Continuation on Perceptual Processes

Perceptual Accentuation

Perceptual Accentuation leads you to see what you want to see.

Leads you to perceive what you need or want is really there and to fail to perceive what you don’t want to perceive.

Leads you to perceive and remember positive qualities more than negative ones and thus can distort your perception on others.

For example, by showing a RM50 note to a poor kid, the kid see a lot of money and means a lot to him. But if showing the same note to a rich kid who has more of those notes, he will see it as a mere of something insignificant compare to a new game console.


Primacy-Recency

Primacy and recently effect is the tendency to use earlier information to get a general idea about a person and to use later information to make this impression more specific. When later information is discrepant with earlier information, people tend to regard the first information as revealing the REAL person and to explain away later information as not typical.

People pay more attention to information that is presented when they are first trying to form an impression about someone.

Provided six adjectives to describe a person:
intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, envious
Others given these six same words in reverse order:
They were asked to fill in a rating sheet to evaluate the person after they heard those six words: on how happy, how sociable, etc. –
The first group gave higher ratings: the primacy effect. The later evidence is interpreted in the light of first impressions

A negative first impression is more resistant to change than a positive one.


Consistency

To maintain balance among perceptions or attitudes is called as consistency.
1. You expect a person to like you.
2. You expect a person to you disliked to dislike you.
3. You expect a friend to like a friend.
4. You expect a friend to dislike your enemy.
5. You expect your enemy to dislike your friend.
6. You expect your enemy to like the other enemy.

Most people have such attitude because it is the way to happen. Unless specific circumstances happen, only will they change their perceptions.

Perceptual Processes

Implicit Personality Theory

Each person has a subconscious or implicit system of rules that says which characteristics of an individual go with other characteristics.
The halo effect is a function of the implicit personality theory; if you believe a person has some positive qualities, you are likely to infer that she or he also processes other positive qualities.
The reverse-halo effect, if you know a person possesses several negative qualities, you are more likely to infers that the person also has other negative qualities.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Occurs when you make a prediction that comes true because you act on it as if it were true. Four steps to create a self fulfilling prophecy.
1. Create a prophecy about a person or a situation.
2. Act toward that person or situation as if that prediction or belief were true.
3. Because the act is true, the prediction became true.
4. Observe the effect on the person or a situation, and what is the evidence will strengthens the prophecy as true.

EXP: Boss explained to me about a task and saying that i will find it difficult in doing it.

I might have done a better job on it if my boss had not told me that it is difficult.

2 types of self fulfilling prophecy

SELF IMPOSED PROPHECIES

our own expectations that influence our behaviour.

exp: you woke up and said "it will be a bad day". You would most likely acted in a ways that made it come true

ONE PERSON EXPECTATIONS GOVERN ANOTHER'S ACTION

exp: A teacher told his student "You are clever". The student will accepts that evaluation and change his concept.

Influence of self-fulfilling prophecies

Business

-If we told the workers that they can do up to 500 cardboard a day. After they achieve the target, they will stop working and started to complain about it. However, if we did not told them about it, they will be able to do more.

Family

-Parent tell a child long enought that she could not do thing right. The child will incorporate this idea and fail at most of the time.

-If you told them that they are kind, lovely, there is a much greater chance of his behaving accordingly.

CHAPTER 4 PERCEPTION IN INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

There are a question asking about do we perceieve everything in our daily life?

The answer is No. We do not perceive everything. We only select certain things to percieve.

So, why is it selective??

This is because we only choose those which we think that it is important to us to perceive.

Than what are the senses we use to perceieve things?

The correct answer is that we will usually use all kinds of senses such as smell, listen, taste,look, and etc.

Usually, our perception is base on our experiences, behaviour, cultures, and many mores.

How do we make sense of the world? How do our perceptions affect our communication with others? There are 5 steps to answer this questions.

