Communication is essential for human life. It is the process by which we use symbols, signs, and behaviors to exchange information (O'Hair, Wiemann, Mullin, & Teven, 2015, p. 4). Communication can be influenced by a variety of factors, but one of the most important is culture. Culture and communication will always overlap with each other because culture colors our thoughts and our perspective on the world around us. What may seem appropriate in one culture may seem rude and inappropriate in another culture. This is an example where cultural differences can actually be observed and demonstrates how much culture plays a role in communication. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay A significant cultural influence in my life is my ethnicity, which is African American. Modern African American culture was founded during the times of slavery, as slaves were forced to practice the beliefs of their white masters and could not practice their own beliefs. However, the slaves did not completely forget their traditions and beliefs of the motherland. As a result, African culture merged with the dominant European culture of that time to create the modern African American culture of today. As part of African American culture, believing in a higher power or having some sort of religious faith is very important. Nearly 79% of African Americans say religion is very important in their lives, and at least 87% of African Americans describe themselves as belonging to some type of religious group (“A Religious Portrait,” 2009). Because of the emphasis on faith in African American culture, I believe we are a collectivist and individualistic culture when it comes to religion. Collectivist cultures focus on group goals, duties/obligations, and relationships, while individualistic cultures focus more on personal goals and the individual (O'Hair et al., 2015). For example, I am a Baptist Christian. I have attended church every Sunday since I was a child, participated in the church choir and became vice president of my choir. Sometimes, my choir held bake sales to raise money for field trips and this involved all members of the choir working together towards a similar goal. Furthermore, being part of the church choir, I had the obligation to participate in choir rehearsals and meetings. On the other hand, whenever my pastor gave his sermon, there was always an emphasis on members developing a one-on-one relationship with God. We were encouraged to talk to God as individuals and focus on communicating our needs and struggles to Him whenever we felt the need. All in all, I believe that my culture's religion can have both collectivist and individualistic qualities. Another value emphasized by my culture is family. Family is such an important part of African American culture, in part because during slavery many families were separated and divided. After the emancipation of slaves, African American families were reunited and were able to teach their children the lessons learned from the trials and tribulations of slavery. For this reason, I believe that within the African American family we exhibit qualities of high power distance. High power distance cultures do not challenge authority and submit to those with higher status (O'Hair et al., 2015). In my family, my mother has the highest authority and my siblings and I all obey her. My siblings and I are always told to obey my mother and if not, ne.