Hispanic/Anglo-American differences in attributions to paralinguistic behavior

Abstract

This article reports a study of attributions made by Hispanics and Anglo-Americans to paralinguistic behaviors. The study is part of a large-scale program of research on Hispanic-Anglo differences in perceptions and interpretations of behavior. Procedures for five stages of data collection for the larger project involving interviews with persons from both cultures, observations of interactions, and the use of structured questionnaires to obtain episodes of crosscultural interactions and attributions to these episodes are summarized. Analyses of the attributional choices made by teachers and pupils of both cultures for ten episodes focusing on paralanguage elements such as tempo (fast—slow), laughing, yelling, and intensity (loudness) are presented. The Hispanic-Anglo differences found are discussed in terms of their implications for theory and for cross-cultural training.