STAGES of PERCEPTION

1)SELECTION

We exposed to many input in our daily life. The 1st step in perception is the selection of which data will attend to.

factors that cause us to notice some messages & ignore others.

-Stimuli that are intense often attract our attention. We usually will remember someone who is extremely tall or short and those who talk loud than those who is quiet.

-Motives determine how we perceive others.

example : Someone on the lookout for a romantic adventure will be especially aware of attractive potention partners.

-Emotional state affects our ability to detect other people's emotional states. Those in a happy moood were quick to notice when happy-appearing characters in a film appeared sadder, while unhappy subject were quicker at noticing when sad characters appeared more happy

2)ORGANIZATION

After slecting info from environment, we arrange it in some meaningful way.

4 types of schema to classify others.

-Physical constructs classify people according to their appearance

exp: beautiful or ugly

-Role constructs use social position

exp: student, attorney, and wife

-Interaction constructs focus on social behavior

exp: friendly, helpful, etc

-Psychological constructs

exp: generous, nervous, insecure, etc

Once we have selected an organizing scheme to classify people, we use that scheme to make generalizations about members of the groups who fit our categories.

EXP: If religion plays an important part in your life, you might think of members of your faith differently than you do others.

3)Interpretation

Once we selected and organized our perceptions, we interpret them in a way that makes some sort of sense.

Factors that cause us to interpret a person's behaviour in one way

-Our degree of involvement with the person

we tend to view people with whom we seek a relationship more favorably than those whom we observe from a detached persepctive

-Relational satisfaction

exp: couples in unsatisfying relationship are more likely than satisfied partners to blame one another when things go wrong

-Past experience

exp: you have been skeptical about an partment manager's assurances that careful housekeeping will ensure the refund of your cleaning deposit

-Expectations

exp: college students are les pessimistic about a relationship's future sucess when a partner's attributes are framed in positive rather than negative terms, even though the attributes are objectively identical.

-Knowledge of others

exp: if we know an instructor is rude to all students, then you won't be likely to take her remakrs personally.

4) Negotiation

The process which communicators influence each other's perceptions through communication

Here are some test on your perception.( Please try it out!!!) Its very interesting.

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/graphics/

Communication Apprehension

Communication apprehension is first stage fright found in public speaking class ,speech classrooms, school assemblies, and drama productions.

The Nature of Communication Apprehension
It is the amount of anxiety that effects a student's oral communication, social skills, and self-esteem.

• Communication apprehension is also known as CA.



• Its is basically the level of fear and anxiety an individual has



• There are 2 types of apprehensions
  
  
  TRAIT APPREHENSION



• Afraid generally



• Fear to communicate in public

For eg:

Just notice all the students we have in our class. We can see that some of them are very "noisy" ( haha... just joking) and brave to speak in public. Whereas, there are some very quiet ones who you can see them rarely speaking. From this, we can roughly notice the people in our class who have Higher Communication Apprehension.



STATE APPREHENSION

• Afraid to communicate in specific presentations
  
  
• Only to certain people such as lecturer, professor



• Dealing with certain people



• For certain people they are fine when speaking but afraid to sing
  

For eg:
I'm sure you've came across this scenario before. You've seen your friends being very talkative in class and when they are out in a group with you. But for a certain presentation in front of the lecturers or strangers you find them feeling being nervous about their presentation. This may seems to be weird but its actually state apprehension.

P/S: To all group 3 members, if you guys have anyting to add on you are all most
welcome.....:)

Renaldo's concept on life

People always say that i'm very care free and i'm a happy go lucky guy, Well my concept of life is that , if there's nothing you can do at that particular moment, then why worry? Another concept of mine is that, whats life without a little risk. I mean, how much safety precaution can one take. If something is going to happen, then its going to happen. And lastly, what ever goes around, comes around.

Self Concept

What is self concept? How you think about or evaluate yourself. It includes your feelings and thoughts about your strengths and weaknesses, your abilities and limitations.

