HIGH CONTEXT (HC) LOW CONTEXT (LC)
Association Association
Relationships depend on trust, Relationships begin and end quickly.
build up slowly, are stable. One Many people can be inside one's
distinguishes between people circle; circle's boundary is not clear.
inside and people outside one's Things get done by following
circle. procedures and paying attention to the
How things get done depends on goal.
relationships with people and One's identity is rooted in oneself and
attention to group process. one's accomplishments.
One's identity is rooted in groups Social structure is decentralized;
(family, culture, responsibility goes further down (is
work). not concentrated at the top).
Social structure and authority are
centralized; responsibility is at the
top. Person at top works for the
good of the group.
Interaction Interaction
High use of nonverbal elements; Low use of nonverbal elements.
voice tone, Message is carried more by words
facial expression, gestures, and than by nonverbal means.
eye movement carry significant Verbal message is explicit. Context is
parts of conversation. less important than words.
Verbal message is direct; one spells
Verbal message is implicit; things out exactly.
context (situation, Communication is seen as a way of
people, nonverbal elements) is exchanging information, ideas,
more important than words. and opinions.
Disagreement is depersonalized. One
Verbal message is indirect; one withdraws from conflict with another
talks around the point and gets on with the task. Focus is on
and embellishes it. rational solutions, not personal ones.
One can be explicit about another's
Communication is seen as an art bothersome behavior.
form—a way of
engaging someone.
Disagreement is personalized. One
is sensitive to conflict expressed in
another's
nonverbal communication.
Conflict either must be solved
before work can
progress or must be avoided
because it is personally
threatening.
Territoriality Territoriality
Space is communal; people stand Space is compartmentalized and
close to each privately owned; privacy is important,
other, share the same so people are farther apart.
space.
Temporality Temporality
Everything has its own time. Time Things are scheduled to be done at
is not easily scheduled; needs of particular times, one thing at a time.
people may interfere with keeping What is important is that activity is
to a set time. What is important is done efficiently.
that activity gets Change is fast. One can make change
done. and see immediate results.
Change is slow. Things are rooted Time is a commodity to be spent or
in the past, slow to saved. One’s time is one’s own.
change, and stable.
Time is a process; it belongs to
others and to nature.
Learning Learning
Knowledge is embedded in the Reality is fragmented and
situation; things are connected, compartmentalized. One source of
synthesized, and global. Multiple information is used to develop
sources of information are used. knowledge. Thinking is inductive,
Thinking is proceeds from specific to general.
deductive, proceeds from general Focus is on detail.
to specific. Learning occurs by following explicit
Learning occurs by first observing directions and explanations of others.
others as they An individual orientation is preferred
model or demonstrate for learning and problem solving.
and then
practicing.
Speed is valued. How efficiently
something is learned is important.
Groups are preferred for learning
and problem solving.
Accuracy is valued. How well
something is learned is important.
