Counseling the Culturally Diverse. Laura Smith L.

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      Communication style refers broadly to those factors that go beyond the content of what is said. Communication specialists have historically found that only 30–40% of what is communicated conversationally is verbal (Ramsey & Birk, 1983; Singelis, 1994), meaning that a large portion of what is communicated in an interaction derives from nonverbal and other sources. In other words, what people say and do is usually qualified by other things that they say and do. A gesture, tone, inflection, posture, or degree of eye contact may enhance or negate the content of a message. Communication styles have a tremendous impact on our face‐to‐face encounters with others (Geva & Wiener, 2015). Whether our conversation proceeds in fits and starts, whether we interrupt one another continually or proceed smoothly, the topics we prefer to discuss or avoid, the depth of our involvement, and the forms of interaction (e.g., ritual, repartee, argumentative, persuasive) are all aspects of communication style. Some refer to these factors as the social rhythms that underlie all our speech and actions. Communication styles are strongly correlated with race, culture, and ethnicity (Garrett & Portman, 2011; Ivey, Ivey, & Zalaquett, 2014); gender has been found to be a powerful determinant of communication style as well (Pearson, 1985; Robinson & Howard‐Hamilton, 2000). Communication style can be analyzed via a number of specific dimensions, including paralanguage, proxemics, kinesics, and other forms of nonverbal expression.

      Paralanguage

The term paralanguage refers to vocal cues that individuals use to add meaning to their communications. For example, loudness of voice, pauses, silences, hesitations, rate of speech, inflections, and the like all fall into this category. Paralanguage is likely to be manifested forcefully in conversational conventions such as how we greet and address others and how we take turns in speaking. It can communicate a variety of different features about a person, such as their age, gender, sex, race, and emotional responses.

      There are complex cultural rules regarding when to speak and when to yield to another. For example, European Americans frequently feel uncomfortable with a pause or silent stretch in the conversation and feel obligated to fill it with more talk. However, other cultures interpret it differently, and silence is not always a sign for the listener to take up the conversation. The British and Arabs use silence for privacy, while the Russians, French, and Spanish may read it as agreement among the parties (Hall, 1976). In Asian cultures, silence is traditionally a sign of respect for elders. Furthermore, silence by many Chinese and Japanese is not a floor‐yielding signal inviting others to pick up the conversation. Rather, it may indicate a desire to continue speaking after making a particular point. Silence, therefore, is a sign of politeness and respect rather than a lack of desire to continue speaking. A mental health professional who is uncomfortable with silence or who misinterprets it may jump into fill the silence and thereby prevent the client from elaborating. An even greater danger is to impute incorrect motives to the minority client's silence. One can readily see how therapy, which emphasizes talking, may place many members of marginalized cultural groups at a disadvantage.

      Volume and intensity of speech in conversation are also influenced by cultural values. The overall loudness of speech displayed by many European American visitors to foreign countries has earned them the reputation of being boisterous and overbearing. In Asian countries, people tend to speak more softly and may interpret the loud volume of a U.S. visitor as a sign of aggressiveness, loss of self‐control, or anger. A therapist or counselor would be well advised to be aware of possible cultural misinterpretations as a function of speech volume. Speaking loudly may not indicate anger and hostility, and speaking in a soft voice may not be a sign of weakness, shyness, or depression—all these paralanguage cues are culturally‐bound.

The directness of a conversation or the degree of frankness also varies considerably among various cultural groups. Observing the British in their parliamentary debates will drive this point home. The long British heritage of open, direct, and frank confrontation leads to heckling of public speakers and exchanges that may seem blunt and sharp to American viewers. Britons believe and feel that these are acceptable styles and may take no offense at being the object of such exchanges. Relative to Asian Americans, however, European Americans are seen as being too blunt and frank. Great care is taken by many Asian Americans not to hurt others’ feelings or embarrass them. As a result, use of euphemisms and ambiguity is the norm. Since many groups of color may value indirectness, the U.S. emphasis on “getting to the point” and “not beating around the bush” may alienate them. Asian Americans, American Indians, and some Latinx Americans can all see this behavior as immature, rude, and lacking in finesse. On the other hand, they may find themselves negatively labeled as evasive and/or afraid to confront a problem.

      DID YOU KNOW?

      The culture‐bound assumptions that we are examining with regard to mental health practice span many areas of everyday life, such as taken for granted notions of professionalism. Aysa Gray of the Stanford Social Intervention Review explains that these assumptions unfold in the workplace “in many ways: in white and Western standards of dress and hairstyle (straightened hair, suits but not saris, and burqa and beard bans in some countries); in speech, accent, word choice, and communication (never show emotion, must sound ‘American,’ and must speak white standard English); in scrutiny (Black employees are monitored more closely and face more penalties as a result); and in attitudes toward timeliness and work style” (Gray, 2019, para. 4).

      Proxemics and Kinesics

Preference for personal space can also differ according to culture. Research on these preferences, called proxemics, indicates that conversational distances vary with the racial and cultural backgrounds of the conversants (Mindess, 1999; Susman & Rosenfeld, 1982; Wolfgang, 1985). The factor of personal space has major implications for how furniture is arranged, where seats are located, and where and how far apart therapists and clients sit. Many European Americans, for example, like to keep a desk between themselves and others, which is not a seating arrangement that necessarily invites people to speak openly. Whereas proxemics refers to personal space, kinesics is the term used to refer to bodily movements. It includes such things as facial expression, posture, characteristics of movement, gestures, and eye contact. Again, kinesics appears to be culturally conditioned. Many of our counseling assessments are based upon expressions on people's faces. We assume that facial cues express emotions and demonstrate the degree of responsiveness or involvement of the individual. For example, smiling is a type of expression in our society that is believed to indicate liking or positive affect. People attribute greater positive characteristics to others who smile; they see them as individuals who are intelligent, have a good personality, and are pleasant (Singelis, 1994).

      On the other hand, some Asian people believe that smiling may suggest other meanings or even weakness. When Japanese smile and laugh, it does not necessarily indicate happiness but may convey embarrassment, discomfort, or shyness. Among some Chinese and Japanese, restraint of strong feelings (anger, irritation, sadness, and love or happiness) is considered to be a sign of maturity and wisdom. Children learn that outward emotional displays (facial expressions, body movements, and verbal content) are discouraged except in extreme situations. Unenlightened counselors may assume that their Asian American client is either lacking in feelings or is out of touch with them. Alternatively, the lack of facial expressions may be the basis of stereotypes, such as the idea that Asian people are “inscrutable,” “sneaky,” and “deceptive.”

A number of gestures and bodily movements have been found to have different meanings when the cultural context is considered (LaBarre, 1985). In the Sung Dynasty in China, sticking out the tongue was a gesture of mock terror and meant as ridicule; to the Ovimbundu of Africa, it means “You're a fool” (when coupled with СКАЧАТЬ