)
• Social Learning Theory (Tarde)
• Observational Learning Components (Albert Bandura):
  • Attention (what's going on)
  • Retention (and organization)
  • Reproduction (do it)
  • Motivation (check what happens)
• We do what we see (and works for us)
• Education, Intelligence and Relations)
• Interpersonal Intelligence
• Our personality (Big Five) influences our communication
• Our role expectations can change. Nowadays we need openness and flexibility to work
• Beware of Inter Cultural aspects

• Basic Notions (Group Dynamics):
  • A Small Group: between 3 and 12
  • Formal (work) vs Informal (friends)
  • Voluntary (friends) vs Due (family)
  • Stable vs Temporal Groups
  • Our behaviour is different from to be alone (we play roles)
  • People join group because affinity or goals (Reference vs Primary Groups)
  • Group knowledge is (can be) more than individual knowledge
• Interpersonal Needs (Schultz):
  • Inclusion: Get a sense of identity
  • Control (or be controlled)
  • Affection (develop relationships)
• Maslow's Pyramid: Social needs (belonglingess, love, affection)
• It's a human natural tendency: to survive and get prosperity
• Theories of Language Adquisition
• Social Identification
  • We perceive ourselves more similar (than different) with our peers
  • We are more likely to act cooperatively
  • We feel a strong need to agree with group opinion
  • We feel group messages with higher quality
  • We conform in behaviour and in norms
• Making good impressions (to get accepted)
• We categorize groups (using stereotypes)
• Emotional States affect cognitive process:
  • phisiologically: The Emotional Brain, Fear and the Amygdala (pdf)
  • emotionally: Mood, Memory and Emotion
• Cognitive Dissonance:
  • We try to change the world (in our minds), like the fox
  • We try to reduce tension (dissonance)
  • We select information of our interest (to get consistent)
  • Harder Effort to get in (harder to get out). We bias our information to lessen dissonance
• Tuckman's Stages of group development: Forming / Storming / Norming / Performance
• Emotional contagion (pdf) and its influence in group behaviour
• Human Intelligence:
  • Edward Thorndike:
    • Law of Effect: Trial / Error
    • Law of Exercise: practice
    • Intelligence: Abstractal / Mechanical / Social
  • David Wechler:
    • Test WISC (Children) y (Adults)
    • Intelligence: to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment
• Emotional Intelligence (Daniel Golemann):
  • Self - Awareness: ability to read one's emotions (gut feeling)
  • Self - Management: ability of control emotions and impulses (and adapt)
  • Social - Awareness: empathy (and understanding networks)
  • RelationShip management: Social Skills (managing conflicts)
• Individual Creativity vs Group Creativity
• Risk of Group comfort zone: less creativity
• Personality (Big 5) influences groups (we need balance)
• Social Roles:
  • We play several and different roles (in one or different groups)
  • Roles gives us order (structure) and predictability (they are not bad per se)
  • We are tied in roles relationships
  • Dramaturgy Perspective by Goffmann: We do a performance
  • Role Relationships: Expectations vs Obligations
  • Task-Oriented Roles by Bennes and Sheats
  • Individualistic Roles (Hocker and Wilmont)
• Group Think (pdf) by Irving Janis:
  • We think as a group (and can be right or wrong)
  • We try to preserve the group
  • The Abilene Paradox (communication problem)
• GroupThink Problems (for example in Challenge Disaster):
  • Antecedent Conditions:
    • Cohesive Group
    • Structural Faults: Insulation / Lack of norms / Lack of impartial leadership / Homogenity ...
    • Provocative Situational Context: High Stress for external threats (with no leader's idea) / Recent Failures / Moral Dilemmas / Hard Decision-making / Low self-esteem
  • GroupThink:
    • Overestimation: Invulneravility / Morality
    • Closed-Mindness: Stereotypes of out-groups / Collective rationalizations
    • Pressures toward Uniformity: Self-Censorship / Unanimity / Direct Pressure / Mindguards
  • Defective Decision Making (too much bias)
    • Incomplete Survey of alternatives and objectives (poor information search)
    • Failure to check risks (choice) or reappraisal rejected alternatives
    • Failure to work on contingency plans
  • So ... take different hats (to get your ego out of the way): The Six Hats Method:
    • White: facts
    • Red: emotions
    • Black: Caution
    • Yellow: Positive
    • Green: Alternatives
    • Blue: Overview
  • Behavioural Setting (Zimbardo Experiment):
    • Venue Characteristics: comfort level / objects availability ...
    • People in there: family , group norms, culture, rules ...
