CAPS blog #6

Interpreting the Definition of the Similarity Principle

         First I want to start by defining exactly what the similarity principle is and what some examples are.  According to the text similarity principle is defined as an attraction to others who we perceive to be similar to ourselves, and evidence indicates that this principle works for many cultural groups (Martin & Nakayama, 2009).  This makes perfect sense when I thought about it because when we look for personal relationships with others we look for things in common with that person such as spiritual, moral, or religious qualities.  After reading this, I thought about my own personal relationships in my life and I always tried to do this same thing.  I think this was mainly because I wanted to feel comfortable around that person and having things in common had always made this easier.

            This concept can be related to intercultural communications because relationships that we engage in are centered on our communication with others.  A very important part of our lives as human beings is finding someone that we can have an intimate relationship with.  It makes sense that we would definitely look for the similarity principle in the other person to make ourselves feel more comfortable as a part of the relationship.  Some people also believe that “opposites attract” and don’t look for a lot of the same qualities in a relationship partner.  Personally I have always tried to look for similar qualities in my intimate partner mainly because it makes me feel more comfortable within the relationship when I can share personal qualities and traits with my partner.

           Now that I know what similarity principle means I fully understand why certain people choose to look for similarities in their relationship partners.  This tactic tends to make people more comfortable and relaxed when around their partner.  This will change my perspective on this because now I will be fully aware of what people have to do in order to find that special someone when the time comes in their life.

Reference Page

Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. (2009).  Intercultural Communication In        

Contexts: Fifth Edition. McGraw Hill Companies. pp. 390-391

•  This video explains a few tactics on dealing with relationships across intercultural boundaries.

Amanda Wesely- CAPS Post 6

Turning Points

Turning points in relationships are the catalysis taking them forward or backward. It can be as simple as asking a friend for help or refusing to partner with another person. If a partner finds out their lover is cheating on him/her, chances are the relationship takes a step back. These defining moments create and also can collapse relationships. Self-disclosure is a type of turning point in which revealing information about oneself is exposed. Any romantic movie where the line “I have never told anyone that” is used is a clear example of self-disclosure.

The breakfast club is a movie in which strangers come together for a Saturday detention. Many turning points happen throughout the day, until at last they are comfortable enough with each other to disclose personal information. The clip attached shows some characters sharing their more personal feelings. The information shared takes turning points backwards and forwards.

 

Turning points are moments I remember about my relationships. My best friend and I still laugh about how I sat by her in a large lecture hall and told her I liked her shoes. She told me she liked my sweater. Suddenly we felt comfortable enough to sit together for every lecture. It is weird how a simple comment to a stranger can make you feel more comfortable. If she had just simply said “thanks” I might not have sat by her the next lecture.

References:

Martin, J., & Nakayama, T. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York: McGraw Hill.

CAPS #6 by Katie Hottovy

What style of Relationships have you had in the past?

Four styles of interaction in relationships

No two people are alike, so couples are often forced to deal with differences of culture in a variety of ways.  There are four different styles of interaction that couples may exemplify.  The first being submission style, this is where one person abandons their current culture completely while their partner continues their normal culture (Martin & Nakayama, 2009).   Compromise style is exactly as it sounds, is where both partners give up some aspect of their culture in order to suit one another (Martin & Nakayama, 2009).  The third style is obliteration style, this is where both partners do a complete turn around of their culture.  Neither partner participates in their previous cultural traditions.  Lastly, the most common, is the consensus style in which both partners give and take on culture traditions (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). The consensus style may involve the couple switching churches every other week so that both partners can participate in their normal culture.

            When looking at the different kinds of interactions couples may exemplify I couldn’t help but think of my parents relationship and my past relationships and how these mold into the different styles.  For example, my dad is born and raised Catholic where as my mom is born Christian but wasn’t raised in a very religious environment.  Today my family goes to a Catholic church, in which my mom attends with my family, but she doesn’t receive communion and hasn’t received Catholic Sacraments to become a official Catholic member.  My parents current cultural traditions aligns them with the more consensus style.  My dad is probably a less serious Catholic they when he grew up, so he adapted to a less relaxed religious environment that my mom was used to.  While, my mom attends the Catholic church and participates in mass but hasn’t completely changed her religion.

