International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

Culture and Communication Styles: Collectivism vs Individualism Cultural Orientations from Malaysian Perspectives

Open access
The primary objective of this research is to examine the relations between individualism-collectivism and communication styles among students attending public universities in the Klang Valley region of Malaysia. A total of 380 students from three Malaysian public universities were chosen through stratified sampling to participate in this study. The data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The findings indicate that the majority of respondents exhibited a moderate level of individualism and high level of communication styles, while nearly all respondents displayed a collectivist orientation. The results also revealed significant correlations between individualism and communication styles such as impression leaving, argumentative, attentive, animated, dramatic, open, and dominant. Meanwhile, collectivism showed correlations with friendly, impression leaving, relaxed, argumentative, attentive, animated, open, and dominant communication styles. From this study, by understanding the principles of individualism and collectivism is vital for effective communication, as these cultural orientations significantly shape individuals' expectations and interpretations of interactions. Recognizing these cultural perspectives can enhance mutual understanding, minimize miscommunication, and improve the overall effectiveness of cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration.
Balakrishnan, K. (2022). Influence of Cultural Dimensions on Intercultural Communication Styles: Ethnicity in a Moderating Role. Journal of Communication, Language and Culture, 2(1), 46–62.
Gudykunst, W. B. (2003). Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Hajar, A., & Manan, S. A. (2022). Emergency remote English language teaching and learning: Voices of primary school students and teachers in Kazakhstan. Review of Education, 10(2), e3358.
Hall, E. T., & Hall, M. R. (2001). Key concepts: Underlying structures of culture. International HRM: Managing diversity in the workplace, 24.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture and organizations. International studies of management & organization, 10(4), 15-41.
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online readings in psychology and culture, 2(1), 2307-0919.
Ibrahim, M., Baharun, H., Harun, H., & Othman, N. (2017). Antecedents of Intrinsic Motivation, Metacognition and Their Effects on Students' Academic Performance in Fundamental Knowledge for Matriculation Courses. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 14(2), 211-246.
Infante, D. A., and Rancer, A. S. (1982) A Conceptualization and Measure of Argumentativeness. Journal of Personality Assessment, 46, 72-80.
Kelly, B. (2021). How Culture Affects Communication: A Quick Guide. Communication Styles.
Kim, M., & Yuan, Y. (2015). No cross-cultural differences in the Gettier car case intuition: A replication study of Weinberg et al. 2001. Episteme, 12(3), 355-361.
Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Oxford Research Encyclopedias of Communication (Ed.), Cross-cultural adaptation.
Kress, G. R. (Ed.). (1988). Communication and culture: An introduction. UNSW Press.
Lai, S. A., Pang, K. Y., Siau, C. S., Chan, C. M. H., Tan, Y. K., Ooi, P. B., ... & Ho, M. C. (2022). Social support as a mediator in the relationship between perceived stress and nomophobia: An Investigation among Malaysian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Psychology, 1-8.
Ma, C., & Zhou, W. (2022). Effects of unfolding case-based learning on academic achievement, critical thinking, and self-confidence in undergraduate nursing students learning health assessment skills. Nurse Education in Practice, 60, 103321.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253
Noraini, M. N., Nur Diana, A. R, & Afiq, M. I. M. Z. (2018). Gratitude, Gratitude Intervention and Well-being in Malaysia. The Journal of Behavioural Science, 13(2), 1-18.
Norton, R. W. (1978). Foundation of a communicator style construct. Human Communication Research, 4(2), 99-112.
Norton, R. W. (1983). Communicator Style: Theory, Applications, and Measures. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA, USA.
Saarni, C. (1999). A Skill-Based Model of Emotional Competence: A Developmental Perspective.
Seppala, E. M., Bradley, C., Moeller, J., Harouni, L., Nandamudi, D., & Brackett, M. A. (2020). Promoting mental health and psychological thriving in university students: a randomized controlled trial of three well-being interventions. Frontiers in psychiatry, 590.
Triandis, H. C. (1995). Individualism & collectivism. Westview Press.
Triandis, H. C., & Gelfand, M. J. (1998). Converging measurement of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 118.
Xiao, S. X., Spinrad, T. L., Xu, J., Eisenberg, N., Laible, D. J., Carlo, G., ... & Xu, X. (2022). Parents' valuing diversity and White children's prosociality toward White and Black peers. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 83, 101459.
Yuan, C. Y., Liao, W., & Bazarova, N. N. (2019). Judging Expertise Through Communication Styles in Intercultural Collaboration.