Communication Context

All communication takes place in a context that has at least four dimensions: (I) physical, (2) social-psychological, (3) temporal, and (4) cultural. The physical context is the tangible or concrete environment in which communication takes place the room or hallway or park. This physical context exerts some influence on the content of your messages (what you say) as well as on the form (how you say it).

The social-psychological context includes, for example, the status relationships among the participants, the roles and the games that people play, and the cultural rules of the society in which people are communicating. It also includes the friendliness or unfriendliness, formality or informality, and seriousness or humorousness of the situation. Communication that would be permitted at a graduation party might not be considered appropriate at a funeral.

The temporal (or time) context includes the time of day as well as the time in history in which the communication takes place. For many people, the morning is not a time for communication. For others, the morning is ideal. Historical context is no less important – because the appropriateness and impact of messages depend, in part, on the time in which they're uttered. Consider, for example, how messages on racial, sexual, or religious attitudes and values would be differently framed and responded to in different times in history.

Still another aspect of time is how a message fits into the sequence of communication events. For example, consider the varied meanings a "simple" compliment paid to a friend would have depending on whether you said itimmediately after your friend paid you a compliment, immediately before you asked your friend for a favor, or during an argument.

The cultural context has to do with your (and others') culture: the beliefs, values, and ways of behaving that are shared by a group of people and passed down from one generation to the next. Cultural factors affect every interaction and influence what you say and how you say it. As you'll see the communication strategies and principles that work with members of one culture may not work with members of other cultures. And this is why intercultural communication is so difficult and why culture is so crucial to communication. In fact, research shows that you lose more information in an intercultural situation (approximately 50 percent) than in an intracultural situation (approximately 25 percent) (Li, 1999).

These dimensions of context interact with one another. For example, arriving late for an appointment (temporal context) might violate a cultural rule, which might lead to changes in the social-psychological context, perhaps creating tension and unfriendliness, which in turn might lead to changes in the physical context for example, choosing a less intimate restaurant for your lunch meeting.

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