Chinese Communication Style | Essay

Chinese Communication Style | Essay Language is a multifunctional tool that allows people to satisfy variety of needs from socio-cultural to political necessities. The need to express its importance in communication does not have to be stressed since the two are intertwined. The communication style in China has its respective cultural milieus with different forms and purposes as well as varying intensity, emotional charge and dimensions. This has to be understood well by a person wanting to interact in an intercultural dimension. Choosing the appropriate language style is equally important especially in dealing with people from other cultures. The Cultural Revolution in China greatly affected the contemporary Chinese way of communicating particularly with the use of aggressive speeches during conflicts, formalized speeches during public gatherings, and humorous speeches during of turmoil. Dehumanization using undesirable animals was not uncommon during the period when enemies were considered as a class. Because of the diverse and complex communication style of Chinese, several commentators posited their view stating that such kind of communication needs to be improved or perhaps corrected. First, the arrangement of words and design of Chinese calligraphy make it hard for new language learners to embrace the language and adapt the communication style. Second, it deviates from the virtues of the simplistic alphabet. For Chineses part, the factors affecting their communication should first be understood and only then critics can truly appreciate the language. The tonal designs of the language as well as typographical structuring affect how they talk. The discipline as well in schools during early childhood of young Chinese gives them that sense of responsibility to include others and their talks and be concerned for the latters feelings rather than be self-contained. The two dichotomies often used to compare Chinese communication and English communication are the direct/linear style and indirect/circular style. The Chinese communication uses the indirect/circular style of reasoning. Kaplans findings in his contrastive study between English and Chinese communication style revealed that Chinese tend to be indirect, making illustrative and suggestive remarks first before going to the main issue. He called this pattern the Oriental style where people in diffused culture reason in a circling manner, starting from the farthest point, and ends with the main point. This is in contrast to the traditional American style of reasoning wherein they present first the main idea of an issue and then try to discuss the less important issues after. This style of Chinese reasoning appears to be lengthy and irritating for others, but for the Chinese, it serves as a channel in building relationships and saving face. Straightforward reasoning for them in turn appears to be harsh and arrogant. Such indirect reasoning is applied also in dispute resolution where statement of background information comes first before presenting the main argument. In all of these, the need to understand how Chinese think and communicate is important in the hope of a more interrelated world. The communication style of China has existed even during ancient times and up to now continues to be a heritage of the country. It gave them sense of pride as an individual and unity as a nation. INTRODUCTION Different cultures have varying systems of meanings (i.e. language) that makes it difficult to have a smooth flow of communication with them. Language is an important issue in ones intercultural marriage, interpersonal interactions, and interpretation and translation. It is a multifunctional tool wherein from the cultural perspective, serves as a channel in transmitting culture from generation to generation. It also creates linkages between individuals in order for them to establish a shared identity. And lastly, in the political sense, it unites the leaders and members of the society and identifies their boundaries as a country. Communication in China has its respective cultural milieus with different forms and purposes as well as varying intensity, emotional charge and dimensions. The Chinese language has a distinctive feature which has been interpreted by other cultures in different contexts. For instance, in a simple communication between Chinese and American, the latter may inte rpret the formers answer as yes when in fact he means no. A lot of people had posited comments saying that Chinese are very illustrative and suggestive in making statements and often do not go directly to the point. Because they have their own way of expressing emotions, they appear to be inscrutable and reserved to others. In dealing interpersonally, one must be aware that there are rules and standards for appropriate language style to be used. One should see to it that the style fits the genre and tone he wishes to convey. For instance, exaggeration during formal occasions usually gives listeners irritations since most wise people abhor advertisements where everything is over, hyper, or ultra. Better yet, one should remain reserved or attune himself. This study deals with how Chinese communicate, their communication styles, and communication issues. Hopefully after the end of the discussion, one would have a better understanding on the Chinese diaspora and a better appreciation of the Chinese communication style. BRIEF HISTORY OF CHINESE COMMUNICATION STYLES To have a better understanding and stronger foundation on the Chinese communication styles, it is important to tackle first some of the historical events that affected it. After discussing this, only then we can have the better ability to criticize their communication issues from its use in ordinary discourse to the more complicated situations (i.e. dispute resolution). We begin with Chinas Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) which greatly contributed to Chinas symbolic aggressive communication. Moral Language and Political Speeches. Moralistic and political languages are interrelated with one another and cannot be separated, at least in China. The moral language has been used mainly to persuade people. Political speeches from rulers were considered moral sermons. For instance, during religious wars and terrorisms, the use of moral message to justify these events were accepted by people. When a ruler says that a particular individual is Chinas enemy, then he must be so. The danger of moralistic language is that it gives a limited and a fancy sense of superiority and confidence. As an example, an ordinary speaker would try to memorize speeches and poems of a leader he idolizes and condemns the enemies of that leader. Rhetoric Dehumanization. The most common forms of dehumanization during the Cultural Revolution were through animal metaphors. Enemies of China were depicted in pictures as undesirable animals such as cow ghosts, monsters, demons; and parasites. These animal metaphors permeated the way Chinese write and speak. During rallies or political sessions, posters and slogans with dehumanizing animals were used to express their hatred to the social structures or enemies of the society. The use of these posters was the only way Chinese could communicate with the royal persons. Chinese communists created class labels distinguishing the people and the enemies of the people. The Impact on Communication of