State of the art themes in cross-cultural communication research: A systematic and meta-analytic review

Based on a meta-analysis of 60 empirical studies, a systematic review and integrative analysis of the empirical research on the effects of cultural values on communication is provided. The most commonly stated hypotheses pertaining to the links between cultural values and communication are summarized and quantitatively tested by the means of meta-analysis. Specifically, the analyses assessed the direct effects of cultural values (individualism, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance) on communication patterns (indirectness, self-promotion, face-saving concerns, attitudes to silence, openness, interruption, personal space, high-context communication, deception, dramatism, and ritualism). Significant results showed that: (1) individualism is positively related to direct communication and self-promotion, and negatively related to sensitivity and face-saving concerns and the propensity to use deception; (2) high power distance is positively related to sensitivity and face-saving concerns and indirect communication and negatively related to a propensity to interrupt; (3) masculinity is positively related to a self-promoting communication style and direct communication and negatively related to sensitivity and face-saving concerns; and (4) uncertainty avoidance is positively related to both sensitivity and face-saving concerns. Finally, a moderator analysis indicated that cultural effects are stronger for men and culturally tight societies. The small dataset and the a possibility of systemic omission of relevant data due to the file-drawer problem is a threat to validity of the reported findings, so this report should be taken as a meta-analytic summary of the available empirical evidence and not as conclusive results. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.