  • Culture as a group factor
  • Some Culture Aspects:
    • Individualism (self-reliance / equality / autonomy) vs Collectivism (group effort / harmony / one's place ): how and what communicate
    • M (measured)-time vs P (participation)-Time. Tasks vs Relationships
    • Egalitarianism vs Hierarchy
    • Action (low-context) vs Being (high context)
    • Change vs Tradition
  • Social Capital: The Prosperous Community

• Types of Organizations:
  • Traditional
  • Based on Theory X (Bureocratic). China Civil Servants
  • Based on Theory Y (Human).
• Workers are Changing: Knowledge Workers
• Communication Structures:
  • Formal (As planned by management)
  • Informal (as interpersonal relationships): GrapeVine and Cliques
• Informal Structures are needed to:
  • meet Social Needs (recognition, status, power, belongliness)
  • serve as group control
  • carry some information
• Corporate Culture:
  • not what it has / what it is (system of shared values, goals, attitudes)
  • it does some structure to new hires
  • it reduces uncertainty in our behaviour (expectations are clear)
• Communication Rules (Jeanette Gilsforf) are:
  • Formal / Informal
  • Written / Oral
  • Implicit / Explicit
  • General / Particular
  • Do/Avoid stated
• So ... Communication Climate is very important (and it has to be improved)
• Humorous approaches (mostly) are true ( Dilbert / The Office)
• We need a cognitive approach to organizations (know what/how/why)
• We use heuristics and algorithms (formulas) to use organizations (exchanging information, problem solving, ...)
• We need Critical Thinking:
  • Think clearly and rationally
  • Think outside the box
• Bloom's Taxonomy (categorizing common questions):
  • Knowledge
  • Comprehension
  • Application
  • Analysis
  • Synthesis
  • Evaluation
• Learning Orgs: improve actions through better communication, knowledge and understanding
• Learning Organizations Disciplines (Senge):
  • Personal Mastery
  • Mental Models
  • Building Shared Vision
  • Team Learning
  • Systems Thinking
• Knowledge Management (KM Book):
  • An Org loses 17% of its workforce every year (where that K goes?)
  • We need to capture personal K in institutional K
  • Get the right K to the right Person at the right Time:
    • Identification
    • Elicitation
    • Dissemination
    • Utilization
  • Recomendations:
    • Collaboration (encourage and institutionalize)
    • Communitcation (storing and disseminating)
  • K Management is NOT IT Management (but it helps)
  • We NOT only value money (we need more). Intrinsic Drives are powerful
  • Some ideas (to improve commitment):
    • Relate goals with tasks
    • Provide meaningful feedback (and communication)
    • Sell the goals (as a service)
    • Do some goals marketing
  • Ways to retain talent (recognize and reward):
    • Provide Oriented Feedback
    • Tie company goals to employees' motivators
    • Communicate Success
    • Ask for clarification
  • Understanding Employee Motivation:
    1. Interesting Work
    2. Good Wages
    3. Others
  • Signs of Org Intelligence
    • Curiosity
    • Take reasonable risks
    • Consistent Response Set
    • Continous (and quick) learning
  • Org has to coordinate employee and machine intelligence
  • Domains of Organization Intelligence:
    • Cognition. It adapts quickly to external change
    • Memory. How information is stored and disseminated
    • Learning. How is used (specially when errors appear)
    • Communication. Active Listening
    • Reasoning. Good Group Thinking
  • The Organizational Brain: a reservoir of power to the future
  • WorkPlace Intelligence
  • The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory: scoring social roles, org communication and personality relationships:
    • Extraversion / Introversion
    • Sensing / Intuition
    • Thinking / Feeling
    • Judging / Perceving
  • People have different styles (MBTI): diversity is better
  • The Jung Typology Test
  • Workplace Evolution
  • Communication in Virtual Organizations (f.e email):
    • Challenges in Org identifiers (not more physical cues)
    • Lacks non-verbal communications (not always)
    • Can Integrate external (peripheral) workers
    • Frequent (and good) communication leads to commitment
  • Cultural Differences, for example:
    • I vs We identity
    • Directness (Straight vs Context)
    • Talking and Argumentation (quiet/loud)
    • Making Decisions and Collaboration (vertical/horizontal hierarchies or personal relationships)
    • Non verbal Communication
  • Exploring non verbal communication
    • Facial Expressions
    • Voices
    • Body Gestures/Movements
    • Personal Space

• Mass Communication:
  • 1 sender / N Receivers
  • One Way Direction
  • Multiple Channels (although one message)
• Different tools: magazines, newspapers, telephone systems, movies, internet, videotapes, audio types, discs, cable, broadcast TV, billboards, handbills, designer clothing
• Detect targets to send the message (and its appearance)
• Objective Info vs Persuasion: Different Goals
• Persuasion: tap your perception/motivational/emotional processes to work for ad interests
• Mostly it's not about the content but the message
• Advertisement: The Art (not science) of Persuasion
• Nazis used mass media to change individual identity to national identity
• Nazis also used films: The Triumph of Will / Olympia / The Eternal Jew
• Marshall McLuhan: The message is the medium
  • Medium determines HOW we get the message (when re-constructing)
  • Same message can be different if different channels
  • How product is presented is more important that what product is (sometimes)
  • Key: figure vs ground
  • So, the advertisement can be a substitute of the product
• Mass media alter our perception and cognition habits
  • It doesnt't deliver content (only), it demands a specific way of organize and construct perception
  • It can change viewer's attention state (arousal)
• The Orienting Response
  • We are (very) aware of sudden changed stimuli in our environment (to survive)
  • TV uses our programmed orienting response: ads, action sequences, music videos ...