Self- concept is influenced by your sense of identity. Two things have powerfull effects on your self concept:

(a) The opinion and judgements other people make of us

According to Charles Horton Cooley's concept of the looking- glass self, you would look at the image of yourself that others reveal to you through the way they treat you and react to you.

You would look espcially to those who are most significant in your life- to your significant others. For example, as a child, you would look to your parents and then to your teachers. If your significant others think highly of your, you will see the positive image of yourself reflected in their behaviours; if they think little of you, you will see a more negative image. These reflections that you see others help you define your self- concept.

(b) Social Comparisons

It is the perceptions of the ways in which you are similar to and different from other people. When you want to gain insight into who you are and how effective or competent you are, you probably look to your peers. For example, after an examination you probably want to know how you performed relative to the other students in your class.

My self concept

I think that I am quite clumsy and don't how to use my brain. This is because when my mother ask me to do something for her and I did wrongly or not according to her wish, then she will scold " Use your brain!". This also make me lack of confidence in doing things. This shows that because of my significant other think little of me, so I have the negative image of myself. In addition, I will also build my self concept by making comparision with my peers. When I was in secondary school, I will compare my result with my classmates. If most of my classmates get low marks than me, then i will have the concept that my result is good and vice versa.

Mine Self Concept

I am a quiet person.
I was told that I was very intelligent but I am lazy and careless. Those mistakes can be avoided if I am pay more attention.
I am easily bored, when bored I start to draws.
I am talented in crafts and arts but it seems to be a useless talent.
I don't like to reveal too much of myself, because I believe that people out there will hurt you if we were disclose too much personal infomation especially our weaknesses.
So, i shall end here...
T_T sorry...

My Self- Concept

Self - Concept, I'm sure all of you know what it means. Self concept is actually what you think about yourself. Ok... Let me see...What do i think about my self.

Basically I'm a very quiet person as you see, but when you get to know about me more I'm actually not that quiet. So i guess the term "Trait apprehension" best suits my personality. (haha...)

In addition, I'm also afraid to speak in public. When I'm close and familiar to a person i can sometimes be a pest to them (If i have the mood ^-^). Furthermore, i am also an observer. I love to observe people and what they do. From that, i will roughly try to guess how the person is. Besides, I'm very fast at trusting a person and that might be some thing very dangerous. (I'll have to learn to not trust people very fast!!). Hence, I'm a person who will always keep my problems to myself. I never share any problems i have to anyone. In my school days till today, my friends and family will always share their problem with me. Even if i don't share my problem with anyone, but i am a good listener though.( So you can count on me!!!)

When I'm at home i will be a totally different person. At times i can get angry real fast. ( That's something i don't really like about) I'm also a very shy and timid person,( I wish I'm not) and because of that I've actually missed a lot of interesting things in life. As said I'm only noisy when I'm with the people i know. Furthermore, i love to try something new and adventurous.( Its kind of fun!!) In brief, i can say that I'm not the brave and outgoing type but I'd always love to try and achieve something new in life.

[^-6]

In memory of Sharoon

It was too shock for me and everone when we heard that she passed away in an accident...i could not believe it and din really pay much attention to it as i was still sleeping...by the time i woke up...i felt that..the world had changed...there are somebody missing in this world..somebody that made up part of we ADP-ians life..

Yesterday, just went to have lunch with her...it was my first time..i thought i will have the 2nd chance to have lunch with her again...but...everything was too late....i do not have the chance anymore....will never ever have that chance anymore..furthermore...yesterday was the 1st time i fetch her .... and she kept telling me that i'm a good guy...but i ignore her..that's what makes me feel bad....if i have the chance..i hope i can answer and accept the compliment given by her...i really hope i can.....

She was the girl i kacau the most in class....although din really noe her...i jz felt that she is like a lil sister to me...and she is now not in this world anymore....not in the class anymore...

we cant c her sleep in the class, we cant c her presentation, we cant hear the laughter of her, we cant hear the way she called "teacher teacher teacher".......all of this will only in our memory.....

i wanted to continue writing...but i really cant....each word i wrote it makes me think of her....and it makes my heart broken and broken again.....

