Alternative Views of Reality: Cultural Values

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Chapter 5

• Alternative Views of Reality Cultural Values

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Chapter Quotes

• Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts
  become your words. Your words become your
  actions. Your actions become your habits. Your
  habits become your values. Your values become
  your destiny.
• On a group of theories one can found a school
  but on a group of values one can found a culture,
  a civilization, a new way of living together
  among men.

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• Your daily life is guided by culture.
• Family, history, religion, cultural identity
  all contribute to your decisions as to what you
  think about and how you should act.

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• Culture and communication are so intertwined that
  it is easy to conceive that culture is
  communication and communication is culture.
• Culture seeks to tell its members what to expect
  from life, and therefore it reduces confusion and
  helps us predict the future.
• The basic elements of culture are history,
  religion, values, social organizations, and
  language.

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Perception

• What do you see when you look at the moon?
• Which numbers are considered good luck or bad
  luck?
• What does the V sign mean to you?

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Whats on the moon?

• Americans see a man on the moon.
• Native Americans and Japanese see a rabbit.
• Some Chinese see a lady fleeing her husband.
• Samoans see a woman weaving.

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Lucky/Unlucky Numbers

• In China and Japan, 4 is a very bad number, but 7
  and 8 are very good numbers.
• In America, 13 is a bad number and 7 is
  considered good or lucky

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The V Sign

• In America, the V sign is for Victory or peace.
• In Taiwan, the V sign means happiness or good
  luck.

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• Why do most Asians respond negatively to white
  envelopes?

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• Why do people respond negatively to yellow
  flowers in Peru, Iran, and Mexico?

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• The objects (Moon, hands, flowers) are all the
  same why is the reaction different?
• The reason is perception how diverse cultures
  have taught their members to look at the world in
  different ways.

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• Perception is the means by which you make sense
  of your physical and social world.
• There is no reality except the one contained
  within us and that reality has been placed in
  us, in part, by our culture.

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• The world inside of us includes symbols, things,
  people, ideas, events, ideologies, and even
  faith.
• Our perceptions give meaning to external forces.

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• "Perception is the process of selecting,
  organizing, and interpreting sensory data in a
  way that enables us to make sense of our world."

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• Perception is the process of converting the
  physical energy of the world outside into
  meaningful internal experiences.
• We can never truly know the world.

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• We never experience the world as it truly is. We
  only experience as it comes through our senses
  (and is thus filtered by our culture and
  perception).

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Perception and Culture

• Whether you feel delighted or ill at the thought
  of eating the flesh of a cow, pig, fish, dog, or
  snake depends on what your culture has taught you
  about food.

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• Whether you enjoy the sight of a bull being
  jabbed with short, barbed steel spears and long
  sharp swords or think it is inhumane depends on
  culture.

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• American ltgt Mexican babies see different things
  in stereograms (p. 129)
• Caucasian ltgt Navajo mothers see different
  behaviors as good or bad in their children.
• In Japan, a quiet person is seen as smart and
  thoughtful. In America, credible people are
  direct and decisive.
• Blinking while someone is talking.

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• In America, cultures teaches the value of youth
  and rejects growing old.
• In Arab, Asian, Latin American, and American
  Indian cultures, older people are perceived in a
  very positive light.

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• Culture strongly influences our subjective
  reality.
• Cultural factors provide some of the meaning
  involved in perception and are, therefore,
  intimately implicated in the process.

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• Perception is selective there are too many
  stimuli fighting for your attention at any time,
  so you only allow selected information through to
  your conscious mind.

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• Perceptual patterns are learned.
• We are born into a world without meaning and it
  is culture that assigns meaning to most of our
  experiences.
• Perception is culturally determined. We learn to
  see the world in a certain way based on our
  cultural background.

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Beliefs

• Beliefs serve as the storage system for the
  content of our past experiences, including
  thoughts, memories, and interpretations of
  events. Beliefs are shaped by the individuals
  culture.
• Beliefs are important because they are accepted
  as truths.

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• Beliefs are usually reflected in your actions and
  communication behavior.
• If you believe that snakes are slimy, you avoid
  them. If you believe that only through handling
  snakes you can find God, you handle them and
  believe that your faith will protect you.

