Roles Family

Roles
Intercultural Communication
CMUN 4
Mrs. Waddell
A Contextual Model of Intercultural Communication
Roles
 Formal
 A role is a person’s relative  Defined
position/rank in a group  CEO
 Roles do not exist in  Parent/Grandparent
isolation  Congressman
 Roles relate to other roles  Contractual
 Dictate communication
 With whom
 Informal
 About what
 Less explicit
 How  Behaviors must be
 Roles= expected behaviors learned through
experience
 Varies across cultures
Roles
 Four dimensions
 Personal vs. Impersonal
 Formality vs. Informality
 Hierarchy
 Deviation from ideal role
 Family
 Social
 Occupational
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self Actualization:
Living life to its fullest.
Function as autonomous
beings
Esteem Need: The need
for respect or esteem from
self, or others
Belongingness Need:
The need to be a part of a
group
Survival Needs:
Physiological/Safety
All In The Family
 Transmits (Samovar and Porter)
 Culture
 Culture is transmitted to the family from the wider cultural context
(environment/history)
 Major institutions of a culture are tied together/interact with each other
 Family is primary caretaker of cultural values/worldview
 “Families do not develop their rules, beliefs, and rituals in a vacuum.
The family provides the environment within which human values and
morals develop and grow in the new generation; these values and
morals cannot exist apart from the family unit.”
 Identity
 “The family is not only the basic unit of society, but also affords the
individual the most important social identity”
 Family history
 Traditions/customs/language
 Culture and ethnicity
Power Bases
 Legitimate Power
 Those elected/chosen
 Referent Power
 Those we allow to have power because we admire them
 Expert Power
 Those with knowledge/experience
 Reward Power
 Those able to reward other’s performance (grades)
 Coercive Power
 Those able to use threats/blackmail
Power/Status and Gender
 Do men and women
have different power
bases in our society?
 How does culture

impact the issue of
power/status and
gender?
Power Distance Large power distance:
 Inequalities among people
expected.
 Dependence expected of
those more powerful
 Obedience of children
Small power distance: expected
 Inequalities among people  Familial decisions made via
should be minimized. hierarchy
 Inter-dependence between  Father
less/more powerful  Eldest son
 Family members treated
equally
 Familial decisions made
democratically
All In The Family
 Hierarchy
 Patriarchal
 Matriarchal
 Each with its own cultural responsibility
 Legitimate roles
 Father/Mother
 Default roles
 Oldest child/Relative
 “She wears the pants in the family”
Family roles: Individual/peer work
Role Survey
 Work with peer
 Choose five roles you each perform
 List at least 8 behaviors expected of you for
that role
 Compare with your partner

 What similarities and differences were there
between you?
Family roles Social/Symbolic
 Expectations made clear by culture/religious values
Father & Husband  Mother & Wife
 Leader  Follower
 Directs family per roles each  Take direction
holds  Nurturer
 Provider  Teach manners
 Wage earner  Taxi driver
 Bill payer  Counselor
 Strength  Listen to problems
 Disciplinarian  Chef
 Handyman  Shopper
Family roles
Social/Symbolic

 Ultimately based in trust
Trust
 Trust must be earned

 Trust develops when
 you can predict how another will behave under
certain circumstances
 they actually do as expected
 Trust is always a gamble
 Previous experiences influence ability to trust
Gender : Biology or Culture?
Sex and Gender: Group work
You have two minutes to come up with

the most adjectives associated with:
 Male/Men
 Female/Women
How do you best describe each gender?

Keep adjectives clean, please
Sex and Gender
 Sex: Biological
 Gender: Social/Symbolic
Boys: Girls:
 Tough  Feminine
 Physical  Modest
 Macho  Gentle
 Forceful  Compliant
 Assertive  Tender
 ?  ?
Sex and Gender
 Deviation = negative reactions
 Disrupts harmony in group
 Collectivist/Individualistic
Boys: Girls:
 Tough  Feminine
 Physical  Modest
 Macho  Gentle
 Forceful  Compliant
 Assertive  Tender
 ?  ?
All In The Family : Gender Roles
 24 months of age: male/female differentiation learned
 Often linked to religious beliefs and values

 Value statements:
 She wears the pants in the family
 Woe to the house where the hen crows and the rooster is still
 Cultural
 Men: Task functions/superior gender
 Dominant role/Income earner/Undisputed authority
 Oldest son assumes authority in absence of father
 Female: Social and cultural tasks/subservient gender

 Domestic role/Need protection
 Represent purity
 Sacrifice self for family/Saintly
Gender vs. Status & Power
Power Bases
 Legitimate Power
 Those elected/chosen
 Referent Power
 Those we allow to have power because we admire them
 Expert Power
 Those with knowledge/experience
 Reward Power
 Those able to reward other’s performance (grades)
 Coercive Power
 Those able to use threats/blackmail
High Status
 Shown more deference
 Are listened to more often
 Asked for advice more often
 Rewarded with greater share of goods
 Home: Place at the table/size of personal space
 Community: Table at restaurant/Name in news
 Work: Bigger car/office/salary
 Receive more recognition for contributions
 High Status people talk more often to other high status people
 Are more likely to have a leadership role-person with the highest
status is usually the leader
 Have more influence than low status people
Low Status
 Direct conversation to high status, not low

status people.
 Communicate more positive messages to
high status people
 More likely to complain about the task they
have been assigned (victim mentality)
 Are more likely to have comments ignored
 Communicate more irrelevant information
Status
Status is a position in society that carries with it certain distinct behaviors and
abilities.
 High Status
 Age/Beauty
 Position
 Talent (celebrities)
 Low Status
 Age/Beauty
 Gender
 Introverted/Social unease
 Position
 Cultural hierarchy application