Sharon.. rest in peace... take care of your self in your next life.... we will miss you and remember you... you are part of us....

that's her pretty pic that i could find in my com............

let's remember her pretty cute face

Self Destructive & Self Disclosure

Self Destructive

Self destructing is basically an individual underestimating themselves. They make themselves fell unworthiness. Hence, when a person is self destructing, he/she will give negative thoughts to their oneself.

For eg:

1) Lack of Self confidence

Like some students, before entering to a public speaking class they will
be thinking that they are not good at speaking, they are going to give a
bad presentation and more negative thoughts. Therefore, before doing
the presentation they have already set in their mind that their
presentation today is going to be bad.

2) Trying to impress others.

In certain companies we can always find a staff who is ever ready to do all the stuffs in the office. They would be the outstanding one and 'so called' the most hardworking staff. Actually this is all done by the staffs to impress their employer so that they can get a promotion. When they agree to do all the job in the office, the staff will end up being tensed for having to much of work to be done. They will then pay more attention on finishing the work rather than the quality of the work. So, all their performance would be average only. The quality of their work will not be impressive. On the other hand, the other staffs who took less work would give a better quality work. Hence, the employer would be impressed with the staff that did an excellent job. In brief, the staff who tried to impress the employer was actually destructing their image and the quality of their work.

Self Disclosure

• Sharing information about yourself to others.

-->values, beliefs and desires

-->behaviour

-->self-qualities or character

• Way of gaining information about another person



• Let people know things that they don't know about you.



• Learn about how another person thinks and feels



• Self-disclosure involves risk and vulnerability on the part of the person sharing the information

Advantages

-->Self-Knowledge:-

• Gain a deeper understanding on your own behaviour.
• Learn to accept yourself from other people's view.
• You respond by developin a more positive self -concept

Communication and Relationship Effectiveness

• Understands other people's message to the extend you understand them
• When a person disclose their self another another person will automatically disclose too.
• Disclosure deepens trust in the relationships and helps both people understand each other better

Psychological Health

• People who disclose are less vulnerable to sickness


• Feel better about yourself and your relationship when your partner accepts what you tell them.
• For eg: raped victim who dont share their problem to others will suffer from sexual trauma, illness ( headache & stomach problems)

Disadvantages

Personal Risks:

• Risk is that the person will not respond favorably to the information you disclose
• It does not always lead to favorable impressions
• Maybe rejected by even the closest friend and family members.
• For eg: A guy who disclose that he has cheated on his partner, may find his partner no longer wanting to be quite close as before.

Relational Risk

• Can cause problem even in close, lng term relationships
• May threaten a relationship causing decrease in mutual attraction.
• Self-disclosure concerning romantic fantasies, crimes or lies could easily cause negative effect.
• One person will gain power in the relationship because of too much of disclosure
• Self-disclosure that comes too early in a relationship can damage the relationship.

Professional risks

• Revealing political views or attitudes towards different religious can create problem.
• Gay and lesbian personnel in military, as well in education, law enforcement, etc..... ( they are isolated)

A useful way of viewing self-disclosure is the Johari window.

The Johari window has 4 panes:
Open Pane:- known to self and others
Blind Pane:- blind to self, seen by others
Hidden Pane :-open to self, hidden from others
Unknown Pane:- unknown to self and others

So guys check out a short quiz that we've here...

Lets see how much you understand The Johari Window....

GOOD LUCK!!!!!! :) (^-6)

http://www.abacon.com/commstudies/interpersonal/indisclosurequiz.html

Prepared by:

Jayshrisharrlini

Dimensions of Self

Self-Esteem
Personal perception of self worth.
Can be relate with self confidence.

Self-Image
Self image is not self esteem.
The mantal image of self or the self in the mirror we are looking at daily. Our outer appearance.

