Communication and Biases

Communication Errors and Unconscious Biases: Egocentrism, Overconfidence, and Closeness-Communication

By Amelia Young | February 5, 2020

Intercultural communication can be difficult for multinational enterprises and for individuals who communicate cross-culturally. The purpose of communication, whether cross-culturally or not, is “to create shared meaning (mutual understanding)” (Shockley-Zalabak, 2016, p. 100). To be effective, we must work to build “a bridge to the world of the receiver” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2012, p. 39). When crafting messages, we must consider the perspective of the receiver, which “involves learning to use flexible approaches to listen, observe, and speak according to the specific situation at hand” (p. 38).

First, let’s talk about the process of human communication, which is a circular interaction where a sender encodes a message using words, symbols, or nonverbal language. The sender then chooses a channel to transmit the message to a receiver; this could be accomplished through face-to-face interactions, email, text, phone calls, business proposal, or other forms of transmission. When received, the message is decoded, and the receiver ascribes its meaning, then provides feedback (Shockley-Zalabak, 2016). In general, the human communication process sounds simple, but communication is susceptible to multiple sources of errors. Common errors can result from egocentrism, overconfidence, and closeness-communication biases.

Now let’s talk about these unconscious biases that often get in the way of effective cross-cultural communication. Egocentrism creates an inability to see another persons’ point of view. This leads us to become overconfident in our judgments of our understanding of message meaning and can affect both the sender and the receiver (Bazerman & Moore, 2012). The closeness-communication bias is a phenomenon where people think they are better able to communicate effectively with friends than strangers. A 2010 study found that “people engage in active monitoring of strangers’ divergent perspectives because they know they must, but that they ‘let down their guard’ and rely more on their own perspective when they communicate with a friend” (Savitsky, Keysar, Epley, Carter, & Swanson, 2010, p. 269). Egocentrism, overconfidence, and closeness-communication biases are common. We all tend to interpret, judge, and perceive information from an egocentric perspective, that is, we apply meaning to a message using our own “self-image, needs, values, expectations, goals, standards, cultural norms, and personality” (Moran et al., 2012, p. 39).

Global business leaders and their employees may spend a significant amount of their days engaged in intercultural communication, “which seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate and perceive the world around them” (Moran et al., 2012, p. 41). When communicating cross-culturally, individuals must be conscious of their communication biases and take the time to consider the other person’s intangible culture, including their “language, customs, beliefs, values, and mores [that have been] passed on from generation to generation” (p. 41).

It’s not just business leaders engaging in intercultural communication who must be aware of the communication biases. Individuals who communicate cross-culturally must also consider these communication biases. In a recent documentary, Meghan Markel, the Duchess of Sussex, shared with us some of the difficulties she has faced since her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry. When asked about how she’s been doing personally since marrying the Prince, the Duchess hesitated, carefully considering her response, then told us it’s been hard. Being a new wife and mother under the scrutiny of British tabloids has been difficult, but she also acknowledged she didn’t “think anyone [could] understand that” (FFTV, 2019, 42:00). She admitted she had no idea how difficult life would be as the wife of a Royal, although she was warned. Her British friends told her the British tabloids would try to destroy her, and there’s no doubt her husband would have attempted to prepare her for Royal life. Egocentrism and closeness-communication biases may have affected how her friends and husband crafted their messages, and her own biases likely influenced how she decoded those messages. The intercultural communications may have seemed clear as day to the senders, but as an American, the Duchess’s intangible culture, her values, beliefs, language, and norms, would have played a significant role in how she decoded those messages. The Duchess is berated continuously by those who would say she knew what she was getting herself into. However, it is more likely that the Duchess decoded messages based on the limits of her own cultural frame of reference.

To become effective intercultural communicators, we must learn to recognize our biases and adopt “flexible approaches to listen, observe, and speak according to the specific situation at hand” (Moran et al., 2012, p. 38).

References

Bazerman, M. H., & Moore, D. A. (2012). Judgment in managerial decision making (8th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

FFTV. (2019). Harry and Meghan an African journey: Full documentary. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_c7ZhK0AKA

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). Oxford: Routledge.

Morguefile. (n.d.). Global communication image: Source-inderjeetsingh. [Image]. Retrieved from https://morguefile.com/photos/morguefile/2/communication/pop

Savitsky K., Keysar, B., Epley, N., Carter, T., and Swanson, A. (2010). The closeness-communication bias: Increased egocentrism among friends versus strangers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 47(1). pp. 269-73. Retrieved from https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5c484e0f4aa6f839dc553c45/5c9529b0c2075bc4df1ae46c_Savistsky%20et%20al%202011.pdf

Shockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2016). Fundamentals of organizational communication: Knowledge, sensitivity, skills, values (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.