A Cross-Cultural Study on Reciprocal Relationships between Cultural Values and Communication Competence

1. Introduction ● Objectives ● Research Questions

1.1 Objectives values and communication competence by comparing ● To examine the possible relationships between cultural values and communication competence by comparing a sample of Chinese university students and a sample of British university students ● To gain an insight into cultural impact both on the Chinese university students’ self-perceptions of communication competence in the Chinese cultural context and on the British university students’ self- perceptions of communication competence in a Western cultural context.

1.2 Research Questions RQ1: Which is the best predictor of communication competence in the Chinese university students? RQ2: Are the Chinese university students’ self-construals (interdependence and independence) and gender correlated with their self-perceptions of communication competence? RQ3: What predicts communication competence in the British university students? Is it different from that of the Chinese university students?

2. Theoretical Background 1) Communication Competence ● Communication competence is the ability to choose a communication behavior that is both appropriate and effective for a given situation (Spitzberg & Cupach, 1989). ● Interpersonal competency allows a person to achieve his or her communication goals without causing the other party to violate culturally important aspects. The model most often used to describe competence is the component model (Spitzberg & Cupach, 1984), which includes three components: 1) knowledge, 2) skill, and 3) motivation.

2) Cultural Influences on Communication ● People acquire their particular communication patterns in their particular cultural context, and in turn acquire their culture in the processes of their socialization and communication (Chua, 2003). ● Culture is one of the many factors that cast a great influence on communication. ● Communication and culture reciprocally influence each other (Gudykunst, 1997). He also argues that ‘the culture in which individuals are socialized influences the way they communicate, and the way that individuals communicate can change the culture they share over time’.

3) Cultural I-C and Individual Values ● Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose. Everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family. Collectivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive ingroups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. (Hofstede, 1991) ● Individual values include individualistic and collectivistic values. In individualistic cultures, the emphasis is placed on individuals’ initiative and achievement, but in collectivistic cultures, emphasis is placed on belonging to groups (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988).

3. Method 1) Participants Descriptive Data for the Overall Sample (Chinese and British Students) —————————————————————————————————— Age Gender Year in this degree Youngest 17 243 (M) 164 (Year 1) Eldest 27 133 (F) 208 (Year 2) 3 (Year 3) Average 20.41 Range 10 SD 0.98 0.45 0.50 Total 376 376 376

3) Measures Values Questionnaire (SPCBVQ) 2) Procedure 3) Measures ● Self-Perceptions of Communication Behavior and Values Questionnaire (SPCBVQ) ● Reliability Tests Communicative Competence Scale: Cronbach’s alpha = 0.69 Self-Construal Scale: Cronbach’s alpha = 0.71

4. Data Analysis and Results 1) Data Reduction (Factor Analysis) ● Encoding skills vs. Decoding skills (Communicative Competence Scale) ● Interdependent self-construals vs. Independent self-construals (Self-Construals Scale)

2) Multiple Regression Analyses ● Interdependent self-construal was found to be the best predictor of Decoding Skills (DV) in Chinese sample. ● Interdependent self-construal was positively correlated with decoding skills (listening skills) in Chinese sample, but with a small r value (r = 0.28).

ANOVA(b) Model Summary Model Sum of df Mean Square F Sig. Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of Square the Estimate 1 .354(a) .125 .117 .847 a Predictors: (Constant), gender, NEWINDE, NEWINTER ANOVA(b) Model Sum of df Mean Square F Sig. Squares 1 Regression 32.907 3 10.969 15.307 .000(a) Residual 230.027 321 .717 Total 262.935 324 b Dependent Variable: NEWCOM2

3) MANOVA (Chinese Sample vs. British Sample) ● An inspection of the between-subjects tests: interdependent self-construals, and decoding skills were found significantly different (p < 0.005). ● An examination of the mean scores across culture (with two levels): a. Chinese sample (N = 325): interdependence (M = 5.20), and decoding skills (M = 5.18) b. British sample (N = 51): interdependence (M = 4.72), and decoding skills (M = 5.81)

5. Discussion and Conclusions 1) Interdependent self-construal was found the best and most useful predictor of decoding skills (listening skills) in Chinese sample, and it was found significantly positively correlated with their self- perceptions of decoding skills, which means that the more interdependent a Chinese student is, the higher scores he/she gains in decoding skills. 2) The Mainland Chinese university students self-evaluated higher than did the British university students on the interdependence dimension, which shows that the Mainland Chinese university students are interdependent.

3) The British university students self-evaluated higher than did the Mainland Chinese university students on decoding or listening skills on communicative competence scale. The findings seem to suggest that the British university students tend to see themselves as more competent than do the Mainland Chinese university students in decoding skills (listening skills). 4) Limitations

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