It is argued that East Asian communication patterns differ from those of North America because of the Eastern emphasis on social relationships as opposed to the North American emphasis on individualism. This East Asian preoccupation with social relationships stems from the doctrines of Confucianism, which considers proper human relationships to be the basis of society. The cardinal principle of Confucianism is humanism, which is understood as a warm human feeling between people and strongly emphasizes reciprocity. As a philosophy of humanism and ...