Chinas Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution of China not only altered its culture but also affected the manner Chinese people communicate both in official and interpersonal levels. The following are the rhetorical patterns relative to communication styles during the Cultural Revolution: Aggressive speech. It became common in China that when a person tried to express his disagreement on the majoritys opinion, he was expected to be disgraced and humiliated. Formalized speech. The formalized language was commonly used during political speeches. The tendency when always used was that it became dry and often gave burden to the listeners leading to linguistic impoverishment. Worse, political speeches were often plagiarized. Humorous speech. The Cultural Revolution also allowed Chinese not to take the current situation too seriously and instead make humorous sense of it. In a sense, it ironically tolerated the vice and evil of people. COMMUNICATION ISSUES OF THE CHINESE CULTURE Having discussed the historical background of Chinese communication in the Cultural Revolution, we now briefly discuss common issues relating to their communication mechanisms. There must be a clarification here with regard to the term issue. Issue on whose perspective? To the Chinese, these might not be issues, but to other cultures they are. For the purposes of this study, we put the issue perspective on the English communicators. In each subsequent topic, this will be explained more thoroughly especially the whys and the hows of Chinese communication. A counterpart of the alphabet. The Chinese lacks the virtues found in the alphabet language despite being a preserved language tracing back to the ancient times. For the critics, the alphabet is simple, easy to memorize, and convenient to draw than the Chinese syllables. Canonical word order. The Chinese has a unique way of arranging words and formulating sentences which when translated to a foreign language gives a different meaning. Unlike Chinese, the grammatical composition of English language is signaled by word order. Vast number of dialects. The Chinese have many dialects across different regions. This is not surprising since they have an ancient civilization and the is the most populated country in the world. There are eight major dialects Chinese use which have a unified writing system; however, this becomes unintelligible when spoken by the different ethnicities (i.e. Mandarin, Hakka, Cantonese). Some scholars consider these dialects as separate languages. Complexity of Chinese calligraphy. Aside from the numerous Chinese characters one has to be familiar with, the writing of these scripts presents an equally big problem. In fact, their calligraphy is now being considered as a form of painting. FACTORS AFFECTING THE WAY CHINESE COMMUNICATE The Chinese culture has complex communication patterns. Facial expressions, movements of body parts, or even styles of dresses affect how Chinese communicate and how a person from other culture respond to them. For the White people, Chinese appear to be humble and reserved, so much concerned about their image that they tend to avoid in all possibilities the discomfort of being embarrassed or humiliated. For Chinese, indirectness allows them to save relationship as a concept of Confucius harmony. Harmony will be discussed more thoroughly in the preceding topics. To understand why Chinese behave and talk like this, it is important to understand the factors that affect how they communicate. The following are some of them: Tonal language. Chinese has is its own syllabic structure and phonemics that differ from the other cultures language such that when they try to speak foreign language, say English, they would give a different tone or pronunciation. The most common is the word fry for fly where they substitute l for r. Typological differences. China has their own way of organizing ideas, connecting facts, or even stressing points. Moreover, their language has no distinction between plural or singular forms. Thus, when translated to foreign language, they would appear absurd, blank, or unrelated. Early education for children. Young Chinese are early nurtured to include others in their conversations by avoiding talking too much about themselves. In addition, they are taught to be cooperative and humble. In nursery schools, instead of requiring students to do recitals alone, teachers would make it a choral presentation. This attitude is expected to be brought into their adult lives. COMMUNICATION PATTERNS IN CHINA Fons Trompenaars, a famous cultural theorist, describes two kinds of communication patterns existing in diffused and specific cultures. People in diffused cultures allow others to relate his other areas of life. The topic is more diverse and less restricted than what the current relationship allows. For instance, an employer can talk about his private life to his employee in the same way as he can talk with him about his professional matters. On the other hand, people in specific cultures, restrict the conversation within the bounds of the existing relationship. In the previous example, the employer would not allow his employee to deal with his personal life since personal matters are different matters. The illustration below, according to Fons, illustrates the way people in diffused and specific cultures communicate. The dots in the center of both pictures represent the issue or topic that a person tries to explain. The image on the right means that a when a person tries to explain something, he begins with the main issue and explains the matter direct to the point. This can be observed often in specific cultures. The image on the left means that when a person explains something, he goes around the bush first before arriving to his main point. This is common in diffused cultures. China belongs to the left image. The Chinese tries to be indirect in their conversation by making the conversation lengthy in order to build relationship. As for them, this is a good strategy to save face and avoid arrogance. DICHOTOMIES OF CHINESE COMMUNICATION NORMS In comparing Chinese communication styles and English communication styles, most researchers fall on two dichotomies namely direct/linear style versus indirect/circular style and deductive versus inductive discourse patterns. These dichotomies help people understand the different communication patterns between English and Chinese in business negotiation, essay writing, and ordinary conversations. Kaplans (1966, 1972) contrastive rhetoric is the most famous work analysis used in distinguishing Chinese communication style and English communication style. Kaplan conducted a study of the 600 compositions of 600 students who were not native English speakers. The Chinese dominated the students number. The result was these dichotomies: Direct/Linear versus Indirect/Circular Style. Kaplan proposed the Oriental style writing wherein before arriving to the main idea the writer goes first around circles. As opposed to American style of writing which states first the main idea, Kaplan described Chinese to start from the broader concept first before arriving to the specific topic. This study supports Trompenaars theory of diffused culture which states that Chinese tend to be indirect in answering or discussing a topic. Oriental Style American Style Deductive Reasoning versus Inductive Reasoning. Deductive reasoning is the process