  • Orienting Reaction Fatigue: It has limits (too much uses, people get tired and worn out)
• People watch (industrialized world) almost 3 h/day of TV (30% of leisure time)
• Blipverts
• Construction Theory Approach:
  • We build our view (meaning) of the world (and that can be influenced)
  • Using lights, sounds, images and ideas, our perceptual freedom can be influenced
  • The meaning is in the audience, not in the ad (that's the advertiser job)
  • Example: The Daisy Spot (Goldwater vs Johnson Political Campaign)
• Messages are complex so need fast processing (and less thinking)
• It's difficult to do critical thinking on the receiver's side (too fast)
• So we process (mostly) based on feelings, prejudices and propensities (stored knowledge)
• TV can use different channels (visual / aural / text). It's powerful if they are synchronized
• Advertisement effects in 3D:
  • Cognitive
  • Emotional
  • Behavioural (well, personal experience)
• Cognitive Approach:
  • Decisions are based only with rational information
  • Educational strategy: teach about features and specs
  • Based on learning theory
• Affect Models
  • Focus on feelings evoked by ads
  • Focused on the brand instead on the product
  • Exposure Strategy: emotional experience
  • Try to ask for emotional responses (preferences/decisions based on emotions)
  • Strong Benefit: emotional responses are long-term reminders
• Tim Ambler's Test suggest that decisions can be based more on emotional than rational approach
• Advertisements can be part of the product (and build a brand experience)
• Humor in Ads:
  • Attracts Audience Attention
  • ... but not sure about increase persuasion and comprehension
  • Neuroscience: parallel vs sequential analysys
  • NFC (Need For Cognition) influences how ad humor is effective (lower NFC higher effectiveness) - Zhang Studies
  • Weapon against competitors
• Tv vs Print Ads:
  • Analytic (print) vs Syncretic (tv)
  • Low-involvement (tv) vs High Inv (print)
  • Emotional (tv) vs Rational (print)
  • Efects by repetition (tv) vs by adquisition (print)
• Involvement: depth and quality of cognitive processing
• Cognitive Processing
  • Analytic: sequential and in units (left lobe)
  • Syncretic: as a whole (right lobe)
• Mcluhan said that TV is a high involving medium because inundates with visual and auditory images
• Depending on target you can use each type of medium
• Four Types of learning: Systematic, heuristic, classical conditioning and vicarious (effects in TV vs Print)
  • Systematic Learning:
    • Receiver is a harvest and a processor of information
    • Process: attention, comprehension, rehearsal, conclusion and retention
    • Knowledge by description (analytic cognition)
    • Systematic learning of brand and product information
    • More adequate in print (you have the time to think and more control)
    • Left Brain Activity
  • Heuristic Learning:
    • Use elementary cues to lead to a conclusion
    • Consumers use simple decision rules
    • It happens in lower NFC (to not thinking too much)
    • Better for transitory mediums (like tv and electronic media) and simpler messages
    • Better when motivation is low
    • It's more important the figure that the ground
    • I feel good so I can get influenced better (quick decisions and less complex judgement)
  • Classical Conditioning:
    • Conditioned Fear Experiment: how to associate a fear to an object
    • Associate a non-verbal cue to an ad
    • No linguistic rules involved (syncretic processing)
    • Electronic Media delivers a lot of non-verbal cues in a very short time
    • Brand recognition and salience
    • Gerald Gorn Experiment: music paired with product
  • Vicarious Learning:
    • Learn by watching others being rewarding or punished
    • Goal is to associate the brand with being rewarding (or punished)
  • Summing out:
    • Print Media: systematic learning strategies and analytic cognitive involvement
    • TV Ads: exploits heuristical, classical conditioning and vicarious learning and engage emotions in a syncretic level
  • Problem is to get the client buy your product (or your vision)
  • What's the central truth?
