Assimilating and Bonding Through Communication

Assimilation is a process of interpretation and fusion in which individuals and groups acquire the memories, sentiments, and attitudes of others through sharing their experiences and histories, which are then incorporated into cultural life (Ogburn and Nimkoff, 1979 as cited in Bannister, 1988). Assimilation is so highly subjective, that it is hard to observe and hence to understand, and yet it is one of the main results of intersocial stimulation. A leading product of assimilation is like-mindedness (Bogardus, 1924). A major part of living and working with multicultural communities is communicating and forming relationships. Communication across regions and cultures can sometimes lead people to unwittingly use what is known as the “Chameleon Effect.”

The Chameleon Effect

Imitation is the best form of flattery

I have to admit that in the past I have found myself copying gestures, shorting sentences, and trying to speak to my Hispanic families in their dialect. I did not think about whether it was offensive or not but I was trying just connect and fit in. It turns out that we mimic accents and behaviors in order to assimilate ourselves with others and to create a bond of intimacy, empathy and friendship. We partly consciously, and partly subconsciously, pick up the local accent and behaviors as a means of fitting in, unintentionally mirroring others when interacting by copying the other person’s gestures, body language, tone of voice and accent, in order to bond with others and feel safe in social interactions. This is called the "Chameleon Effect" and it’s embedded in human nature.

The chameleon effect is the unintended and unconscious mimicking of one's interaction partners' postures, mannerisms, facial expressions, and other behaviors, so that one's conduct alters to match that of others in one's current social environment (Cartrand & Bargh, 1999). Mimicry is a form of social glue. When we mimic the same behavior as our customers, it helps us understand how they feel. Additionally, it makes them feel better and enjoy the interactions with your company more. There is even a part of the brain dedicated to copying this behavior. It’s a natural tendency that we don’t often realize we are doing and if you are a person who is more influenced by other’s behaviors then you are more likely to display the "Chameleon Effect". Those of us working across multicultural and/or multilingual environments, especially early childhood educators might catch ourselves in moments of mimicking.. It is perhaps one of the many ways in which we seek to create the new connections and relationships with families that will support their experience. The downside of this is that the tendency to copy accents can often be a cause of embarrassment. However, despite sounding a bit ridiculous at times, the "Chameleon Effect" can have a positive impact on social interactions. Research has shown that not only does it help us understand each other better, but it also helps us to bond more easily, as imitating another person comes from a desire to feel a strong connection to them. Studies have also shown that people enjoyed social interactions more if they experienced the Chameleon Effect in comparison to those who did not experience it.

Cross Culture Communication

Although we're all different, we share many similarities.

Relationships are powerful. Our one-to-one connections with each other are the foundation for change. Building relationships with people from different cultures is key in building diverse communities that are powerful enough to achieve significant goals (Mindstool, n.d.). What can be difficult, however, is understanding how to communicate effectively with individuals who speak another language, or who rely on different means to reach a common goal.

Whether you want to make sure your children get a good education, bring quality health care into your communities, or promote economic development, there is a good chance you will need to work with people from several different racial, language, ethnic, or economic groups. And in order to work with people from different cultural groups effectively, you will need to build sturdy and caring relationships based on trust, understanding, and shared goals.

Why? Because trusting relationships are the glue that hold people together as they work on a common problem. As people work on challenging problems, they will have to hang in there together when things get hard. They will have to support each other to stay with an effort, even when it feels discouraging. People will have to resist the efforts of those who use divide-and-conquer techniques pitting one cultural group against another. Regardless of your racial, ethnic, religious, or socioeconomic group, you will probably need to establish relationships with people whose group you may know very little about. Needless to say learning the basics about the culture and at least something about the different avenues available for communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures is important.

References

Bannister, R. (1988). Sociology and scientism: The case of William F. Ogburn. https://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/rbannis1/Sociology/Ogburn/ogburn.ASS.html

Bogardus, E. (1924). Assimilation. Fundamentals of Social Psychology. New York: Century

Cartrand, T. & Bargh, J. (1999, June). The chameleon effect: the perception-behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76 (6), 893-910. https://acmelab.yale.edu/sites/default/files/1999_the_chameleon_effect.pdf

Mindstool. (n.d.). Cross-culture communication: Good collaboration is a must. https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/Cross-Cultural-communication.htm