Tacit Culture Research Paper

Explicit and Tacit Culture Culture is the summation of language, food, traditions, and customs of people of a shared background. Culture influences how people interact with one another and how they interpret the world. Two important facets of culture are explicit and tacit. Knowing both is essential to the process of ethnography and observing other cultures. My micro culture, of working as an RA as the UTSA campus, contains many tacit and explicit elements. Culture is a constantly shifting and it influences every part of our daily lives.
Explicit culture is cultural knowledge that is readily apparent and its members can easily identify. This includes everything from clothing, symbols, and customs. For example, in the Christianity, the crucifixion,

It is often social norms and behaviors that are ingrained in a person. In comparison to explicit culture, tacit examples of the Narcirema culture includes how they communicate and the belief that the human body is ugly is the basis for most of their rituals and ceremonies. Most people in American culture don’t think too deeply about why they say “bless you” when someone sneezes or why it is considered polite to refer to an authority figure as Mrs. or Mr. Additionally, there are stark differences in tacit culture between people differing cultures that leads to culture shock. Culture shock is feelings of confusion and disorientation often resulting from cultural misunderstandings. For example, people in some parts of Japan consider physical touching inappropriate and may consider a U.S. citizen’s offering of a friendly handshake, instead of a bow, offensive. This simple interaction reveals their cultures differing views on personal space and what is considered friendly. In my own micro culture, there are many examples of explicit and tacit culture. As a resident assistant, my job has similar kinds of explicit culture that are in many other customer service jobs. For example, my workplace requires employees to wear a uniform of a company polo and name tag. This instantly identify me to outsiders as a resident assistant and someone that can answer their questions. Another example, is the service