Misunderstanding can also occur easily in cross-cultural communication
due to many sources, including, but not limited to:
1. Misperception: cultures act as fi lters and lead us to distort, block,
and even create what we choose to see and to hear.
2. Misinterpretation (or misattribution): occurs when individuals give
wrong meaning to observations and their relationships. Based on
our experience and culture, we make assumptions about what we
perceive so we will not have to rediscover meanings each time we
encounter similar situations. Th ese assumptions may not be right,
and assumptions held by individuals are diff erent because their experience
and cultures are diff erent. One cause of misinterpretation is
stereotyping. Stereotyping is a form of categorization that organizes
our experience and conditions our behavior towards various groups
within society.
3. Misevaluation: evaluation involves judging whether someone or
something is good or bad. We use our own culture as a standard of
measurement, reflexively judging that which is like our own culture
as normal and good and that which is different as abnormal
and bad.