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• Whatever you trust as the source of truth and
  knowledge depends on your cultural background and
  experiences.
• If someone believes something different, you
  cant just declare it wrong because its not
  what you believe.

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• You must be able to recognize that different
  cultures have different realities and belief
  systems.
• Beliefs are so much a part of culture, we usually
  do not question them or demand proof of them. We
  simply accept them because we know they are true.

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Values

• Beliefs form the basis for your values.
• Values are a learned organization of rules for
  making choices and for resolving conflicts.
• Values are shared ideas about what is true,
  right, and beautiful.

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• Values are enduring attitudes about the
  preferability of one belief over another.
• A value system represents what is expected or
  hoped for, required, or forbidden.

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• Evil vs. Good
• Dangerous vs. Safe
• Ugly vs. Beautiful
• Irrational vs. Rational
• Dirty vs. Clean
• Decent vs. Indecent
• Unnatural vs. Natural
• Moral vs. Immoral

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• Values can be classified as primary, secondary,
  and tertiary.
• Primary
• Most important. Specify what is worth the
  sacrifice of human life.
• In the U.S. Democracy and the protection of
  oneself and ones family are primary values.

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• Secondary
• Relieving the pain and suffering of others
  acquiring material possessions.
• In U.S. Alleviation of pain and suffering of
  others and securing material possessions.

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• Tertiary
• Least important. Hospitality to guests and
  cleanliness.
• In U.S. Hospitality to guests and cleanliness

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• Values are programmed early in our lives and are
  therefore often nonrational.
• Values inform members of a culture what is normal
  by identifying right and wrong, good and evil,
  etc.

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• The expression of affection is a value that
  differs among cultures.
• In the U.S. it is encouraged to express your
  feelings openly and outwardly.
• The positive U.S. value toward the expression of
  emotion is very different from the one found in
  China.

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• Values get translated into action.
• If you know that Japanese value attention to
  detail and politeness, you may carefully examine
  the business card handed to you rather than
  quickly looking and putting it away.

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Studying Cultural Patterns

• People and cultures are very complex and consist
  of numerous interrelated cultural orientations.
• Cultural patterns are a system of beliefs and
  values that work in combination to provide a
  coherent model for viewing the world.

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• These patterns help people perceive and think
  about the world and also the manner in which they
  live in that world.
• These patterns are systematic and repetitive
  instead of random and regular.

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Obstacles in Studying Cultural Patterns

• We are more than our culture
• The dominant values of a culture does not mean
  that every individual in that culture holds those
  same values.
• Cultural patterns are interrelated
• We can only talk about 1 cultural pattern at a
  time, but in reality, many cultural patterns are
  woven together and intertwined.

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• Heterogeneity Influences Cultural Patterns
• Common cultural patterns that could be said to
  hold for the whole country must be limited to the
  dominant culture.

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• Cultural patterns change
• Time, globalization, outside influences, and
  other factors all change our cultural patterns.
• Cultural patterns are often contradictory
• Americans claim to be moral and honorable, but we
  have one of the most violent countries on earth.

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Dominant U.S. Cultural Patterns

• The U.S. has a multiracial, ethnic society. It is
  difficult to make a list of American values.
• There are similar characteristics that all
  Americans share, regardless of their age, race,
  gender, or ethnicity.

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Individualism

• Each individual is unique, special, and
  completely different from all other individuals.
• The individual is "the basic unit of nature."
• The interests of the individual are top priority.
• All values, rights, and duties original in
  individuals.

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• The American sense of individualism and a
  tradition of individual rights and liberties is
  unique among civilized societies.
• Many Americans believe that there is something
  wrong with people who fail to demonstrate
  individuality.

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Equality

• "All men are created equal.
• Everyone has a right to vote.
• Call people by their first names.
• Children are often treated as adults (allowed to
  make decisions)

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• Most friends and coworkers are also treated as
  equals.
• Americans do have ways of marking status tone
  of voice, order of speaking, choice of words, and
  seating arrangements.

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• Even though Americans value equality, many
  Americans still evaluate others according to
  race, sex, ethnicity, or social class.
• Even though America should be a nation of equals,
  it is evident that some Americans are more equal
  than others.

