Cross-cultural communication is normally thought of as communication that takes place between members of whole cultures in contact or between their cultural spokespersons or representatives. Cross-cultural communication is distinguished from intracultural communication, which occurs between people sharing a common culture, and intercultural communication, which refers to exchanges in interpersonal settings between individuals from different cultures. William B. Gudykunst identifies both intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication as segments of intergroup communication.

When researchers want to compare or contrast the communication of people from different cultures and explain how communication varies from one culture to another, then a cross-cultural communication study occurs. William B. Gudykunst 248 Cross-Cultural Communication and Carmen M. Lee identify this type of research as among the several approaches for incorporating culture into communication theories. Such theorizing must link dimensions of cultural variability directly with the cultural norms and rules that influence the communication behavior being explained. It must avoid oversimplifying the process or inappropriately coupling the way that the cultural variables influence cultural norms and rules or the reverse. This kind of work is of interest to several academic fields, including anthropology, communication, international relations, psychology, and sociology, and has been applied to concepts such as attitudes, beliefs, cognition, cross-cultural business and training, journalism, language and linguistics, mass media, nonverbal cues, organizational culture, perceptions, stereotypes, thought-patterning, and values.

Littlejohn, Stephen W and Karen A.Floss. (2009). Encyclopedia of Communication Theory.USA:SAGE.316-317

Penanggungjawab naskah :

Gayes Mahestu
Edwina Ayu Kustiawan