of arriving to a logical conclusion from a general statement. On the other hand, inductive reasoning is the process of arriving to a conclusion from specific set of facts. The distinguishing factor between the two is that in inductive reasoning, one cannot logically make a certain conclusion-only a well-founded or probable conclusion. When one delays the introduction of the topic, he is said to have an inductive pattern of reasoning, while when one introduces the topic early, he is said to have deductive reasoning. The Chinese people first establish a framework before introducing the main topic. Thus, between the two reasoning styles, Chinese have inductive reasoning communication style. FACTORS THAT AFFECT DISPUTE RESOLUTIONS IN CHINA After presenting the styles, issues and factors affecting the Chinese communication, let us now apply such knowledge in dispute resolution among them or even in intercultural ones. The potential disagreement is huge when one is not aware of negotiation styles and barriers to a successful communication between parties having different cultural backgrounds. That is why here we first examine the factors that affect dispute resolution in China. Communication is greatly affected by these since these are the by-products of the Chinese culture (i.e. Confucian philosophy). The four major factors we need to examine are (1) harmony, (2) power, (3) relationship (guanxi), and (4) face (mianze). These factors can be used to establish a powerful framework of conflict management and resolution. a. Harmony (He) à ¥Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã…’. Among Chinese people, harmony is one of the most essential values which each one strives to have. Communication exists not to satisfy ones needs but rather, to maintain harmonious relationship with his fellow being. In a harmonious community, people act interdependently by analyzing every action to be done so that in the end, no one will be prejudiced with it. If however, conflict is inevitable, the role of harmony is at least to reduce the negative effects of conflicts in the relationship of the parties or at least to save their faces. b. Power (Là ¬lià  ng) à ¥Ã…  Ã¢â‚¬ º. The second factor is power which refers to how one party controls his resources, whether it be tangible or intangible. In the Chinese context, power determines the degree of ones inclination or cooperation to the others influence. Power in addition, may be equated to authority and seniority. Oftentimes, persons in authority are respected; and it is there advice that people obey since they are believed to be more knowledgeable and familiar in the field of dispute resolution. In addition, seniority gives the people the credibility and experiences which the young Chinese deeply value. c. Relationship (Guanxi) -à ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ³Ãƒ §Ã‚ ³Ã‚ ». The third factor is the guanxi, which refers to the relationship existing between parties. In Confucius book of Five Code of Ethics, he specified different relationships a man has, which include the ruler and his subject, husband and wife, father and son, older brother and younger brother, and between friends. These relationships vary in degree, and thus have specific communication styles that one has to follow in order to avoid future conflicts. One needs to adjust his verbal and nonverbal ways of communication to show respect and regard for the position, power or authority of the person he is dealing with. For instance, a subject cannot be expected to disobey his ruler implying that a high degree of respect is demanded; else, he gets an equivalent punishment. In the case of husband and wife, the communication is more intimate and reciprocal. Friends tend to treat each other equally and less formally. d. Face (Mianze) à ©Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ . Mianze refers to ones social status in life as perceived by other people based on ones position and prestige. Through hard work, a person achieves a high position in the society and in return, gains the respect and appreciation of the watching public. instance, in libel cases, there is a public imputation of wrong to a particular person, thus, the latter loses the product of his hard work and would find it difficult to regain the previous position in life. Without minding the image of the other, a serious conflict would likely result. Applying the inductive/deductive reasoning styles, the Chinese in dispute resolution appear to have an inductive reasoning. In a study regarding conflict styles, Chinese appeared to be less direct, less assertive, and less aggressive during confrontational situations. Answers to questions did not have direct relation or loosely connected to the questions asked. Further, background information comes first before information. The use of indirectness is a means of balancing harmony since in the process of avoiding direct answers, one establishes relationship with the other and avoids losing a face. RAPPORT MANAGEMENT AS A FUNCTION OF LANGUAGES Languages have a dual function. The first is the transfer of information and the second the management of social relations. Helen Oatey in her book Culturally Speaking, uses the term rapport management to describe management of social relations as an aspect of language since the term is broad enough to cover the concept of maintaining or threatening social relationships. Taking into consideration these domains when dealing with Chinese, would be a huge step in avoiding conflicts. The following according to Oatey, play an important role in the management of rapport when interacting with Chinese: Illocutionary Domain. This domain concerns about the speeches such as apologies, compliments, or requests that potentially puts at risk the rapports of individuals. For instance, when someone asks Did you put sugar on this coffee? the implication is that you want sugar. Discourse Domain. This domain concerns the content and structure of the communication such as the decision whether to include private topics or whether a particular topic should be discussed first. This domain should be taken care of because there is a tendency to raise sensitive issues and put lesser priorities on more important matters which would threaten ones rapport. Participation domain. This domain concerns the technicalities of the interchange like turn-taking, the decision whether a third person can be allowed to join the conversation between two people, and the permission from the party to the conversation whether someone will be allowed to ask questions or not. This domain should be guarded in order for a harmonious relation to exist. Stylistic Domain. This domain concerns the tone of interaction such as the choice of informal words, polite expressions, greetings, or jokes. Non-verbal Domain. This domain concerns the actions governing the interchange such as eye contact, facial expressions, and proxemics. In the same way as the above four, this domain needs to be guarded if harmonious relation is wanting. CONCLUSION In trying to adapt to a more interrelated world, it is important to know how the Chinese think and communicate. The language style may seem to be complicated, yet for the Chinese, regard for others is the key to choosing the correct style of communication. Communication for them is more than exchange of words. It is a conduit to building a relationship and establishing harmony in the community.