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Materialism

• Americans consider it a right to be materially
  well off (own a lot of stuff) and physically
  comfortable.
• American materialism is "natural and proper.
• "The person who dies with the most toys wins."

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• Americans expect to have swift and convenient
  transportation (controlled by themselves), a
  large variety of foods at home, clothes for every
  occasion, and comfortable homes equipped with
  environmental controls and labor-saving devices.

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Science and Technology

• Modern civilization depends on science.
• Many Americans think that their survival is
  linked to scientific knowledge (computers,
  internet, TV, cell phones, etc.)
• Science allows us to predict and control much of
  life.

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Progress and Change

• Change, newness, and progress are all highly
  valued.
• Americans do not value "the status quo.
• Early Americans destroyed forests, swamps, and
  nature in order to "build" America.

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• Americans all consider society as a body in a
  state of improvement, and humanity as a changing
  scene.
• Americans tend to be optimistic, receptive to
  change, and emphasize the future, not the past.

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• The changes must move in a definite direction and
  that direction must be good.
• Americans generally dont fear taking chances.

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Work and Leisure

• Great value is placed on hard work.
• When meeting someone new, it's normal to ask
  What do you do for a living?
• Leisure is a "reward" for hard work.
• Americans value the belief of "Work hard, play
  hard."

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Competition

• "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.
• American sports, especially children's sports,
  are highly competitive.
• Aggressive, competitive players are seen as good
  players.

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• From an early age, people are ranked, graded,
  classified, and evaluated so that everyone will
  know they are the best.
• For competitive Americans, who hate losing,
  everything in life is a game to win.

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• Competition challenges Americans to become even
  better.
• How does this pose problems or differ from Asian
  culture?

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• Individualism, equality, materialism, science and
  technology, progress and change, work and
  leisure, and competition.
• How many of these values are the same in
  Taiwanese culture?
• Which of these values is different?

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Diverse Cultural Patterns

• Hofstede
• Five value dimensions
• Kluckhohns and Strodtbeck
• Four value dimensions
• Hall
• High-context/Low-context culture
• Ting-Toomey
• Face and face-work in intercultural
  communication.

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Hofstedes Values Dimensions

• The most prominent and diverse culture patterns
  that explain both perceptual and communication
  differences
• People carry mental programs that are developed
  in the family and reinforced in schools and
  organizations.

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• Individualism and Collectivism (p.141)
• Uncertainty avoidance (p.145)
• Power distance (p.146)
• Masculinity and Femininity (p. 148)
• Long-term and short-term orientation (p. 150)

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Individualism Collectivism

• Individualistic and collective value tendencies
  are part of every day life in family, school, and
  workplace interactions.
• Although no culture totally ignores
  individualistic or collective goals, cultures
  differ significantly on which of these factors
  they consider more critical.

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Individualism

• The individual is the single most important unit
  in any social setting.
• Independence rather than dependence is stressed.
• Individual achievement is awarded.
• The uniqueness of each individual is of paramount
  value.

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• The U.S., Australia, Great Britain, Canada,
  Netherlands, and New Zealand all tend to be
  individualistic.
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Collectivism

• Collectivist cultures have strong social
  frameworks that distinguish between in-groups and
  out-groups.
• People depend on their in-groups (family,
  organizations) to look after them and are loyal
  to the group in return.

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Collectivist behaviors

• Collectivism means greater emphasis on (a) the
  views, needs, and goals of the in-group rather
  than oneself (b) social norms and duty defined
  by the in-group rather than behavior to get
  pleasure (c) beliefs shared with the in-group
  rather than beliefs that distinguish self from
  in-group and (d) great readiness to cooperate
  with in-group members.

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• Pakistan, Colombia, Venezuela, Taiwan, Peru, and
  most of Africa and Asia have collectivist
  cultures.
• People are born into extended families or clans
  that support and protect them in exchange for
  their allegiance.

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• African thought rejects any view of the
  individual as an autonomous and responsible
  being.
• Organizations invade private life
• Individuals trust group decisions at the expense
  of individual rights.
• No matter how stout, one beam cannot support a
  house.

