Contexting

A strategy of choosing the appropriate mix of verbal and extraverbal communication to get a message across. Certain cultures demand that great attention be paid to the context of a message. Situations within cultures also demand that we pay attention to the context of a message. There are high-context (HC) and low-context (LC) frameworks. Low context involves verbal skills and self expression. High context involves nonverbal skills and limited expression.

In his book titled Beyond Culture (1976), Edward T. Hall mentions that an LC communication is one in which the mass of the information used is vested in the explicit code. Direct, verbal skills and the ability to give detailed, exact information are most important. Such communication is frequently used in business, law, and the classroom. It is unstable, not necessarily linked to the past, quick to change, hectic, and carries a danger of information overload. Because the transmitted message does not depend on the contextuality of its information, it is slower, less efficient, and less personal. Low context communication can express distance or displeasure as when we address people by their full name because they upset us. An LC message needs all informational specificity to put a decision in context. An LC message needs all the information to put the decision in context.

An HC communication or message is one in which most of the information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person. Very little information is coded. It is indirect communication using nonverbal skills. It is rooted in the past, slow to change, and used through understanding the social context (including the social background) of a person. Raising the contexting indicates warmth in the relationship. This is seen in the use of informality in greeting people or the use of friendly nicknames. There is more concern about group consensus than individual decision making. For more information, see Hall (1976).