A study into secretive human behavior

A study into secretive human behavior Secretive is human behavior that has generally negative connation which should not be confused with Privacy which generally represents the human trait in which one individual is not ready to share his/her personal information to others. In contrast the secretive behavior is not limited to personal information only. If we look at the relevance of the particular behavior we may find that not only it is associated to individual level behavior but also to the organizational level. Therefore we can say that it has considerable effect in behavior modeling of individual as well as at organizational level. We can also distinguish the effect of this behavior on individual and organizational level. Secretive behavior can be associated to particular personality traits that an individual possesses which can be looked into by different conceptual framework as given in this study. Though the secretive behavior of an individual is always taken in negative sense but when we compare the inherent traits that build up this kind of behavior we may find that secretive behavior arise some positive traits in an individual which is more explained by Johari Window in following precedence. Conceptual Framework According to the study of scholarly articles studied by me I have come upon the definition of secretive behavior as the personality trait of an individual which comprises of hiding some information (that can be relevant or irrelevant) from others either consciously or unconsciously by the virtue of the individual traits that a person possesses. The hiding of the information can be act of introvert nature of a person or a kind of defence mechanism as suggested by Freud Theory. Therefore to analyze the personality traits that mould the secretive behavior I have taken help of Johari Window Framework. Johari Window was developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingman (Jo + Hari, Johari) in 1950s which is taken as 2 X 2 window having 4 quadrants or regions. Each quadrant or region depicts the information of an individual as perceived by themselves and by others as well. And hence by knowing the findings one can get a good understanding of themselves and their personalities in a more refined way. Figure 1 depicts the four quadrant of Johari Window from perceivers perspective and from others perspective. Perceived Person Known Unknown Perceiver Known OPEN BLIND Unknown SECRETS UNKNOWN Figure 1: Johari Window Following are the details of all four regions of Joharis Window described in detail: Open Region: When the personality traits or behavior of a person matches with the perspective of others as well, it is called as open region. It is generally that part that you show and share with others. It includes your appearance, team behavior, skills etc. It is generally recommended that people should belong to this region to increase there productivity in an organization. Blind Region: This is the region which includes characteristics that are known to other members in the group but individuals are not aware of that. These are generally the blind spot which should be as low as possible. These include individual behavior like making faces, showing emotions, aggressive nature etc which an individual does not know when they indulge in this type of traits. The aim is to reduce this area as much as possible which can be done by taking feedback from other members in the group to know things that an individual is not aware of. Secret Region: In this region the individual is aware of certain things but the others not. These things or behaviors are generally kept as secrets by the individual. This can be related to the introvert, shy nature of an individual. Another aspect is the avoided area by the individual which can be result from certain behavior that is socially not acceptable or considered as wrong. It can include certain private information that an individual does not want to share or the information that individual did not want to share. This kind of secretive behavior can adversely affect the dynamics of group therefore, it is recommended to reduce this area as much as possible and make the system more transparent. Unknown Region: When the behavior or traits are unknowns to the individual as well as the other team it is classified under this region. This can include talent and other behavior that can be revealed by either the person himself in future or by any other team member. By taking the Joharis window as a framework to analyze the personal traits of an individual one can distinguish that in which region out of the four does it belong and a person if it belongs in 3rd region that is Secret Region the attributes of that person can be best suited to know more about the secretive behavior of an individual at individual level as well as group level. Review of Literature The dictionary definition of secretive is defined as inclined to secrecy or reticence about divulging information; although they knew her whereabouts her friends kept close about it . If we look into literature review of this behavior there is lot of research papers that are presented. Few author presentation and perspective has been presented below: The well known concept of Johari Window1, which is a model of self awareness, personal development, group development and understanding relationship. This concept can be related to MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)2 Indicator According to Julie D. Lane and Daniel M. Wegner 3, secrecy is a form of intentional deception that is peculiar for two reasons. First, whereas deception involves inducing a belief in another person that one knows to be false, secrecy involves preventing the other from knowing something one believes to be true. The second distinction is that secrecy is something one can do alone in a room. In another perspective Aldert Vrij, Karl Nunkoosing, Beth Paterson, Annerieke Oosterwegel and Stavroula Soukara4, defines the impact on individual behavior which is stated as Secret-holders confided information to those with whom they felt emotionally close; were more reluctant to confide when they kept the secret to avoid disapproval, and more likely to confide when they believed that others would find out about their secrets by paying attention to their (secret-holders) behaviors. Another context in the literature in Sullivans Interpersonal Theory5, which looks into interpersonal relations that modify the individual behavior. Sullivan stated that the personality of human being is shaped by the interpersonal relations that an individual have. More depth on individual aspect of why do people indulge in this kind of behavior is given by Defence Mechanism Theory by Sigmund Freud6. It involves the involvement of an individual in any behavior either unconsciously or by projecting wrong deception to indulge into defence mechanism. Empirical Study Generalization To study the effect of secretive behavior of an individual, I conducted a case study of four people studying in XLRI PMIR programme who knew well each other before coming here. This case study takes the help of Johari window from which I can deduce the understanding of personalities of these individual according to them as well as from the perspective of others. The main aim of doing this case study is to actually study the personality traits of an individual as perceived by him/her and as perceived by others. With the help of this I can categorize people into each of the four windows as described above in Johari Window and with the help of this segregation I can correlate which kind of people generally depict secretive behavior at individual level. Description of Case Study: In the case study I deliberately choose four people who knew each other very well so that the perception of an individual as perceived by others does not depend on just spontaneous interaction. I gave them 55 adjectives that a person