Cultural Differences In The Social World

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a.) What is the definition of each one according to the book? Define each concept.

1. Social cognition – Social cognition is how an individual feels and thinks about themselves and the social aspect of the world they live in. To be more specific it is how these individuals choose, decipher, remember and use this social information to make specific judgments and decisions in life (Aronson, 2013, 48).
2. Attributions – Attribution is a theory or concept that explains how a person causes their own actions or even effects others behaviors in the social world (Aronson, 2013, 84).
3. Emotions – Emotions are a way for us to be able to communicate our emotional state and feelings with others. Sometimes this is through our moods or even facial

features. This helps the outside world to be able to perceive how we are feeling. We may have this feeling towards an individual or an object, but it’s a conscious feeling and may not only cause behavior changes in the body that are visible, but also physiological changes (Aronson, 2013, 77).
4. Self-esteem – Self-esteem is how an individual assesses their own self worth and how they feel about themselves. When we take a look at ourselves we want to view ourselves as good and genuine people and this is how we calculate our self worth (Aronson, 2013, 129).
b.) Describe what are the cultural differences in each?
1.) Social Cognition – Culture shapes how we perceive and think about the social world. Western cultures typically have an analytic thinking style, which is when they don’t consider their surroundings, but rather focus on the properties of objects as most important. On the other hand East Asian cultures have more of a holistic thinking style in which they look at the bigger picture, meaning how objects relate to one another as a whole (Aronson, 2013, 63).
2.) Attributions – Individualist cultures such as Americans favor dispositional attributions about others, but collectivist cultures favor situational attributions. For example Americans would blame the individual for being evil when committing a crime, but the Chinese would explain that the reason the person committed murder was because of outside factors such as, isolation or miscommunications. Although both cultures display the fundamental attribution error, they do so in different ways. I believe that we as a culture in American are quicker to blame the person and object, rather than being more sensitive to what situation caused this particular behavior (Aronson, 2013, 95).
3.) Emotions – Facial expressions are universal throughout cultures, but display rules and emblems change from culture to culture. For example in individualistic cultures we discourage the expression of humiliation in public, but collectivistic societies support a display of emotions in a public setting. Emblems are also not universal, for example pointing in America is an okay gesture, but doing so in Japan is highly disrespectful and frowned upon. Another example is in America we give the middle finger as a sign of frustration, but in other parts of the world the brush of the chin signifies the same thing, just displayed differently (Aronson, 2013, 78).
4.) Self-esteem- Western cultures have an interdependent view of the self, the way they view themselves is based off how they feel internally and not based on the feelings of others. Non-Western cultures have an interdependent view of the self, which is when they reflect on themselves according to their relationship with others and acknowledging that a persons behavior could be determined by feelings and thoughts of others (Aronson, 2013, 107). Asian cultures tend to have more worry about public embarrassment than Americans do, although both have a need to achieve high public impressions of themselves (Aronson, 2013, 129).
Part 2:
a. How important are cultural differences? Do you think those cultural differences are really huge?

Cultural differences play an important role in today’s world, but it’s the understanding of these differences that has a true significance.

If we aren’t understanding of the variances between cultures and the way they communicate verbally, emotionally, and nonverbally this can create considerable issues. The three primary problems that could arise if we don’t have an understanding of cultural differences are the ways we interpret others comments and actions, how we predict future behaviors, and conflicting behaviors of others (“Differences in Culture,” n.d). Culture plays a significant part in peoples lives because it shapes our personal values and views on the world. Having a perspective and understanding a persons culture is important because each culture is different in respect to personal views and behaviors, but it is key to respect their culture because just like us it shaped who they are. The reason we have stereotypes of other cultures is because of this particular reason, we assume that our culture is superior and the correct way to do things. For example, I have heard the stereotype that French people are impolite, offensive, and they hate Americans, but was this stereotype created because of a misunderstanding between cultures? Cultural differences can be educational because it allows us to understand the uniqueness of a culture and allows us to learn new things. Cultural differences allow people to feel a sense of belonging, which can be empowering knowing

like-minded people surround you. Being tolerant and understanding of others cultures and knowing what is an insult or correct way of expressing ourselves can also be empowering as learning about cultures outside of your own, allows you to grow and know yourself better.
Culture differences play a huge part in today’s business world as many businesses look to expand internationally or outsource outside of their own culture. With the advances in communication it’s necessary to understand culture differences to be successful (“The Importance,” n.d.). Maintaining a business deal could rely on whether or not you understand that particular business’s culture and how they operate. When going into a meeting its important to understand who you are negotiating with. For example in America when we finish a deal we shake hands, but in Middle Eastern cultures shaking hands is the sign of a starting negations (“The Importance,” n.d.).
Cultural differences are larger than most of us would want to believe. Some of us may believe they don’t make a difference, but I believe the differences are key to understanding how that culture shaped a particular individual. Everyone has a different viewpoint and perception of life even if they come from the same culture, so clearly there are many differences between cultures.
b. Provide an example for one of the topics where there ARE or ARE NOT cultural differences. Use the text, use the web, or use personal experience to provide your example.

Facial expressions that are used to show primary emotions are universal among cultures (Aronson, 2013, p.

77). We all express or encode a feeling with an outward facial expression such as smile or frown, and we decode or interpret these features the same across the board (Aronson, 2013, p.77). According to Aronson (2013) a study was done in New Guinea with a small tribe that had little to no contact with Westerners and when told particular stories had the same six facial expressions as Westerners. It’s interesting because verbal language is vastly diverse between cultures, but that in order for us to understand each other better we have a nonverbal form of communication such as facial

expressions.