Rules of Social
Interaction
Definitions, types, cultural differences
Rules of Social Interaction are…
• According to Moghaddam et al. (1993):
– Relationship-based guidelines
– Direct behavior of individuals
– Make actions consistent with expectations
of others
• According to Shimanoff (1980):
– Prescriptions
– Obligated, preferred, or prohibited behavior
• According to Searle (1969):
– Prescriptions, regulations
– Help regulate, evaluate, predict social conduct
Rules of Social Interaction are…
• Rules help understand events, actions, behavior
• Rules help achieve end-states, goals in situations
and relationships
– Harmony
– Satisfaction
– Public-order
• Rules are conditional (can be broken, modified
or ignored)
Types of Rules
Situation rules
• Indication of how to behave in certain social
situations
• General or specific social situations
– Appropriate greeting, gifting, conversing
– Guests, strangers, friends
Types of Rules
Relationship rules
• Important component of relationships
• Explicit, formal, coded in written/spoken language, directly
stated, well-known
– Public or institutional regulations
• Implicit, informal, coded in non-verbal behavior, indirectly
stated, learned through socialization, observation
– Intimacy, social status, dominance
• Guide interactions
– voluntary relationships do not need explicit rules
– involuntary relationships need explicit rules
Types of Rules
Universal and specific rules
• Universal apply to all situations and cultures
– Friendliness, pleasantness, politeness, respect
• Specific rules apply to specific situations and
cultures
Orders of Rules
• First-order rules
– Rules of etiquette for social situations
• Second-order rules
– Rules of social relations and hierarchy
– Social distribution of rights and privileges
• Third-order rules
– Self-presentation, self-performance, self-image
Rules, Commands, Laws and Norms
•
•
•
•
Rules are general, can be followed
Commands are specific, must be followed
Rules are not enforceable, laws are enforceable
Norms are special rules that refer to regularities
in behavior
• Norms are statement of ideal behavior
Fundamental Norms
Norms of justice
• Meaning of fairness
– Norm of equity (deservingness)
• Individualism: rewards based on contribution
– Norm of equality (even distribution)
• Collectivism: rewards regardless of contribution
Fundamental Norms
Norm of reciprocity
• People should help those who have helped them
– Individualistic cultures: short-term, voluntary
reciprocity
– Collectivistic cultures: long-term, obligatory
reciprocity
Rules are Culturally Determined…
• Culture provides ‘rules of the game’
• Rules vary along cultural dimensions
– Rules are patterned and ordered by cultural values
– Rules vary according to dominant values and culture
– Rules together with values define dominant culture
• Rules have specific consequences
Rules are Culturally Determined…
• Different cultures have different expectations of
these consequences
– Sanctions for rules violations
– Disruption/deterioration of relationships
• Unsatisfactory service
– Americans more likely to complain, stop patronizing,
warn others
– Japanese more likely to take no action
Learning Rules
• Understand and deal successfully with culturally
different people
• Requires deep cultural understanding
– How and why natives interact in
a specific way
– Historical, political, economic,
religious, educational practices
– Values, beliefs, attitudes, thought
patterns
Rules of Social Relationships and
Cultural Dimensions
• Collectivistic/High UA
– More rules concerning outgroups than individualistic
• Collectivistic/High PD
– More formal rules for hierarchical work relations
– More rules for social relationships
• Masculine
– More rules of performance than rules for harmony
Rules of Social Relationships and
Cultural Dimensions
• Collectivistic
– More rules to avoid public confrontation and
negative criticism
• High UA
– More rules of conforming
behavior
– Formal rules to maintain
social order
– Less tolerance for rules violation
Rules of Social Relationships and
Cultures
• Eastern
– Obedience, conflict avoidance, saving face, group
harmony, emotional restraint, self-presentation
• Japan
– Specific rules for human interaction and situation
than to person
– Formal rules regulating public interactions than
private
• More control and more prohibited activities in public
Rules of Social Relationships and
Cultures
• Japan
– More work and group relational rules
• Supervisor-subordinate relations
• Order and hierarchy
– Significant endorsement of obedience and restraints
– More group loyalty and harmony rules
• Conflict avoidance, ‘face saving’
– Less expression of emotions
– More gift-exchange
Rules of Social Relationships and
Cultures
• Hong Kong
– Privacy, parents, ancestors, obligations
– More influence of Western values
• All cultures
– Common professional relationship rules
• Watching personal appearance
• Showing courtesy and respect
• Avoiding social intimacy
Cultural Influences of
Satisfaction
Satisfaction
•
•
•
•
High
Medium
Low
Dissatisfaction
Experience
Satisfaction
•
•
•
•
High
Medium
Low
Dissatisfaction
Performance
Experience
Internal
Performance
Internal
Performance
External
Spillover
Effect
Internal
Performance
Values
(Environment Fit)
Expectations
(disconfirmation)
Perceptions
(input-output)
Spillover
Effect
External
Performance
Physical
Host
Interactive
Cross-Cultural Satisfaction
internal
Performance
external
Guest/Tourist
culture
Experience
Host/Local
culture
Satisfaction
Cross-Cultural Satisfaction
Multifaceted
Measurement difficulty
Spillover effect
Overall Satisfaction vs. Component
Satisfaction
Perceptions
Concept, types, differences
Concept and Definitions
Perception is a process….