            The different styles of interaction has made me reflect on my past relationships and others relationships around me.  The book notes the consensus style is the most common and often leads to longer lasting relationships.  I’ve realized this is true in my parents relationship and makes me understand now what makes a good long relationship versus a short term relationship in one aspect.   I often am more willing to give up my culture to suit my partners.  I’ve realized that this may not be the best thing and that finding a happy medium will often ensure a longer lasting relationship that’s better for both people involved.  

During Rumspringa, when Amish teenagers venture out into the unknown non-Amish parts of the United States they can choose whether to return to their Amish society or live permanently out of the Amish Society.  Anyone who chooses to leave the Amish community gives us their Amish religion thus, would be in a submissive style relationship.

Works Cited

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5th Edition ed.). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.

Cole Frederick Caps blog #5

Cultural Texts

            A cultural text is a popular culture message that is widely disseminated to a specific group of individuals. Cultural texts can be television shows, movies, advertisements, or other messages that our widely dispersed (Martin/Nakayma 2010). These contexts don’t necessarily have to be popular to become “popular culture texts.” Individuals often take in or avoid specific types of cultural texts. For example, some people enjoy certain movies and particular types of books. Many cultural texts target a specific type of audience. The audience for a Sports Illustrated magazine is much different than a Vogue magazine. The problem with many of these cultural texts is that many individuals that aren’t part of the culture in which the text was intended for, often comes away thinking that everything they read or watched is true about the culture in the cultural text. This can lead to stereotyping and misrepresentation of different cultures. For example, an individual that isn’t from the United States may view a show like Desperate Housewives or Two and a Half Men and get the idea that is how all Americans live, when in fact these only represent the quintessential American lifestyles.

            A good cultural text example that connects with intercultural communication would be the stereotypes and misrepresentation of cultures through cultural text. People believe what they see and hear in this day and age. It’s especially common in foreigners who don’t know all that a particular culture has to offer. The first film or book that a foreigner reads about a particular culture may be the thing that comes to their mind every time they think of that culture. A first impression of a particular culture can make a huge difference. When communication between several cultures is taking place this misrepresentation of a culture can lead to massive tension and conflict. Popular culture is a huge part of our culture but it needs to be taken in with the knowledge that not all of it is completely accurate or true.

            I think the big thing I will take away from this is the fact that cultural texts about other cultures may not be portraying exactly what that culture is like. I have found myself walking away from films and books not really taking into consideration that it was only one point of view of that particular culture. I sometimes have that American popular culture bias and only see things from that scope of view. This will help me in my future intercultural interactions because I won’t have a predisposed notion about the individual or group that I am communicating with. I think this will help me to not stereotype specific groups or individuals as much. Just like any other part of intercultural communication, it takes understanding and an open-mind to communicate effectively.

Reference

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.

http://fullmoviesfordownload.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Download-Movies.jpg

http://www.dosomething.org/files/pictures/books-movies.jpg

CAPS#5 Lindy Rauscher

Popular Culture vs. Folk Culture

            Martin and Nakayama make it very clear that popular culture is not the same thing as folk culture (p. 351).  Popular culture “refers to the cultural products that most people share and know about” (Martin and Nakayama, p. 350).  Folk culture is “traditional and nonmainstream cultural activities that are not financially driven” (Martin and Nakayama, p. 352).  Academics have distinguished between these two cultures along financial lines, but there is now some blurring of this division.  Folk culture can become part of popular culture when anyone markets an activity, particular for local tourism purposes.

