high-context culture

• high context culture

Coined by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his 1976 book Beyond Culture

high-context culture (plural high-context cultures)

1. A culture in which communication relies heavily on context, leaving many things implied rather than explicitly put into words.
   • 2003, P. Christopher Earley, Soon Ang, Cultural Intelligence, →ISBN, page 106:

     These social and environmental cues need not be direct and easily observed; high-context cultures use the nuances of social interaction — its content and symbolism — to understand a given situation.

   • 2008, John F. Cragan, David W. Wright, Chris R. Kasch, Communication in Small Groups, →ISBN, page 145:

     Persons socialized in low-context cultures (Americans, many Europeans) are more open and expressive and may find it difficult to take the perspective of their team members from high-context cultures

   • 2010, Marieke de Mooij, Global Marketing and Advertising, →ISBN, page 71:

     To the observer, an unknown high-context culture can be completely mystifying, because symbols that are not known to the observer play such an important role.