Question

On her first visit to China, Sally was surprised to find that her hosts often did not get straight to the point when communicating with her. In fact, they often seemed to be more interested in creating a friendly atmosphere than in sharing messages. Also, her hosts seemed to pay close attention to her nonverbal behaviors to determine what she meant in her messages to them. Sally found the type of communication used by her hosts to be inefficient. Why was this?

Answer 1

Answer:

This was because Sally came from a monochronic culture.

Explanation:

In a monochronic culture, the people value time and are also decision-oriented. They know what they want and would talk or do things straight to the point instead of dillydallying.  On the other hand, polychronic cultures like China tend to be more multi- in their sense of time and behavior and even interactions with others.

So, while listeners in monochronic culture want directness in conversations, it is quite the opposite in a polychronic culture. For the latter, creating a friendly environment, getting to know the person, etc. are all aspects of their culture.

Thus, when Sally decided that her hosts are inefficient in their type of communication, that was because her culture differs from that of her hosts.