B. Literature Review
1. Conflicting Perspectives on Culture
Hofstede (1980b) offered the definition of culture as the collective programming of mind that differentiates humans from one another in terms of values (Maznevski and DiStephano, 2000) and/or communication styles (Hall and Hall, 1990). Cultural values are prevalent themes in cross-cultural literature because of their universal applicability across cultural frontiers (Brem and Wolfram, 2013). Therefore, there have been various researchers studying about this concept. As cited in Knutson, Hwang & Deng (2000), Herkovits (1955) considered culture “the artificial part of the environment” while Triandis and Albert (1987) saw culture as a way to share meanings, norms and values. Other researchers
…show more content…
Firstly, culture is what we learnt via interaction with others but not we were born with it. Moreover, culture is the basis of establishing values, beliefs and norms for acceptable and desirable behaviours. It also helps with the structure and categorisation of the environment. As a means to perceive the world, culture has been produced and passed on to the later generations to make one’s existence meaningful and traditions consistent to the group. Therefore, because of cultural practice in the form of rituals, education, myths and so on for centuries, its changes are rather …show more content…
As people with indirect mode of communication have a tendency to be conscious of their surroundings and to predict or interpret others’ behaviour based mainly on contextual information, their conversations are more implicit and full of silence and telepathy to conceal their real motives, desires, and wishes (Gudykunst & Toomey, 1988) and preserve the value of harmony and interdependency (Okabe, 1983). Although ambiguous forms of communication can enable both parties to manipulate and prevent arguments from arising in order to save face and to be in harmony (Ting-Toomey, 1985), unarticulated messages and subjective interpretations on contextual information are not so easy to be comprehended correctly, and thus leading to conflicts (Gudykunst & Nishida, 1986). As a consequence, Chua & Gudykunst (1987) revealed that evasive and non-confrontational conflict resolution would be likely to be observed from people with high-context culture. By contrast, low-context or direct mode of communication means expressing explicitly the targeted message and the speaker’s desires using verbal languages (Gudykunst & Toomey, 1988). Therefore, these people will usually have open and direct communication without the necessity of relying on contextual information and knowledge (Chua & Gudykunst, 1987;
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
“Culture is often described as the combination of a body of knowledge, a body of belief and a body of behavior. It involves a number of elements, including personal identification, language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions that are often specific to ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or social groups”.
High-context culture refers to a more indirect style of communication. The message’s interpretation is characterized by contextual clues such as nature of relationship, time, and situation. The verbal part of a message contained less information than the written part but what is left uns...
Culture is an experience, knowledge, values, beliefs, religion, notions of time, spatial relations, attitudes, meanings, concepts of the world, hierarchies, and possessions acquired by a community in the course of generations. Culture is a part of every human being. It does not matter where someone was born or lived. Every single human being is surrounded by culture that effects his or her life. Culture influence our beliefs, expectations, norms and how someone will think and act. Culture also affect every ones mental health in many different ways.
In the world of communication, there are many theories which describe different ways people communicate. According to Doctor Thomas Hanitzsch, an associate professor of communication at the University of Munich in Germany, “Communication Theory is an international forum publishing high quality, original research into the theoretical development of communication from across a wide array of disciplines” (“Communication Theory”). A specific communication theory that will be highlighted is the Face-Negotiation theory developed by Stella Ting-Toomey. Simply stated, Dr. Ting-Toomey suggests that conflict is a consequence of identity management on an individual and cultural level, and occurs when an individual or group’s face is threatened. Similarly, people from individualistic, low context cultures interact differently from collectivist, high context cultures. This means that “people from collectivistic cultures with an interdependent self-image are concerned with giving ‘other-face’ or ‘mutual face,’ so they adopt a conflict style of ‘avoiding or integrating’” (Griffin “List”). Likewise, “people from individualistic cultures with an independent self-image are concerned with protecting self-face, so they adopt a conflict style of ‘dominating’” (Griffin “List”).