            George M. Foster explains that folk culture is not a primitive culture that has survived the spread of urban culture (p. 163).  Time is the biggest determinate of folk culture because Foster’s definition of folk culture states “many of their most significant elements have filtered down from the sophisticated world of their own tradition of several centuries earlier” (p. 164).  This suggests that folk culture is tied to the financially elite culture of a society, although from the past.  It was not until the 1960’s that cultural studies included a non-elite culture (Mukerji and Schudson, p. 4).  Mukerji and Schudson explain that folk culture was included in popular cultural studies at this early point for the discipline (p. 4).  It is apparent that academic concepts have diverged in relation to these two subjects.  Perhaps they were initially interconnected because the culture industries were not as well established in the 1960’s.

            It seems that a more complete understanding of a culture incorporates knowledge of both popular and folk culture.  Popular culture is associated with stereotypes (Martin and Nakayama, p. 360), but folk culture does not have this association.  Intercultural communication is influenced by perceptions of culture mediated by popular culture.  If the inherent stereotypes accompanying popular culture are acknowledged, perhaps the communication will focus more on folk culture that actually represents the values of a cultural group.

References

Martin, Judith N. and Nakayama, Thomas K. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts.  5^th Edition. McGraw-Hill.

Foster, George M. (1953). “What is folk culture?” American Anthropologist. Volume 55, Issue 2. Online October 28, 2009.

Mukerji, Chandra and Schudson, Michael. (1991). Rethinking Popular Culture: Contemporary Perspectives in Cultural Studies. University of California Press.

Caps Blog #5

Culture Industries

Jihyun Kim

The root of the popular culture epidemic comes from culture industries. They are industries that produce and sell popular culture as commodities (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). It is these corporations and firms that feed the minds of Americans with what seems socially acceptable. Popular culture is nearly always produced within a capitalist system that sees the products of popular culture as commodities that can be economically profitable (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). The culture industries feed us with information on the latest trends, the hottest music and popular products. The textbook recognizes the Disney Corporation as noteworthy but there are many more that targets specific cultures rather than a wide range of various cultures.

The Hollywood movie industries are also noteworthy such as, Paramount, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, Weinstein Company and many more. Movies and other types of media play a huge role in popular culture. The film industry produces a plethora of movies that targets a variety of different cultures, from children to college students to senior citizens. Since the U.S. is a capitalistic society it allows producers of the culture industries to produce and sell popular culture merchandise such as movies. Not only are we in a capitalistic society but we are also in a competitive market, which makes it more viable for producers to create even more mainstream movies to beat its competition and make profit.

 I personally try to stay away from mainstream movies, or rather mainstream anything. It is clear that there is no stopping in the lines of productions of culture industries; however, it is getting out of control. It surrounds us everyday and everywhere, affecting the way we live and how we view other cultures. The current films the movie industries are producing now a days are not making as much profit as they did 20 years ago. It just shows are America is being influenced and becoming dependent on the popular culture products the culture industry is providing to us.

References:

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5^th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.

CAPS#5 -Weiting Yue

Culture industry

According to Martin & Nakayama (2009), culture industry is “industry that produces and sells popular culture as commodities” (p. 351). They are found that “popular culture is nearly always produced within a capitalist system than sees the products of popular culture as commodities that can be economically profitable” (p.351).

Disney Corporation is a classic example of the culture industry. It includes amusement parks, movies, cartoons, and a plethora of associated merchandise. The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is “a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products” (Disney.com). Disney has profit-driven goals and recently they developed more products for customers in order to compete with other entertainment companies. But in such industry, Disney is still a leader. They create popular culture and they spread to the world of their ideas and entertainment and the most important, let people become part of it. The real feeling and good memory are unbeatable tools to win the market.

I still remember my experiences in Disney, one was in Hong Kong, and the other is in Los Angles. Although the park sells same products, you feel totally different in these two places. That’s where I found amazing. I went to these two parks with different people, so I have different memories with them.

Reference:

Maritn, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (Fifth ed., pp. 185-187). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.

The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies, (2012), Company Overview, Retrieved from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html