Self-Awareness
Personal aware or more sensitive of their surrounding and actions. Through more understanding of oneself or others can help in self-awareness.

Self-Consciousness
Is not self-awareness. It is an acute sense of self awareness. For example having a feeling of everyone is looking although nobody is looking. Sometimes due to shyness or paranoia. This is a negative effect of self-awareness. It can effect the self-esteem.

Self-Actualization
A motive to realize one's potentials and ability. It is as same as enlightenment. Like finding the purpose in life or the truth of the Universe.

Johari Window - the process of human interaction

Last Friday, Ms. Cheryl asked us to find our a few term and prepare for the next class before the end of the class and one of the thing she asked to find out is Johari Window. I'm kinda interested in this as i read before few years back in Anthony Robbins "Awaken the Giant Within" - How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny or some other motivation books.

The Johari Window:




The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is one of the most useful models describing the process of human interaction. A four paned "window,", divides personal awareness into four different types, as represented by its four quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. The lines dividing the four panes are like window shades, which can move as an interaction progresses.

In this model, each person is represented by their own window. Let's describe mine:

1. The "open" quadrant represents things that both I know about myself, and that you know about me. For example, I know my name, and so do you, and if you have explored some of my blog or ev, you know some of my interests. The knowledge that the window represents, can include not only factual information, but my feelings, motives, behaviors, wants, needs and desires... indeed, any information describing who I am.

2. The "blind" quadrant represents things that you know about me, but that I am unaware of. So, for example, we could be eating at a restaurant, and I may have unknowingly gotten some food on my face. This information is in my blind quadrant because you can see it, but I cannot. If you now tell me that I have something on on my face, then the window shade move to the right, enlarging the open quadrant's area. Now, I may also have blindspots with respect to many other much more complex things.

3. The "hidden" quadrant represents things that I know about myself, that you do not know. So for example, I dint tell you anything about myself, you will never know thew hidden part of me such as interest, desire,secret and much more.....

4. The "unknown" quadrant represents things that neither I know about myself, nor you know about me. For example, I may scared of cat, naturally and unconsciously, and neither me or you or anyone know about this. This may lead to the unconscious mind that....

That all for Johari Window and I will continue to write about the advantages of knowing this and how it enhance and change our daily life as a person in nest few day.

Chapter 3 The Self in Interpersonal Communication

Self- Awareness

http://kevan.org/johari.cgi

go to the link there and try out the johari window!!!!

Chap Goh Meh

Chap Goh Meh is actually the direct translate from Hokkien meaning the fifteen night of Chinese New Year.




During this event, the girls will throw oranges in order to get a good husband. the guys will throw apple to get a good wife. Annually this event will be held at Esplanade maybe because there is a sea near there. They throw the fruits into the sea.




The Miss Pesta Penang is also there to throw the oranges.



There is lion dance and the dondang sayang bus where the dancers are riding it to the venue.



The are also baba-nyonyas there as performers.



It ends with beautiful fireworks.

continuation of Thaipusam

Before we start let me tell you briefly what Thaipusam is.

THAIPUSAM

• A festival occurring in the Tamil month Thai (January-February)
  
• The day of the star Pusam around Pournami (Full Moon) is celebrated as Thai Pusam
  
• Special day for worship of Lord Muruga (Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi's 2nd son)

Lord Siva & Goddess Parvathi

Lord Murugan

• It is celebrated for three days:-
  
• 1st day- Chettipusam
  
• 2nd day-Thaipusam
  
• 3rd day -Chariot procession
  
• Devotees carry kavadis & milk as offerings to the Lord Murugan during Thaipusam.
  
• The kavadis symbolize the hills of burden that Idumban ( Lord Murugan's guardian) shouldered.




• On the 3rd day, devotees break coconut during the chariot procession.
  
• Carrying Kavadis, milk and breaking coconut is done when a person who's prayers are granted.