 Men = high status
 Women = low status
 Role is the behavioral
definition required by
persons occupying
certain statuses.
Thus,
Gender Roles are the
behaviors required by
persons occupying the
Male or Female Status
Gender
 Gender is part of culture

 has its own culture
 gender norms
 Gender as status:
 "tomboys“
 "sissies"
The Cause of Gender Roles - Biology
or Culture?
 most truckers are male, most nurses female
(although there are male nurses and female truckers).
 most cooks are women, most chefs are men.
 the primary caregivers of children are usually women.
 men make more money for the same job than do women.
 women as a group consistently score lower on mathematics and
science achievement tests men score lower on verbal ability and
language facility.
 men are prone to aggressive, assertive, inexpressive actions,
while women are prone to passive, expressive ones.
Biology Argument
 Predetermined appropriate sex based behavior

 Thus:
 Musculature - women are physically weaker than men
 Brain function - women are more verbal, where men are
more oriented to actions
 Style - Women are more diplomatic, men are more
direct.
 Affection - Women are more nurturing, men are more
instrumental (task oriented)
Culture Argument
 Appropriate gender behaviors learned from those around us
 Conventional wisdom.
 Women are weak
 Thousands of years of evolution
 Consistent performance of physically less demanding tasks
 Women are verbal and scheming
 Men social, political, and economic resources.
 Women must align themselves with a powerful man to achieve in
those arenas.
 Women are nurturing
Genetic Difference
 Girls "xx“
 Boys "xy"
 Hormonal Difference
 testosterone (aggression) and androgen are higher in males
 estrogen and others are higher in women.
 Physical differences
 Gonadal Difference - ovaries and testes
 Genital Difference
 Reproductive Difference - babies/cigars.
 Brain Function difference.
Differences in motivation
 Culture exacerbates differences at birth

 Acculturation into the appropriate role
 Constant
 Powerful
 Traditional male and female behavior in American

culture is not traditional in other cultures
 “feminine" and "masculine" behaviors are culturally
affected.
Different value placed on gender.
 Males most often inherit power
 …and keep it (rarely is this not the case).
 This is known as PATRIARCHY
 men have afforded themselves most of the social power
in almost every society known.
 Social Learning Theory
 Children are rewarded for conforming to their
parent's (i.e., society's) expectations
 Children are punished for behavior that meets
with disapproval.
 Disapproved behavior is extinguished.
Gender roles vs. Gender Identity
 Self-identity and self-esteem

 partially dependent on the successful
achievement of one's gender.
 Social and relational expectations demand it.
 Happiness and life-satisfaction is partially
dependent on successful gender performance.
 Understanding of gender role effects on limiting
our progress as individuals and as a species may
inform our choices in life.
Sex Roles and Family Relationships
Traditional sex roles inhibits the full range of emotional
expression and interaction.
 Males
 inexpressive, action oriented, instrumental
 no help necessary
 won't stop the car to ask directions
 Females
 nurturing
 passive
 helpless in a crisis.
Agree? Disagree?
African American
 Matriarchal society
 Mother is both wage earner and nurturer
 Mother-Son relationship
 Reasons:
 Slavery
 Crime
 Current action
 Bill Cosby
 Million man march
Mexican/Mexican American
 Patriarchal Society
 Cultural ties strong
 Father dominant over home
 Mother takes care of home
 Children in hierarchy
 Oldest son
 Oldest daughter
 Social forces impact children/culture
 3 generation rule for immigration
Traditional South
 Social status and self-worth came primarily from the family
 role for men
 husband and father
 aggressive, dominant, and virile
 protecting and providing for the family
 maintaining the family honor
 responsible for protecting wives and daughters from the sexual
approaches of other men.
 Southern men have also been allowed and/or encouraged
 display evidence of machismo
 sexually active outside of marriage
 drinking, gambling, and exhibiting violence
 on the surface, condemned by Southern society/church
 still considered positive evidence of "manliness."
Traditional South
 Social status and self-worth came primarily from the family
 role for women
 wife and mother
 passive, submissive, docile, and nurturing
 White women in the antebellum South

 pure, seemingly helpless
 actually shouldering a great deal of work on the farms and plantations,
 Delicate
 actually enduring ten to twenty rounds of pregnancy and childbirth in less
than ideal conditions.
 Primary labor roles
 housework, raise children, and manage the household
 On small farms, women often spent more time on the production of
food--tending a garden and helping their husbands in the fields--and
the production of clothing than they did on cleaning and caring for
children.
 Children were viewed as a source of labor and child-rearing had a
very different meaning then than it does today.
Tradition matters
 Traditional North
 Status & Familial roots
 Strong cultural identity
 Traditional West
 No/limited familial roots
 Individualism
 Self-reliance
 Culture unidentified
 Families operated traditionally
 Father wage earner
 Mother homemaker
End of Presentation

Roles Family

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Roles Family

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Roles Family

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Roles

 How does culture

 Choose five roles you each perform

 List at least 8 behaviors expected of you for

 Compare with your partner

 Expectations made clear by culture/religious values

 Trust must be earned

You have two minutes to come up with

How do you best describe each gender?

 Often linked to religious beliefs and values

 Female: Social and cultural tasks/subservient gender

 Asked for advice more often

 Rewarded with greater share of goods

 Home: Place at the table/size of personal space

 Community: Table at restaurant/Name in news

 Work: Bigger car/office/salary

 Receive more recognition for contributions

 Direct conversation to high status, not low

 Cultural hierarchy application

 Gender is part of culture

 Predetermined appropriate sex based behavior

 Culture exacerbates differences at birth

 Traditional male and female behavior in American

 Self-identity and self-esteem

 passive, submissive, docile, and nurturing

 White women in the antebellum South

You might also like