In his essay, “What is Culture?”, Kluckhohn explains the differences and similarities amongst world’s peoples. To support his explanation of the differences and similarities he provides the concept of culture. It is difficult to give this concept a precise definition because the word “culture” is a broad term. Kluckhohn allows the reader to understand the concept of culture by providing examples of cultural differences along with some anthropological evidence to support his views.
The term culture refers to a broad spectrum of general human society that can be delineated as “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious or social group” as well as “the characteristic features of everyday existence...shared by people in a place or time.” However, with such a vast notion that acts to give meaning to the various methods of operation used by the equally various societies and their respective members worldwide, the definition of culture can be stretched and expanded because of culture’s flexibility as a conceptual aspect of humanity that surrounds, defines, and permeates those in it. Simple attributes such as a group of people, a civilization’s geography, and a set of societal features can
Anthropologists define the term culture in a variety of ways, but there are certain shared features of the definition that virtually all anthropologists agree on. Culture is a shared, socially transmitted knowledge and behavior. The key features of this definition of culture are as follows. 1) Culture is shared among the members of that particular society or group. Thus, people share a common cultural identity, meaning that they recognize themselves and their culture's traditions as distinct from other people and other traditions. 2) Culture is socially transmitted from others while growing up in a certain environment, group, or society. The transmission of cultural knowledge to the next generation by means of social learning is referred to as enculturation or socialization. 3) Culture profoundly affects the knowledge, actions, and feelings of the people in that particular society or group. This concept is often referred to as cultural knowledge that leads to behavior that is meaningful to others and adaptive to the natural and social environment of that particular culture.
As a psychology major, I decided to add a cross cultural studies minor not only because it would be beneficial for my career, but because I want to be able to understand what individuals believe and how it effects them emotionally and spiritually. This course has specifically help me grasp the concept of exactly what it is that religions believe, and I think that in the future when I am in the field I will be able to relate with people better. Throughout the span of this semester I have learned so many valuable lessons that I want to continue to expand my knowledge in. Although, two specific changes I plan to make in my life as a result of my experiences in this course would be; continuously taking the initiative to know and understand what an individual believes and continuing to further my education on what is going on in the world between other cultures.
What is culture? Culture is identity; it’s the indigenous or non-indigenous ideology, habits, customs, appearances and beliefs that people are either raised by or adapt to from different nations surrounding. It is a network of knowledge shared by a group of people. Culture consists of configurations, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior obtained and spread by symbols establishing the distinctive achievement of human groups including their embodiments in artifacts; the vital core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values. Culture systems may, on one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other, as conditioning influences upon further action.
How do personal values shape culture, and how does culture affect our understanding and interpretation of seemingly ordinary things?
There are a lot of different cultures in the world we live in today. Finding the place you belong and discovering your own culture can be a challenge. This is especially true when you look at culture as an individual versus culture in your family, or even within your community. I’ve always been very family oriented, so that plays a big part in who I am and how my family’s dynamic works. I believe that my family has had a huge impact on the development of my culture, and I hope that I have had the same impact on theirs.
A high-context person is slow in getting to the point and does not foresee to have to be very specific. Thus, preference for indirect message is more marked, being specific about unpleasantness is particularly embarrassing in a relationship culture .in opposition Low-context individuals are quick to get to the point. However low-context and high-context communication takes place in every society and culture; cultures differ in the degree of context considered in business communication. High context culture in which people are deeply involved with others and where indirect messages with deep meaning flow freely, while low-context cultures are highly individualised, partially alienated, fragmented cultures in which there is little involvement with
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.
Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behavior. It includes the ideas, value, customs and artifacts of a group of people (Schaefer, 2002). Culture is a pattern of human activities and the symbols that give these activities significance. It is what people eat, how they dress, beliefs they hold and activities they engage in. It is the totality of the way of life evolved by a people in their attempts to meet the challenges of living in their environment, which gives order and meaning to their social, political, economic, aesthetic and religious norms and modes of organization thus distinguishing people from their neighbors.