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• Many Asian traits, such as indirect
  communication, saving/giving face, concern for
  others, and group cooperation are linked to
  collectivism.
• In school, harmony and cooperation in learning
  are stressed instead of competition.
• The more we are, the faster we finish.

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Uncertainty Avoidance

• The future is unknown and unknowable. No one can
  ever accurately predict the next minute, hour,
  day, year, or decade.
• The future is called perhaps, which is the
  only possible thing to call the future.

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• Uncertainty avoidance defines the extent to
  which people within a culture are made nervous by
  situations which they perceive as unstructured,
  unclear, or unpredictable, situations which they
  therefore try to avoid by maintaining strict
  codes of behavior and a belief in absolute
  truths.

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High Uncertainty Avoidance

• HUA cultures try to avoid uncertainty and
  ambiguity by providing stability for their
  members, establishing more formal rules, not
  tolerating deviant ideas and behaviors, seeking
  consensus, and believing in absolute truths and
  the attainment of expertise.

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• HUA cultures tend to have higher levels of
  anxiety and stress.
• They believe that life carries the potential for
  continuous hazards (there is no safety.)
• They need written rules, planning, regulations,
  rituals, and ceremonies in order to add structure
  to life.
• Portugal, Greece, Peru, Belgium, and Japan are
  HUA cultures.

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Low Uncertainty Avoidance

• LOA cultures more easily accept lifes
  uncertainties, are more tolerant of the unusual,
  and are not threatened by different ideas and
  people.
• They prize initiative, dislike too much structure
  or hierarchy, are willing to take risks, are
  flexible, believe in fewer rules, and depend on
  themselves more.

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• LOA cultures tend to me more relaxed and less
  stressed.
• Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, U.S., Finland,
  and the Netherlands are LOA cultures.

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UA in school

• LOA students feel comfortable in unstructured
  learning situations and are rewarded for being
  innovative when solving problems.
• HUA students expect structured learning
  organizations and right answers they take no
  risks.

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UA in negotiation

• HUA members would want to move at a slower pace
  and need a great amount of detail and planning.
  Older members might feel uncomfortable with
  younger members of the group.
• They would enjoy having an Agenda and sticking to
  it.

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Power Distance

• Power Distance is the extent to which the less
  powerful person in society accepts inequality in
  power and considers it normal.
• Does a society prefer that power in
  relationships, institutions, and organizations be
  distributed equally or unequally?

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High Power Distance

• Individuals from HPD cultures accept power as
  part of society. As such, superiors consider
  their subordinates to be different from
  themselves and vice versa.
• They believe that power and authority are part of
  life.

81

• People are not equal in this world.
• Everybody has a rightful place in society or the
  organization.
• There is a clear social hierarchy and
  institutional inequality.

82

• HPD organizations have a greater centralization
  of power, more importance is placed on status and
  rank, lots of supervisory personnel, a rigid
  value system that determines the worth of each
  job, and subordinates adhering to a strict
  hierarchy.
• Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, Venezuala,
  Indonesia, and Africa are HPD cultures.

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Low Power Distance

• Inequality in society should be minimized.
• These cultures are guided by laws, norms, and
  everyday behaviors that make power distinctions
  as minimal as possible.
• LPD cultures believe that people are close to
  power and should have ready access to that power.

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• Hierarchy is an inequality of roles established
  for convenience.
• Subordinates and superiors often see each other
  equally.
• People in power often interact with their
  subordinates and try to look less powerful than
  they really are.

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PD in Education

• In HPD education, the process is teacher
  centered. The Teacher initiates all
  communication, outlines the path of learning, and
  is never criticized or contradicted in public.
• The emphasis is on the personal wisdom of the
  teacher.
• In LPD education, the emphasis is on personal
  truth that can be obtained by anybody.

86
Masculinity/Femininity

• Many masculine and feminine behaviors are
  learned.
• Masculinity is the extent to which the dominant
  values in a society are male oriented.
• Femininity is the extent to which a society
  believes that nurturing behaviors are important.

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Masculinity

• Masculine cultures use the biological existence
  of two sexes to define very different social
  roles for men and women. They expect men to be
  assertive, ambitious, and competitive, and to
  strive for material success, and to respect
  whatever is big, strong, and fast.