  • Ground (the data) vs Figure (story)
  • Fun and Art (using them making ads): Closer Look Campaign
  • How our (receiver) intelligence and creativity process messages?
    • Intelligence Out: to get big audiences
    • Creativity In: to get our own constructed world (message)
    • Better to engage R hemisphere (nonlinear processing)
    • So, the same message can elicit different meanings in receiver's mind
  • Sender Personality Traits:
    • After writing and comm skills , O and E are the most important (and A)
    • Also enthusiasm and dedication
    • It is checked in hiring process
  • Receiver Personality Traits:
    • Other Directed (syncretic processing) vs Inner Directed (analytic processing)
    • Women (generally) are easier to be influenced
    • Man than feel socialy inadequeate are also easier to be influenced
    • Knowing the audience is a key to the success (of the campaign)
    • Gender and Advertisement
  • Social Roles
    • Childhood Lessons:
      • Woman accept products of man (but not viceversa)
      • Children gets a gender constancy (cognitive state)
    • Stereotyped Differences:
      • More Ads Actors are men (roughly 70%)
      • Boy's Products: more aggresive and active (playing with trains, automobiles and planes)
      • Girl's Products: mostly playing house and cooking (playing with dolls and wanting to look beautiful)
      • Roles: Girls as Flight Attendant and only a 10% in an active roles and Men playing football and camping
      • Authority: Boy's compete and Girls obey (respect authority principles)
      • Location: Girls at home and boys outside (even fantasy worlds)
  • Examples to change Behaviour: Anti-Gang Campaigns
  • Cultural topics:
    • A Global Village: worldwide comercialization of mass media (and some cultures)
    • Cultural Imperialism: Big countries turn small countries in new markets
    • One-way communication (not all cultures have the same time share, for example India TV) (Internet can change this)
    • Cultural Imperialism search to target young people (most influenced and future markets)
    • In India, Western culture (individualistic) has influenced in its culture (more collective)
    • There are dangerous consequences (and ethical) in cultural imperialism
    • Ads can change emotions and values of traditional culture

• We learn observing and we observe our culture
• Culture is like a lens to see (part of) all canvas
• Language it strongly important:
  • It's the primary currency of cognition/learning/memory
  • And shapes perception, emotions and motivation
• At 6 months a baby focus on her soon-to-native tongue
• Use of language in advertisment (Labeling and Branding)
• Words (and images and pictures) evoke emotions
• Linguistic Bigotry: I see you like your language (and your words)
• Race and Ethinicity affects our perception (heuristics), for example with adolescents or in a group therapy
• They are changing in time but remains in the media
• Culture matters in learning (because of language talk and structure):
  • Chunks (little pieces of knowledge) are culture learned
  • Those artifacts are arranged using a complex hierarchy
  • Sounds and Written images are artifacts (and must be coded and decoded)
• Culture is communicated by observational learning (doing/evaluating/doing feedback)
  • Human and Social Capital:
    • Human Capital: what a parent have
    • Social Capital: what the relation have (between family)
    • Social Capital allows human capital to be available
  • Parenting involvement in teaching benefits cognitive performance
• Cognitive Styles are influenced by culture (and can be checked with MBTI test)
• Diversity affects also to Health Care (We need Better Communication)
• Achievement:
  • Can emphasized in childhood through independence, competitiveness and mastery
  • Situational and context influences in (what we think is) achievement
  • Tipically we believe that achieve is what our references (teachers, parents, whoever) does
• So our workplace initiative depends on our cultural background (for example from zanzibar)
• Managers has to learn how to communicate what is negotiable and what is not
• Sondra Thiedermann writes a lot about diversity
• Emotions are cultural phenomena because:
  • They are social constructed artifacts (biologycal independent)
  • Formed through socialization
  • Reflects the social organization
  • Supports and reproduce cultural activities
• Biological undertones (chest, heart, faces signs, muscles tension, breath, tears, stomach pressure) are not univocally crosscultural related with emotions
• Infants only feels pain, pleasure and excitement. Childs learn how to express and control emotions from his references
• If people get emotional, sometimes they are role-playing (to assert their identity with cultural learned scripts)
• Roles originate from myths, traditions and legends of our cultural bg
• Skill: to develop special sensitivity to how people express/control emotions
• Problem solving strategies depend a lot on our background (for example Ubuntu for Africans)
• Creativity and Intelligence are channeled through our culture
• Personality Traits (the big five) are pretty stable through cultures
• But best performance of one trait can be different in another context (culture)
• Ethnic Identity: knowledge and emotions (of me in a social group)
• Strong vs Weak Identifiers: they influence in our purchases and decisions
• But this roles are shaped with media mass (and some results differs)