So now, let us see some pictures and videos taken during Thaipusam:

Just look at the amount of crowds following the Kavadi...

The Kavadi was busy dancing ( that why the photo's not that clear)

Here is the video of a guy taking off his Kavadi..

************************************************************************************

In the Chetti temple where all the Kavadi's must stop buy.

This in the temple where the chariot is kept. People usually
make a wish & throw money into the chariot.



Lord Murugan here is made of pure gold.

When i went to the temple, guess who i saw??? Yes, our Chief Minister..:)


***************************************************************************************


Chariot procession



Chariot procession at night.Even though it was nearly mid-night there are still many people.



People waiting to break the coconuts. (Just look at the amount of coconuts!!!)


Look at the pile of broken coconuts.

Here is the video of people breaking the coconuts.

****************************************************************************************

Therefore, i really had a great time in Thaipusam. In addition Thaipusam this year was really grand as so many people turned up.So here is a video for you guys to see the amount of crowd who turned up to Thaipusam. The amount of crowd is very small compared to the real crowd.

*** The End ***

Thaipusam

Further information on the culture will be up before Thursday

Renaldo's culture

I choose guitar, in other words music, as my culture because most eurasions are good at music. Though my parents are chinese, indian and irish, i do not follow either of their culture. Music isn't just music to me, it is an art and a symphony of different sounds and notes that inextricably intertwined into my way of life. I release the tensions and problems that i have through music. There are many types of music and same goes to the different characteristic and types of people. Different music brings out different character and thats how i see life mostly. When i play the guitar i have a sense of calm and soothing feeling, a feeling that somehow takes away my problem. It gives me a whole new significance to the different things in my life. These are the reasons i bring music into my culture. I cannot imagine my life without the existence of music as it has bring me so much joy and laughter.

My Culture.....Jayshrisharrlini

Indian Culture

The set that is given to ladies who participates in the ceremony.

Oookkkk...I'm sure some of you out there wonder what is this thing in the tray with a yellow string, turmeric,bangles and red 'pottu".

Basically, these are the things that are needed in a ceremony which is done before the marriage. A ceremony called "nalanghu" will be done for the bride and the groom ( separately) before their marriage. Only ladies are allowed to participate in this ceremony. When the ceremony is done, the bride and the groom will give this tray to the ladies who participated.

Now, let me explain the meaning of each things in the tray:

Turmeric - Symbolises Gold ( people who have money will usually tie the Thali with Gold

Ornament)

Turmeric tied to a yellow string



Gold Ornament tied to the yellow string

**************************************************************************************

Thali - A symbol oh Hindu marriage, consisting of a gold ornament strung from a yellow

thread.The word 'Thali" means an auspicious thread or chord. When a marriage is

arranged the pattern is usually chosen by the groom's family.

Groom tying the knot (Thali)

***************************************************************************************

'Kumkum' pottu- All married woman has to use red 'pottu' as a symbol they are married.

On The wedding day the groom put the red 'pottu' for the bride.

Married ladies wear ' red pottu' after their wedding.

***************************************************************************************

Bangles- Married ladies wear bangles as a symbol of matrimony.

Hence, for each and everything that we use in our culture conyeys a meaning. Therefore, i hope that all of you would have understand a bit about the Indian culture.

Lisa's Item

The Chinese Fan
It is made from sandalwood with detail cravings on the front of the fan.
Fan are use to cool down the user during hot days. Since it is made with sandalwood, it will have some scent when it is used.
Usually the cravings will be Dragon & Phoenix.
Dragon represent the male counterpart, Phoenix represent the female counterpart.
The more detail the fan has or any special ornament at the end of a fan, the represent different status of the holder.
Now these fans will be used for Chinese traditional dance.

