Exam 3: Language, Communication, Culture, and Power in Context

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The Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) is a theory that explains how people adjust their communication style to accommodate or adapt to the communication behavior of others. This theory suggests that individuals may either converge or diverge their communication style in order to either gain social approval or to emphasize their social identity.

Convergence refers to the act of adjusting one's communication style to be more similar to that of the person they are interacting with. This can be seen in situations where individuals may adopt a similar accent, use similar vocabulary, or mirror the body language of the person they are communicating with. For example, if a person from the southern United States is speaking with someone from the northern United States, they may consciously or unconsciously adjust their speech patterns to sound more like the person they are speaking with.

Divergence, on the other hand, refers to the act of emphasizing the differences in communication style between oneself and the person they are interacting with. This can be seen in situations where individuals may purposefully maintain their own unique communication style in order to assert their social identity. For example, a person from a different cultural background may intentionally speak in their native language or maintain their cultural customs in a conversation with someone from a different background.

Overall, the Communication Accommodation Theory helps to explain how individuals adapt their communication style in order to either gain social approval or to assert their social identity in various social interactions.