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The effect of dichotomous/bipolar thinking, rigid thinking, and tolerance of ambiguity on communication styles : a comparative study of American and Japanese students / Georgios Triantis

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Identifier	Thesis 1552
Author	Triantis, Georgios
Title	The effect of dichotomous/bipolar thinking, rigid thinking, and tolerance of ambiguity on communication styles : a comparative study of American and Japanese students / Georgios Triantis
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date	1998
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Notes	As interactions between people from different cultures increase, the need to understand and accept communication styles which sharply contrast with our own, becomes more evident. One individual characteristic that affects substantially the communication style, and which seems to be cultural in nature, is the tendency of people to think in "either-or" terms, and to desire clear cut, black and white answers. This bipolarity in thinking favors rigid, categorical perception and extreme positions at the poles of the continuum. Two concepts, which attempt to describe this attitude, are "dichotomous/bipolarity thinking" and "tolerance of ambiguity." The tendency of people to think in a dichotomous/bipolar way, in either-or terms, has been described with terms such as "all-or-none" thinking, "the law of the excluded middle" "double bind position" and "polarization." Intolerance of ambiguity includes several characteristics: (a) rigid dichotomizing into fixed categories, (need for categorization); (b) seeking for certainty and avoiding ambiguity, (need for certainty); (c) inability to allow for the coexistence of positive and negative features in the same object, for example, "good" and "bad" traits in the same person; and (d) acceptance of attitude statements representing a rigid black-white view of life. These two concepts are examined in the broader context of Western versus Eastern culture. The review of literature leads to the conclusion that significant differences should be expected between cultures from the East versus the West. The profile of American culture leads to the hypothesis that dichotomous/bipolar thinking may be high. The second research hypothesis predicts a negative relationship between dichotomous thinking and tolerance of ambiguity. In addition, Rigid Thinking, a third concept is included in the study because it is considered to be a consequence of the presence of dichotomous thinking. Rigidity points to difficulties in overcoming single sets or beliefs encountered in attacking, solving, or learning specific tasks or problems. Two more hypotheses are therefore formulated: Dichotomous Thinking is positively correlated with Rigid Thinking, and Rigid Thinking is negatively related to Tolerance of Ambiguity. A Japanese sample of undergraduate students from Jochidaigaku University in Tokyo is selected to constitute Group 1 of the experiment and an American sample of undergraduate students from Central Connecticut State University constitutes Group 1. The survey was administered to convenient samples of both schools. There are 198 Subjects for Group 1 and 196 for Group 2 (394 total). The findings support the first hypothesis: American students scored significantly higher in Dichotomous Thinking than Japanese students. In relation to the second hypothesis, Dichotomous Thinking and Tolerance of Ambiguity do not appear to be related. It is only Rigid Thinking and Tolerance of Ambiguity that show a substantial negative relationship (fourth hypothesis). Additionally, the third hypothesis is accepted: Dichotomous Thinking is positively correlated with Rigid Thinking. Among demographic characteristics, in Group 1 only (Japanese), Father's Education is positively related to Dichotomous Thinking, Age is positively related to Rigid Thinking, Religion and Frequency of Religious Participation are negatively related to Rigid Thinking. The findings suggest that effective intercultural communication should encompass empathetic style: what may seem to be ambivalent or annoying must be regarded as a cultural predisposition and not as an individual property. The ability to deal with different communication styles is crucial in order for someone to become a more effective communicator. It is also suggested that further research should look at various other social groups, as well as more cultures. Finally, future research may investigate the potential that Dichotomous Thinking, Rigid Thinking and Tolerance of Ambiguity are causally related.
Subject	Communication in learning and scholarship Education -- Demographic aspects
Department	Department of Communication
Advisor	Ju, Yan'an
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	42438576
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The effect of dichotomous/bipolar thinking, rigid thinking, and tolerance of ambiguity on communication styles : a comparative study of American and Japanese students / Georgios Triantis

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