can associates with himself/herself or with others. Then I make them to choose 6 adjectives that they think are best to describe about themselves and then I gave same set of adjectives to other three individual and noted down their responses about the same individual from their perspective on the same 6 adjective parameters. The adjectives that I have used are given in Appendices at the end of this report. Wile filling the corresponding personality traits choices one constraint that I follow is I gave only 120 seconds to fill out their responses for themselves and for others also. Since, there can be a possibility that during 120 seconds the individual does not get enough time to think upon the actual important personality traits. To eliminate out this discrepancy, I conducted same set of case study 4 times among the same set of individual but each time the response sheet which contains the set of 55 adjectives was in random order. To further reduce any unwanted deviations I conducted this at different times over a span of 3 days. By doing this an individual does not actually remember the choices that he/she had filled for others in previous trials. Findings of the Study Generalization Based on the case study as described above following are the results obtained for each of the four individual. Figure 2 represents the Adjectives picked by individual for themselves out of the given 55 adjectives. Adjectives associated with personality 1 2 3 4 5 6 Values perceived by Person A   friendly caring   cheerful   energetic   brave   sensible   Values perceived by Person B   independent logical   organized   helpful   caring     modest Values perceived by Person C   sentimental quiet   sensible   observant dignify   wise   Values perceived by Person D   giving happy   helpful   sensible caring   proud   Figure 2: Adjectives picked by individual for themselves out of the given 55 adjectives Figure 3 represents the adjectives associated with each person as perceived by other three persons. In this the frequency of each adjective is shown in () after taking the questionnaire at different point of time. Person A Person B Person C Person D Person A X   friendly(3), bold(2), extrovert(2) bold(3), energetic(2), organized(2)   extrovert(3), powerful(2), responsive(2)   Person B   Caring (4), helpful (3), extrovert(3) X helpful (4), logical (2), modest (2)   logical (2), proud (2), helpful (2)   Person C   extrovert(2), cheerful (2) , happy (2) nervous(3), tense(2), complex(2)   X relaxed(2), ingenious(1), giving(1) Person D   helpful(3), calm(2), modest(2)   giving(2), happy(2), caring(2)   modest(2), organized(2), giving(1) X Figure 3: Adjectives picked by others for specific person. ( ) represents the frequency of that adjective As we can see from the data collected by taking down the personality traits of an individual from perceiver as well as perceived perspective that the individual behavior of Person A ,Person B and Person C matches to a certain extent with the behavior as noted by other members in the group. Moreover, the frequency with which the kind of adjectives appears for both the persons indicates that all of them belong to Region 1 of Johari Window which is Open region. And the adjectives associated with both persons like friendly, organized, brave, responsive, helpful, extrovert etc are in perfect correlation with the qualities that are associated with Region 1 as given by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingman. If we consider the case of Person 3, where the behavior described by himself does not matches with the behaviors as perceived by others, we can say that the Person C belongs to Region 3 or Secret Region of the Johari Window where the behavior are known to the person but are unknown to others. The basic traits that the person think of him is sentimental, quiet, sensible, observant, dignify and wise which is in negative correlation with the behavior given by other like extrovert, happy, relaxed etc. Moreover, the attributes associate with Person 3 which he think of him perfectly correlates with the behavior associated with Region 3 of Johari Window as given by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingman. Therefore, we can say that the individual having personality traits like introvert, quiet, shy, powerful, observant are much more associated to the persons having secretive behavior as compared to the person with the behavior like extrovert, happy, openness etc. Implications of Group Work We can distinguish the effect of this behavior on individual and organizational level which is given as follows: At Individual Level: Impact on Psychological Aspect: When we look into the effect of this kind of behavior on mental functions of human we can see that this type of behavior is generally associated with the people who are reserved, introvert, who does not want to share information. Also we can say that that the type of people who show this kind of behavior have very strong will which make them to hide information from others. Impact on Behavioral Modernity: With the advent of more information channels and competition the secretive nature has been considerably changed from our ancestors. And by comparing with the previous we can say that it has considerably increased. At Organizational level: Impact on Sociological Aspect: Sometimes secretive nature of the organization is more concerned with hiding of some information due to protection of ideas, future plans, information which can affect them severely. Impact on Anthropological Aspect: When an organization does not share proper information with employees, they are actually creating a traditional relations with them which will affect the motivation and performance of there work. Impact on Job Satisfaction Level: Job Satisfaction relates to the content level of an individual with his/her performance. And when an individual thinks that an organization is hiding some relevant information that arise a suspicion which decreases the job satisfaction or this behavior shows the negative correlation with job satisfaction. Contributions to Organizational Behavior I feel that as a part of organizational behavior it is very important to understand the individual behaviors and personality traits. In addition to this it is very much essential to understand and focus on the actual causes behind these behaviors which actually force an individual to indulge in secretive behavior. Therefore I think my study about secretive behavior is very much relevant to organizational behavior. But since my research involves the study the effect of internal personality traits on secretive nature and therefore it will be interesting to see how external effects like situation and society plays an important role in contributing the modification of secretive behavior in an individual. Hence, there is further scope to extend this study in the light of external factors and correlation of these external factors with the internal behavioral trait of an individual. Conclusion According to the study of scholarly articles studied by me I have come upon the definition of secretive behavior as the personality trait of an individual which comprises of hiding some information (that can be relevant or irrelevant) from others either consciously or unconsciously by the virtue of the individual traits that a person possesses. As showed in the case study results given above the personality traits to a greater extent affects the secretive behavior of an individual. For example the individual who are more introvert, shy and reserve tend to show more secretive behavior as compared to the people who are extrovert or outspoken. Even the people who have strong determination are more capable in holding any secret as compared to one who did not have strong will power. Therefore, by studying the Joharis window on different set of people I can say that individual personality traits or internal factors affect the secretive nature very much.