⚫ Through which individuals see the world around
themselves; an individual selects, organizes,
and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and
coherent picture of the world (Schiffman and
Kanuk, 1987, p.174)
⚫ By which stimuli are selected from the external
environment and interpreted into meaningful
internal experiences (Samovar and Porter, 1991)
⚫ That shape and produce what we actually
experience (Mitchell, 1978)
Concept and Definitions
⚫ Perceptions are the impressions people form of
one another and how interpretations are made
concerning the behavior of others (Hargie, 1986,
p. 47)
⚫ First impressions are particularly important
because they decide whether one associates
with others (Huston and Levinger, 1978)
Taxi drivers, security personnel, airline attendants,
registration staff influence whether or not tourists will be
willing to interact with hosts in the future
Subjectivity of Perceptions
⚫ Perceptions and their meanings are subjective
Meanings of objects/events differs depending on
perceiver
People’s views reflect environment and culture
Impacts choice of stimuli, interpretation and judgment
⚫ Perceptions depend on culturally-determined
elements
Value orientations, expectations
experiences, interests
Awareness of stimuli depends
on strength of value orientation
Subjectivity of Tourist Perceptions
⚫ Perceptions of tourists with limited
experience of the product/host
Created on basis of knowledge from promotions
(subjective)
Assessment based on subjective perceptions
⚫ Perceptions of tourists with prior
experience
Created on basis of first-hand
knowledge (reality)
Assessment based on reality
Perceptions and Social Interactions
⚫ Predominance of perceptual bias
⚫ Perceptions are selective and limited
One person, one situation, specific context of interaction
⚫ Perceptions involve categorizations
Distinctions based on common characteristics
Groupings of people/objects
⚫ Accurate development of perceptions is inhibited
Sharp distinction between categories/groups
Difficult to recognize individual distinctions within groups
Perception Checking
⚫ To increase accuracy of predictions
and interpretations concerning others’
behaviors (Gudykunst and Kim, 1997)
⚫ Three steps
Describe others’ behavior
Tell other one’s own interpretation of other’s behavior
Ask other if one’s own perceptions are accurate
⚫ Important for evaluating accuracy of one’s
perceptions
Base one’s behavior on accurate perceptions
Types of Perceptions in Social Interactions
⚫Perceptions of other people
Tourist perceptions of hosts, vice
versa
⚫Perceptions of one’s own
Tourist/host perceptions of
themselves
⚫Perceptions of the perceptions
(metaperceptions)
How others perceive they are
perceived
Culture, Social Interaction, and Perception
Culture
⚫ Perceptions are culturally conditioned
⚫ Cultural environment provides experiences and
produces meanings
⚫ Perception stimuli and criteria are culturally
determined
⚫ Culturally determined aesthetic values
determine perception of physical appearance
and attractiveness
Culture, Social Interaction, and Perception
Cultural similarity
⚫ Perceptions influenced by cultural similarity and
familiarity
⚫ Familiarity/similarity bring people together
Acceptance, progressive interaction, positive affiliation
⚫ Lack of familiarity, dissimilarity
Negative perceptions, inhibited affiliation
Negative perceptions last longer, difficult to change
Culture, Social Interaction, and Perception
⚫Perceptions depend on source of
information and interpretation of
information
Advertising, travel agents,
travel brochures, websites
Need for culturally
unbiased information
Tourists’/ Hosts’ Perceptions of Each Other
Tourists’ perceptions of hosts
⚫
⚫
⚫
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Important part of overall tourist perception of holiday
Detract from, contribute to destination success
Influence choice of destination, motivate repeat visitation
Professional, welcoming, knowledgeable, helpful hosts
Enhanced quality of product, satisfaction of needs
Encourage repeat visitation
⚫ Negative host perceptions
Discouraged visitation, criticism,
dissatisfaction
Tourists’/ Hosts’ Perceptions of Each Other
Hosts’ perceptions of tourists
⚫ Destinations with majority of tourists from different
nationalities
Perceptions relating to a variety of characteristics
⚫ Destinations with majority of domestic tourists
Perception of minor differences
⚫ Destinations with a great number of tourists
High prevalence of negative perceptions
⚫ Mass tourism leads to disappearance of positive
perceptions
Attitudes, Stereotyping, and Ethnocentrism
⚫ Attitudes formed on basis of perceptions
⚫ Image determines destination choice,
development, marketing
⚫ Attribution is process of ascribing characteristic
qualities to people/things
Attitudes, Stereotyping, and Ethnocentrism
⚫ Stereotype refers to attribution of traits, labels,
perceptions of people
Based on common characteristics
Another term for overgeneralization
Generalization about a group on the basis of few
individuals
New situations and lack of deep knowledge
Host develop tourist stereotype through gossip,
government propaganda, observations, personal past
experience
Tourists develop host stereotype from literature, media,
educational sources, prior travel experiences, other
tourists
May be positive or negative
Attitudes, Stereotyping, and Ethnocentrism
⚫ Ethnocentrism is the belief in one’s own cultural
superiority
One’s own customs, beliefs, behavioral practices better
to those of others
Other cultures treated as deviations from normality
Blocks effective intercultural interactions and
communication
Leads to cultural arrogance, avoidance, withdrawal,
faulty attribution
Leads to prejudice, discrimination, conflict, war
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