Willingness to communicate: Differing cultural perspectives

TLDR

Individual differences in the tendency to approach or avoid communication have been recognized for decades, and recent cross‑cultural studies in Australia, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Sweden, and the United States reveal substantial variation both between and within cultures. The study aims to demonstrate that understanding how culture shapes these individual communication tendencies is essential for advancing intercultural communication research. To investigate this, the authors draw on research examining willingness to communicate, introversion, communication apprehension, and self‑perceived communication competence across multiple countries. The results indicate that the degree to which these individual tendencies develop varies markedly across cultures.

Abstract

The general tendency to approach or avoid communication has been recognized as an important individual difference among people in a single culture for several decades. Recent research in Australia, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Sweden, and the United States suggests large differences exist in such tendencies between people in different cultures as well as within a given culture. This research suggests such "individual" tendencies may be developed to very different degrees in dissimilar cultures. The view is taken that an understanding of the cultural impact on individual differences should be a vital component in the study of intercultural communication. Examples are drawn from research on general willingness to communicate, introversion, communication apprehension, and self‐perceived communication competence in several countries around the world.