Suchergebnisse

AbstractContemporary research on mindreading or theory of mind has resulted in three major findings: (1) There is a difference in the age of passing of the elicited-response false belief task and its spontaneous–response version; 15-month-olds pass the latter while the former is passed only by 4-year-olds (in the West). (2) Linguistic and social factors influence the development of the ability to mindread in many ways. (3) There are cultures with folk psychologies significantly different from the Western one, and children from such cultures tend to show different timetables of mindreading development. The traditional accounts of the data are nativism, rational constructivism, and two-systems theory. In this paper, we offer criticism of these traditional cognitivist accounts and explore an alternative, action-based framework. We argue that even though they all seem to explain the above empirical data, there are other, theoretical reasons why their explanations are untenable. Specifically, we discuss the problem of foundationalism and the related problem of innateness. Finally, we explore an alternative, action-based framework that avoids these theoretical limitations and offer an interpretation of the empirical data from that perspective.

This study explored relationships between an individualism-collectivism orientation as well as communal orientation and the perceptions of Chinese employees (n = 20) from an MNC of intercultural communication. On the basis of previous research, we hypothesised that this group of employees would display a tendency to focus their attention on the actions, knowledge and needs of their co-workers. To verify this hypothesis, the employees were surveyed in a Chinese subsidiary of a European top manufacturing company. We administered Individualism and Collectivism Scale, Communal Orientation Scale and an original questionnaire survey collecting data about participants' opinions of cultural diversity, communication problems, and stereotypes in intercultural interactions. A correlation analysis showed that although collectivists expressed positive attitudes to cultural diversity, they accentuated a need for respecting their own cultural values. Both collectivists and communally-oriented employees were not emotionally involved in communication with co-workers from other cultures. Whilst collectivism was moderately associated with focusing on norms at a workplace, communal orientation was proven to be related to maintaining and regulating relationships within a professional group.

This study examines the personal opinions of Chinese employees working in a multicultural environment on the relationship between cultural diversity and the efficacy of their communication in a multicultural environment. To better understand the connection between cultural background and efficient business communication, we conducted a questionnaire survey in 2014 among 20 employees from a Chinese subsidiary of a European top global manufacturing company. Analyses showed that even if the respondents expressed negative effects of cultural differences on communication, they also manifested positive attitudes toward intercultural interactions. Moreover, ignoring or even disrespecting the different cultural values of interactants were regarded as basic barriers in intercultural communication, and such barriers can be avoided when a different cultural background is respected. Although cultural differences were considered to hinder the respondents' performance and often to be a source of dissatisfaction, they did not discourage them from entering into intercultural communication.