The Correlation Between Multiple Personality Disorder and Child Abuse :: Child Abuse Essays

Behind Closed Doors: The Correlation Between Multiple Personality Disorder and Child Abuse "Each day that we pretended, we replaced reality with lies, or dreams, or angry schemes, in search of dignity†¦ until our lies got bigger than the truth, and we had no one real to be" From "For Children Who Were Broken" by Elia Wise Have you ever wanted to be someone else? Throughout history the idea of not being just us has intrigued everyone from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. But imagine having no control over who you are. Imagine having 30 people inside of you, and every one of them wanting to be in control. This is the case with Multiple Personality Disorder, and it effects thousands of people in the United States alone. But why does MPD fascinate us? It has often been found quite interesting. Movies, books, and even talk shows have been made trying to show the harsh reality of the disorder, but how seriously are we expected to take Truddi Chase and the "Troops" when they are on The Oprah Show? How worried are we for Sybil when we remember Sally Field as Gidget? As grim as this disorder is we often don't realize the severity unless we hear it from "the voices." Using the psychoanalytical approach, I will show how past abusive experiences have driven some to MPD. Citing case studies from such books as When Rabbit Howls, The Truddi Chase Story, Sybil, and Jennifer and Herselves the correlation between MPD and abuse will be made. There are more similarities to these examples than just MPD, all were driven to MPD due to excessive physical, ual, or emotional abuse from a parental figure. Also, each of these studies show the cause and effects this disorder has on . Most MPD sufferers are , in fact female MPD sufferers outnumber men by a ratio of nine to one (Hales, 1993). This may be true because will keep their feelings of hostility toward others to themselves, whereas men would be more likely to lash out in random acts of . For instance, Anna doesn't want to believe that she is getting beaten, so she believes if she becomes someone else, it is not really her that is taking the abuse. However, it is only a matter of time before the abuse increases or takes another form. The effect compounds, one more personality develops, and so on until "the voices" have consumed Anna and left her broken, with every facet of her personality now being an independent mind. With statistics showing that some form of abuse happens to as many as one out of

The Uses of Psychology to People at Work Essay -- Papers Workplace Cow

The Uses of Psychology to People at Work Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Hilgard, 1996). An understanding of this can be a useful tool for many different groups of people in the work environment, who all have their own interests in what psychology has to offer. Such groups to benefit include managers, employees, Human Resources specialists and Trade Unions. An in depth understanding of human behavioral patterns can be applied positively in order to get the most out of people and increase productivity at work. This is achieved by reducing factors that interfere with the efficiency of peoples' work. This assignment will aim to focus on factors that are ongoing and socially aroused by the interaction between people and their environment, namely: dealing and coping with work stress; lowering the rate of bullying and harassment in the workplace; and maintaining a high level of motivation and effort both in demanding and tedious tasks. Every type of person in an organization is susceptible to suffering from worry and stress. Stress is a challenge to a person's capacity to adapt to inner and outer demands, which may be physiologically arousing and emotionally taxing and call for cognitive and behavioral responses (Westen, 1999). Stress provokes physical and emotional disturbances, which have the ability to affect both one's health and performance. It can lead to tension in the workplace and frequent absenteeism due to illegitimate claims of sickness, thus its prevention is beneficial to both employee and organization. Managing stress can be achieved by the direct approaches of behavioral tec... ...vol 28, no 3, p 311-30. Â · Niedl, 1996, Mobbing and Well-being: Economic and Personnel development implications, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, vol 5, no 2, p 251-271. Â · Otway, HJ & Misenta, R (1980), "The determinants of operator preparedness for emergency situations in nuclear power plants", Paper presented at Workshop on Procedural and Organisational Measures for Accident Management: Laxenburg, Austria, 28-31 Jan. Â · Westen, D (1999), Psychology: Mind, Brain & Culture, Second Edition, Wiley. Â · Wilke, Rutte, van Knippenberg & Ad, 2000, The Resentful sucker: Do rewards ease the pain?, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, vol 9, no 3, Sept 2000, p 307-320. Â · Yukl & Wexley (1971), Readingsin Organizational and Industrial Psychology, Oxford University Press.