88

• Ireland, Philippines, Greece, Venezuela, Austria,
  Japan, Italy, and Mexico are masculine countries.
• Masculine cultures have highly defined gender
  roles and promote career success.

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Femininity

• Cultures that value femininity as a trait stress
  nurturing behaviors.
• Men do not need to be assertive they can assume
  nurturing roles.
• These cultures promote sexual equality and
  believe that people and the environment are
  important.

90

• Interdependence and androgynous behavior (both
  sexes are equal) is ideal and people sympathize
  with those less fortunate than themselves.
• Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and the
  Netherlands are very feminine countries.

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Masc/Fem in the workplace

• Masculine cultures believe that women should stay
  home and take care of children and the house men
  should work.
• Fem. cultures expect women to work and provide
  support systems. In Sweden, you can ask for
  maternity or paternity leave to take care of
  newborn children.

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The Kluckhohns and Strodtbecks Value Orientations

• Every individual, regardless of culture, must
  deal with five universal questions (cultural
  patterns).
• These patterns tell the members of the culture
  what is important and offer guidance for living
  their lives.

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The Five Questions

• What is the character of human nature?
• What is the relation of humankind to nature?
• What is the orientation toward time?
• What is the value placed on activity?
• What is the relationship of people to each other?

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Human Nature

• Anne Frank In spite of everything, I still
  believe that people are really good at heart.
• Immanuel Kant Out of the crooked timber of
  humanity no straight thing can ever be made.

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Human Nature Evil

• Some cultures believe that people are
  intrinsically evil.
• America started this way and has slowly shifted
  to a Good and Evil orientation (people are
  perfectible).
• In Islamic cultures, they believe people are evil
  and cannot be left alone to make a correct
  decision.

96
Human Nature Good and Evil

• Taoists believe in Yin and Yang (??), a balance
  of dynamic interaction.
• This is a cyclic interaction there are natural
  periods of balanced increase and decrease.
• People cannot eliminate evil it is a necessary
  part of the universe.

97

• Good can only be recognized against a background
  of evil and evil is only recognizable against a
  background of good.
• Many Europeans, for various reasons, also have a
  duality approach to human nature.

98
Human Nature Good

• Confucianism and Buddhism believe in the innate
  goodness of human nature.
• Buddhism maintains that you are born pure
  However, culture often makes them evil.

99
Person-Nature Orientation

• Should humans respect the earth or should they be
  masters over the earth?

100
Humans subject to nature

• Cultures that hold this orientation believe that
  the most powerful forces of life are outside
  their control.
• Whether the force is a god, fate, or magic, a
  person cannot overcome it and must learn to
  accept it.
• India and South America hold this orientation.

101
Cooperation with Nature

• Nature is part of life it is not a hostile force
  waiting to be subdued.
• People should, in every way possible, live in
  harmony with nature.
• Tribal groups teach respect for the land and
  forbid desecration of their ancestral lands.

102

• Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are
  but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the
  web we do to ourselves. All things are bound
  togetherall things connect.
• Native Americans, Japan, Thailand hold this
  orientation.

103
Controlling Nature

• We should conquer and direct the forces of nature
  to our advantage.
• This is a very western approach.
• Americans have always believed that nature is
  something that should be mastered.
• We tame the land and want to conquer space.

104
Time Orientation

• Cultures differ in the value placed on past,
  present, and future and how each influences
  interaction.

105
Past Orientation

• Past-oriented cultures believe strongly in the
  significance of prior events.
• History, established religions, and tradition are
  extremely important to these cultures.
• There is a strong believe that the past should be
  the guide for making decisions and determining
  truth.

106

• China, Japan, Great Britain, France, and Native
  American cultures are past-oriented cultures.
• When doing business with these cultures, you
  should talk about history and show respect for
  ancestors, predecessors, and older people.

107
Present Orientation

• Present-oriented cultures hold that the moment
  has the most significance.
• The future is vague, ambiguous, and unknown.
• What is real exists in the here and now.
• Philippines, Latin America, and Mexicans tend to
  be present oriented.

