Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Motivations of Verbal Communication: Review, Critique, and a Theoretical Framework

There has been an immense amount and variety of scholarship on the topic of motivation to communicate verbally (e.g., communication apprehension, assertive-ness). The work in the area of communication motivation has been biased by the individualist assumption, explicit or implicit, that communication approach is more desirable than communication “avoidance.” The author agrees that extreme forms of communication “avoidance” and lack of verbal assertiveness can be a handicap in any culture. However, she is critical of the ethnocentric preoccupation with the Western view of the self, which sees communication “avoidance” solely as a “deficiency.” The purposes of this review are (a) to synthesize and evaluate critically prior cross-cultural research on verbal communication motivation, (b) to examine the philosophical/cultural basis of that research, and (c) to propose a theoretical framework for studying communication motivation from a derived etic perspective. Throughout, limitations in current knowledge are noted and avenues for future research are proposed. This review also provides practical suggestions for coping with the different degrees of communication motivation within various interaction contexts (classrooms, organizations, and counseling).