Comparison of poems. Essay -- English Literature

Comparison of poems. In this introduction I am intending to compare and contrast two poems. The poems I am contrasting are called ‘London’ and ‘Composed Upon Westminster’. These two poems are written in the 19th century. The writers had the same ideas about the two poems. The poems are both about London. The writers both give a different view of London. The London poem is written by William Blake in 1757-1827. The Westminster poem written by William Wordsworth in 1770 – 1850 Blake’s representation of London is bleak. The title London is short and gets straight to the point. The first verse is a description of the city, streets, rivers and the people in the city. The first line creates a feeling like London is being owned. It is described like hell. The quote is â€Å"I wonder thro each chattered streets, near were the chartered Thames does flow. Blake has a sinister view of London. He describes it like a prison. The second two lines inverse 1 is about the people. The quote is ‘and marks in every face I meet, marks of weakness marks of woe.’ These two lines mean when Blake sees people on the streets of London they have marks on their faces. The last quote means that the people are weak, have grief and sorrow. The imagery Blake creates in the first verse is of the empty streets and the flowing Thames. The second verse is about the people. â€Å"In every cry of every man† â€Å"in every infants cry of fear† the imagery the second verse suggests pain. â€Å"Infants cry† of mental torture â€Å"mind forged manacles†. There is a lot of repetition. In the second verse Blake emphasises on the word ‘every’ to really put the pain across. The third verse is about the institutions and culture. Blake says ‘the chimney sweepers cry’. ... ...s like heaven. Wordsworth is in a dream. He is describing London as romantic. The similarities both of these poems are that Blake says marks of weakness marks of woe. Wordsworth says mighty heart. Blake says blackening church, hapless soldier, palace walls. Wordsworth says ships, towers, domes, theatres, temples. Blake says chimney sweepers and blackening church. Wordsworth says smokeless air. Blake says chartered Thames does flow and Wordsworth says the river glideth at his own sweet will. Blake says midnight streets and Wordsworth says valleys rocks or hills. Blake says midnight and Wordsworth says bright and glittery. He also says morning. Blake says cry in every man and Wordsworth says calm so deep. The poem that gives me a better description of London is Blake’s point of view. He has a simple structure and his description is very descriptive.

Country of Origin

Country Of Origin Image The Country of Origin Image or COO can be described as the motivation behind the tendency for consumers to make buying decisions, guided by their perception of the country which is associated with the purchased product. It is essentially one of the building blocks for brand equity when introducing new products into new markets internationally. This could be attributed to consumer’s need to make quality inferences via brand cues, which will help them move forward faster in the buying process.In recent times, the validity of COO image as a brand metric has become arguably questionable, as the arrival of globalization has diluted the efficacy of the country of origin term. These days, an Apple Iphone could be designed in San Francisco, California and manufactured in Taiwan at lower operating costs. Based on this phenomenon and the study by Essousi and Merunka (2007), the COO concept can be further evaluated on the basis of two sub categories, which are cou ntry of design (COD) and country of manufacture(COM) image.A lot of companies remain ethnocentric in their business operations, this means that they restrict their resources to the initial country of origin, but sell to varying markets on the international scene. This is in contrast to the truly global companies that distribute their resources worldwide and operate in a global market. It begs the question of whether country of design or country of manufacture, is the influencing factor with regards to consumer behaviour and a product’s country of origin image.Referring to the previous example of Apple’s Iphone, is the product quality amplified in the consumers eyes by virtue of its American design or is its value downgraded by Taiwanese production? , considering Taiwan’s COO image as one of cheap but low quality products. Reardon et al (2005) suggest that with the products being unfamiliar to the market, country of origin image becomes the most viable source of quality identification for the consumer, an opinion backed by Balabanis and Diamantopoulos (2008) and Carvalho, et al ( 2011) studies on brand associations with country of origin images, among consumers.This is akin to celebrity endorsement of brands, with countries playing the role of celebrity ambassadors to those new to the brand. Harun et al 2011, proposes a different perspective to the discussion with country of brand origin (COBO). This is far more effective as a brand metric because as the name implies, the focus is placed on the brand itself rather than the product. For a description of the slight differences between the two concepts, Consider a consumer’s choice to buy a virtually unknown suit brand, because it was made in Britain.Britain’s strong COO image for products like suits, is the major player in this purchase decision. On the other hand, the buyer could decide to go for a Louis Vuitton Suit to feel ‘French’, as Louis Vuitton is primarily a French brand, thus illustrating the concept of the COBO effect. From this, it is clear that the country of origin effect still maintains some relevance with regards to influencing purchase decisions, whether it involves the design origins or place of manufacture or even down to the general associations the brands has with a country.Place Brand With the ever constant battle for the consumer’s disposable income and foreign direct investment by businesses, there has been an upsurge in the marketing of entire geographical locations, as suitable places to spend money. According to Medway& Warnaby (2008), the focus of the process is on creating favourable or attractive image associations for places and downplaying any negative images it may already have, unless demand for its resources outgrows supply.It can be argued that products and services become brands by virtue of the benefits they offer. This implies that if the benefits are negative, the product or service gains a negati ve brand image and vice versa. Similarly, places become branded by what they have to offer, usually in terms of culture, heritage, art, natural resources (Kemp et al, 2012) and many other variables. This phenomenon known as place branding, seeks