108
Future Orientation

• These culture emphasize the importance of the
  future and expect it to be greater than the
  present.
• Americans view of the future makes us
  optimistic.
• If at first you dont succeed, try, try again.
• We can control the future Yesterday is not
  ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or
  to lose.

109
Activity Orientation Being

• A being orientation refers to spontaneous
  expression of the human personality.
• Cultures that believe in this accept people,
  events, and ideas as flowing spontaneously.
• They stress release, indulgence of existing
  desires, and working for the moment.

110

• In Latin cultures, most believe that the current
  activity is the most important.
• In Mexican culture, people take great delight in
  conversations with family members and will spend
  hours doing so.
• In Saudi Arabia, several customers might be
  helped at once or all in the same office.

111
Being-in-Becoming Orientation

• The Being-in-Becoming orientation stresses the
  idea of development and growth.
• Activities should contribute to the development
  of all aspects of the self.
• In Hinduism and Buddhism, people spend time
  meditating in order to purify and advance
  themselves.

112
Doing Orientation

• The doing orientation describes activity in which
  accomplishments are measurable by standards
  external to the individual.
• American culture is dominated by doing
  orientation we stress activity and action.

113

• Israel is also a doing cluture action is taken
  proactively to control situations and overcome
  environmental problems.
• These cultures admire people who can make rapid
  decisions and speak up quickly. They often become
  impatient with people who are too reflective.

114
Relational Orientation

• How do people perceive their relationships with
  others?

115
Authoritarian Orientation

• Many cultures have only ever had Authoritarian
  leaders and thus believe this type of social
  relationship to be normal.
• In African and Arab countries, people believe
  that some individuals were born to lead while
  others must follow.

116
Ind./Coll. Orientation

• They see the individual or the group as the most
  important of all social entities.

117
Halls High-Context and Low-Context Orientations

• Cultures are either High-Context or Low-Context,
  depending on the degree to which meaning comes
  from the settings or from the words being
  exchanged.
• One of the functions of culture is to provide a
  highly selective screen between man and the
  outside world. In its many forms, culture
  therefore designates what we pay attention to and
  what we ignore.

118

• Context can be defined as the information that
  surrounds an event it is inextricably bound up
  with the meaning of the event.
• A HC communication is one in which most of the
  information is already in the person, while very
  little is in the coded, explicitly transmitted
  part of the message. A LC communication is just
  the opposite (the mass of the information is
  vested in the specific code).

119
High Context

• In HC Cultures, many of the meanings being
  exchanged during the encounter do not have to be
  communicated through words.
• HC cultures are usually much more traditional
  cultures.
• Information is provided through inference,
  gestures, and even silence.

120

• HC cultures are more reliant on and tuned in to
  nonverbal communication.
• Meaning is also conveyed through status (age,
  sex, education, family background, title, etc).
• Asian, African, and Native American cultures are
  very high context.

121
Low Context

• In LC cultures, the population is less homogenous
  (people are not the same) they therefore dont
  share the same history as one another and need to
  be more explicit in their communication.
• The verbal message contains most of the
  information.

122

• LC communicators often talk more, speak rapidly,
  and raise their voices.
• In HC cultures, people who rely on verbal message
  are seen as less credible.
• Empty cans clatter the loudest.

123
Face and Facework

• Face refers your self-image you want to project
  to other people.
• Face and facework have different forms and values
  in different cultures.
• Facework is the various actions you engage in to
  acquire face for yourself or give face to someone
  else.

124

• Face is a function of group affiliation in
  collectivistic cultures and is self-derived in
  individualistic cultures.
• In conflict situations, collectivistic cultures
  focus on other-and mutual-face, while
  individualistic cultures focus on self-face.

125
Homework

• List some Taiwanese cultural values. Can you
  think of any Taiwanese advertising campaigns or
  slogans that illustrate Taiwanese cultural
  values? (For example, Nikes Just Do It
  embodies the American cultural value of getting
  stuff done.)

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Homework

• Make a list of typical Taiwanese behaviors that
  relate to evil, good and evil, and good. How
  widespread are these behaviors within the
  culture?
• Think about the difference between high- and
  low-context cultures. What problems can you
  anticipate when you are communicating with
  someone who has a different context orientation?