Siew Ting's culture

An amulet- one of the things that represent my culture. Every 8th or 9th day of Chinese New Year, my grandmother will go to the temple to ask "Poh Teoh Pek"(medium) about my family fortune on that year. Usually, my grandmother will ask me to write down my family member name, age and address for her to take to temple for asking purpose. The medium will look at the particulars and let my grandmother know our fortune one by one. Furthermore, she will also take along our T- shirts for stamping and we have to wear it to look for safety. Last year, the medium said that i have bad luck and will have a car accident. So, he drew an amulet and ask me to keep in wallet to avoid evil. I also told that not to sit or step accross the amulet because it show not respect to the god. The amulet that show in the photo is made of cloth. There are also have paper amulet that usually burn and put in water to drink. Although it is the thing that represent my culture, I feel that it is unhygien to drink the amulet water.

Patrick's Culture

We all want success in life. We want success in our home life, business life, and in our relationships with others. The "key" to success is having a positive attitude. Without a positive attitude success is not possible. Earl Nightingale call attitude "the magic word". You will never attract positive things into your life if all of your thoughts are negative. Just as a magnet attracts anything metal our minds attract the things we think about most. Your mind will always seek to turn the things you think about most into physical reality. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "A man becomes what he thinks about, most of the time."

Teik Houng's Culture

this is the jade that i always bring with me. It was known as a thing which can help me to avoid from any problems suchs and help me to get things that i want easily. If you believe it, than only u will feel that it is helpful.

How Culture Differ

High Power Distance Cultures

Power is concentrated in the hands of a few and there is a great difference in the power held by these people and that held by the ordinary citizen. In high power distance cultures, direct confrontation and assertiveness may be viewed negatively, especially if directed at a superior. You are taught to have great respect for authority; people in these culture see authority as desirable and beneficial and challenges to authority are generally not welcomed.e.g. In one study Asian adolescents (high power distance culture) had greater difficulty discussing problems with their parents than did Caucasians (low power distance culture). In high power distance cultures, there're a great power distance between students and teachers; students are expected to be modest, polite, and totally respectful. High power distance cultures rely more on symbols of power. For example, titles (Dr., Professor, Chef, Inspector) are more importance in high power distance cultures. Failure to include these in forms of address is a serious breach of etiquette.

Low Power Distance Cultures

In low power distance cultures there is a general feeling of equality that is consistent with acting assertively, and so you are expected to confront a friend, partner or supervisor assertively. In low power distance cultures, there are certain distrust for authority; it's seen as a kind of necessary evil that should be limited as much as possible. This difference in attitudes toward authority can be seen right in the classroom. In low power distance power cultures students are expected to demonstrate their knowledge and command of the subject matter, participate in discussions with the teacher and even challenge the teacher. Low power distance cultures rely less on symbols of power, and less of a problem is created if you fail to use a respectful title. But even in low power distance cultures you may create problem if, for example, you call a medical doctor, police captain, military officer or professor Ms. or Mr.

Masculine Cultures

In a highly "masculine" culture men are viewed as assertive, oriented to material success, and strong; women on the other hand are viewed as modest, focused on the quality of life and tender. Masculine cultures emphasize success and socialize their people to be assertive, ambitious and competitive. Members of masculine cultures are thus more likely to confront conflicts directly and to competitively fight out any differences; they're more likely to emphasize win- lose conflict strategies. Organization also can be viewed in terms of masculinity of femininity. Masculine organizations emphasize competitiveness aggressiveness. They focus on the bottom line and reward their workers on the basic of their contribution to the organization.

Feminine Cultures

In highly "feminine" culture, both men and women are encouraged to be modest, oriented to maintaining the quality of life and tender. Feminine cultures emphasize the quality of life and socialize their people to be modest and to emphasize close interpersonal relationship. Members of feminine cultures are thus more likely to emphasize compromise and negotiation in resolving conflict; they are more likely to seek win- win solutions. Not surprisingly, people in feminine notion score significantly lower on depression levels. Feminine organization are less competitive and less aggressive. They are more likely to emphasize worker satisfaction and rewards their workers on the basic of need; those who have large families, for example, may get better raises than the single people, even if the singles have contributed more to the organization.