to create identity, differentiation and personality for a place(Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005).It typically involves any residential geographic entity, and is usually most evident in the marketing of nations and cities. In examining the tenets of place branding further, the branding of cities can be utilised as a sample from which reasonable inference can be drawn and applied to a larger population such as countries. Pfefferkorn (2005) outlines the effects of branding on cities and the ingredients common to strongly branded cities.Included in the requirements for strong city branding are attractive employment opportunities, affordable cost of living, efficient public transportation and school systems, recreational/ cultural attractions, and go od climatic conditions. These are described by the author as functional values, but for truly strong place brands to exist, there must also be added value that differentiates it from others.The added value is unique to each city, as residents may tend to make meaningful associations between themselves and a place. Examples of this include the marketing of Jerusalem and Mecca as ‘holy cities’ of pilgrimage to devout faithfuls, Rio as a destination of choice for carnival lovers, Paris as the city of love for romantic individuals or in the most popular city branding efforts for sports enthusiasts, English soccer (Edensor & Millington, 2005) and the Olympics (Zhang & Zhao, 2009).An observable common denominator amongst these examples is the presence of images or perceptions, associated with orchestrated activities that result in the brands of a place. (Kavaratzis S& Ashworth, 2005). Global Brands The definition of globalised companies in contrast to international companies lies in the distribution of its resources (Abdulrazak. R, 2013). One of the foremost issues with brand globalization is the standardisation versus adaptation debate.A global brand is one which has been able to extend its brand identity across the world from its country of origin, and therefore the argument falls largely in favour of standardization with an adaptation of certain variables where necessary. Discussion Global brands offer consumers a sense of familiarity and streamlines the decision making process for purchasing from a range of both local and international alternatives. The country of origin image as well as place brands associated with the place brand may further serve to amplify the equity of the global brand. SIRRA

Analysis of Comments on a New York Times Article Essay

The article. â€Å"Forced From Executive Pay to Hourly Wage. † which was written by Michael Luo and was published in the New York Times last February 28. 2009. fundamentally told the narrative of people who used to gain five or six-figure sums per twelvemonth. are now being paid hourly minimal rewards. One illustration in the article was the instance of Mark Cooper. who used to gain $ 70. 000 as a security director for Fortune 500 Company in the United States and who oversees a budget of $ 1. 2 million. Nine months ago. he lost his occupation and now he is gaining $ 12 an hr in his occupation at his friend’s janitorial services company. Although the article itself is appealing plenty. it is besides interesting to observe the readers’ remarks about it. As of now. there are 300 remarks about the article and upon reexamining most of them. it can be surmised that each reader who commented had significantly different point of views and sentiments about the narrative told in the New York Times article. Obviously. these readers adhere to different moral codifications which are seen through their responses. In general. the readers who commented on the article can be divided into two groups: one group lauded the brave act of Mark Cooper while the other criticized the manner of authorship and the elusive message that New York Times author used in the article. One of the reader’s who praised the article narrative admired the bravery of Mr. Cooper as he was able to take down his pride and found ways to supply for his household even if it means that he has to scour lavatories and hold his salary dramatically reduced from five figures to an hourly pay without any benefits. In a sense. this group extremely regarded the value of difficult work and get downing all over once more in a dignified manner. Most of their remarks fundamentally indicated that Mr. Cooper is non entirely and that there are 100s of Americans who have similar â€Å"riches to rags† narratives. These readers. based on their remarks. besides believed that there is no shame being hapless every bit long as 1 has a dignified and lawful occupation. On other manus. the other group of readers who commented on the article criticized the New York Times for insinuating that those who work blue-collar occupations are lower signifiers of human existences than those who work white-collar 1s. They see the article as know aparting to Americans who have been populating their lives below the poorness line for a long clip even before the current economic crisis. For illustration. one reader lamented that article more or less showed that a $ 12-an-hour occupation is an indecorous manner of life. which is non true. In add-on. one reader did non experience sorry for Mr. Cooper and commented that he had a batch to be grateful for because he lives in an above norm house and was able to populate a rich life. To this reader. the economic crisis makes everyone in America equal because they are fighting to do ends meet. However. what’s common in all the readers’ responses is that they could all associate to the troubles experienced by the people depicted in the article. In fact some of the readers. who are obviously from different walks of life. shared their ain narratives in their remarks. In other words. the individual factor that binds all the readers who commented is the adversity brought approximately by the fiscal crisis in America. In a manner. the article’s remarks show two things: one is that there are a batch of Americans who are so used to a good life that they are apparently caught off-guard when a lay waste toing fiscal crisis like this hits them and the other is that due to the crisis. most Americans would be willing to take on any occupation merely to last. But the remarks besides indicated that Americans are more incorporate in accomplishing a common end which is to retrieve from the lay waste toing effects of the crisis and reconstruct their lives. Works Cited Luo. Mark. â€Å"Forced From Executive Pay to Hourly Wage. † 28 February 2009. New York Times. 4 March 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. nytimes. com/2009/03/01/us/01survival. hypertext markup language? pagewanted=1 & A ; _r=2 & A ; sq=executive % 20janitor & A ; st=cse & A ; scp=1 & gt ; .