Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

women should behave in public. Women are expected to be more nurturing than men.
Moreover, men and women are viewed differently concerning their marital status and age.
2. Occupational roles – Our jobs have an influence on how we perceive the world. If you were a
lawyer, you might be more inclined to take action on civil cases than your average member of the
public, because you know how to handle these kinds of situations. Moreover, if you are a nurse or
medical specialist, you are more likely to perceive the health of other individuals. You would be
able to tell if someone needed urgent medical care or not.
Research Spotlight
In 2015, Karina J. Lloyd, Diana Boer, Avraham N. Kluger, and Sven C. Voelpel
conducted an experiment to examine the relationship between perceived listening
trust and wellbeing. In this study, the researchers recruited pairs of strangers.
They had one of the participants tell the other about a positive experience in
their life for seven minutes (the talker) and one who sat and listened to the story
without comment (the listener).
The researchers found that talkers who perceived the listener to be listening
intently to be very important for effective communication. First, perceived
listening led to a greater sense of social attraction towards the listener, which in
turn, led to a greater sense of trust for the listener. Second, talkers who perceived
the listener as listening intently felt their messages were clearer, which in turn, led to a greater sense of the
talker’s overall wellbeing (positive affect).
As you can see, simply perceiving that the other person is listening intently to you is very important on a
number of fronts. For this reason, it’s very important to remember to focus your attention when you’re
listening to someone.
Lloyd, K. J., Boer, D., Kluger, A. N., & Voelpel, S. C. (2015). Building trust and feeling well: Examining
intraindividual and interpersonal outcomes and underlying mechanisms of listening. International Journal of
Listening, 29(1), 12–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2014.928211
Research
In a recent meeting, the boss said, “Remember the Golden Rule,” and a coworker from India asked
the staff about the meaning of that phrase. He wondered if there was a silver rule or a bronze rule. The
reason he didn’t understand this concept is due to cultural influences. We know that everyone doesn’t
perceive things in the same fashion.
In some countries, the elderly are highly respected individuals, where the youth go to for advice and
wisdom. Yet, in other countries, the elderly are seen as lazy and worthless. Hence, our culture has an
impact on how we perceive the world and others. Communication is different across cultures. Western
cultures, like the United States, value talk and view it as very important to function and conduct business.
Thus, they do not like silence because it can be perceived as shyness, frustration, and intimidating. 56
Western culture dislikes silence because it is uncomfortable and problematic. Asian cultures have
different perceptions of communication. Silence is seen as valuable to reflect on one’s thinking. Asians
might view someone who is talkative very negatively. Based on this example, we can see that cultural
perceptions can lead to problems, because, to an American, silence is considered rude and to an Asian,
silence is good. To effectively communicate, we need to understand cultural perceptions.
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