Individual and Collective Orientation
This aspect of culture refers to the extent to which the individual's goals and desires or the group's goals and desire are given greater importance. Individual and collective tendencies are not mutually exclusive; it is not "all or nothing" but rather a matter of emphasis.
Distinctions between in- group members and out- group members are extremely important in collectivist cultures. In individualistic cultures, which prize a person's distinctive qualities, the in- group versus out- group distinctions is likely to be less important.

High Context Cultures
A high- context culture is one in which much of the information in communications is contained in the context or in the person, for example, information that is shared through previous communication, through assumptions that participants hold about each other, and through shared experiences. The information is not explicitly stated in the verbal message.
High- context cultures are also collectivist cultures. These cultures place great emphasis on personal relationship and oral agreements.
Members of high- context cultures spend lots of time getting to know each other before any important transactions take place. Because of this prior personal knowledge, a great deal of information is shared and therefore does not have to be explicitly stated.
To the members of this cultures, what is assumed is a vital part of the communication transaction. For example, silence is highly valued. People in this cultures are reluctant to say no for fear of giving offense and causing the person to lose face. For example, it is necessary to determine when the Japanese executive's yes means yes and when it means no.

Low Context Cultures
A low context cultures is one in which much of most information is explicitly stated in the verbal message, as well as in formal transactions in written(contract) form.
Low context cultures are also individualistic cultures. These cultures place less emphasis on personal relationship and more emphasis on written, explicit explanation. For example, on the written contracts in business transactions.
To low context cultures' members, what is omitted creates ambiguity; this ambiguity is to be eliminated by explicit and direct communication.
For people in this cultures, it is easy to interpret the reluctance which is direct- to say no when someone means no- as a weakness or as an unwillingness to confront reality.

Continuation on Culture...

6th February 09

Hello hello..
Some of us didn't do our homework on researching what these terms mean, so , anyway, here is what we got after googling around.

1. Ethnic Identity - Ethnic identification describes the relationship that exists between an individual and a group with whom the individual believes he or she has common ancestry based on shared individual characteristics, shared sociocultural experiences, or both. An individual may identify with an important person, eg, a parent or a friend, with a group from which he or she draws values, eg, family or co-workers, or with a broad category of persons, eg, ethnic or occupational groups. Ethnic identification can exist at the individual, family or group level.

2.Enculturation - the process by which a person learns the requirements of the culture by which he or she is surrounded, and acquires values and behaviours that are appropriate or necessary in that culture.The influences which as part of this process limit, direct or shape the individual, whether deliberately of not, include parents, other adults, and peers. If successful, enculturation results in competence in the language, values and rituals of the culture.
The process of enculturation is related to socialization. In some academic fields, socialization refers to the deliberate shaping of the individual, in others, the word may be used to cover both deliberate and informal enculturation.

3. Acculturation - A process in which members of one cultural group adopt the beliefs and behaviors of another group. Although acculturation is usually in the direction of a minority group adopting habits and language patterns of the dominant group, accult uration can be reciprocal--that is, the dominant group also adopts patterns typical of the minority group. Assimilation of one cultural group into another may be evidenced by changes in language preference, adoption of common attitudes and values, members hip in common social groups and institutions, and loss of separate political or ethnic identification

Following on , we were all asked to gather and sit at the front of the auditorium since it was pretty hard for Ms. Cheryl to handle the noises made by us, the baboons. We were told to write down 'what characteristic/personality/physical aspect' that could define us. Some of us in the class had to step forward after being called by ms cheryl to present on our following 'definition of ourselves'.

We really enjoyed this opening up session as we got to hear some box-office, 5 stars stories such as the one from Jewel. I must say,a very, very interesting and awesome way of cheering up the whole atmosphere in the auditorium.

Alrite, it is my cue to stop writing now. My fellow friends, remember to find and do your homework on the terms given by Ms Cheryl yea?