Asian People are High-Context Communicators
An intentional lack of directness in conversation is favored by people from many Asian cultures because preserving harmony between people is often more important than getting at the exact “truth”. Asian cultures are typically high context cultures in which gesture, body language, eye contact, pitch, intonation, word stress, and the use of silence are as important as the actual words being spoken in conversation. Asians are typically polite in social encounters whereas Americans, being very low context communicators, are comfortable with very direct questions and answers and often seem abrupt to people from high context cultures. This is important to keep in mind when communicating with Asian people, especially those who are relatively new to the United States. Asian people may be “tuned” to the moods of the others during conversation, and culturally they expect others to be similarly sensitive. Asians patients may expect doctors to sort out their concerns, confusion, and hesitance within the context of polite conversation, while western doctors mistake head-nodding, smiles, and verbal assent as clear indication of understanding and agreement when the opposite is in fact true. Particularly enigmatic to Americans is the Asian tendency to smile when confused or embarrassed. Smiling does not necessarily indicate pleasure or humor in all cultures. When dealing with Asian children in particular, it is important to make careful observations and ask clarifying questions.