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CULTURE: AN OVERVIEW Dimensions of Culture Languages (codes/modes) Verbal Physical Nonverbal Environment Human Behavior Natural Man Made Encoding Decoding Psychological Content Processes Knowledge Belief Systems Thought SIMPLE DEFINITION OF CULTURE Culture refers to the system of understanding characteristic of an individual’s society or subgroup (shared with that group) within that society…This includes values, beliefs, acceptable and unacceptable behavior, verbal and non-verbal language(s) Source: García, E. (1994). Understanding and meeting the challenge of student cultural diversity. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Other Characteristcs of Culture Dynamic rather than fixed or static A continuous and cumulative process Learned and shared by people Behavior and values exhibited by people Creative and meaningful to our lives Symbolically represented through language and interaction (communication) That which guides people in their thinking, feeling and acting The Different Views of Culture EMIC: Insider view ETIC: Outsider view SYNCRONIC: Fixed view DIACRONIC: Dynamic view Implicit Culture: hidden or unconscious cultural elements (values, beliefs,religion) Explicit Culture: observable elements of a people’s culture (dress, speech, behavior) “Cultural flexibility involves changes in one’s behavior to meet the demands of situations found in other cultures.” Brislin, R. (1993). Understanding culture’s influence on behavior. Fort Worth: Harcourt, Brace College Publishers. Stereotypes Stereotypes are perceptions about certain groups of people or nationalities, often based upon limited knowledge and/or exposure. Stereotypes of U.S. Persons Informal in their relationships Rather formal in their business attire (suits for men and dresses or suits for women) Workaholics - they spend more time working than with family and social engagements Embarrass foreign business people by doing manual labor or tasks typically done by the lower class or servants in their country Overly concerned with time, money, and appointments Make decisions on hard, objective facts rather than on personal feelings, social relationships, or political advantage Consider contracts and the written word as very important and to be taken seriously Be aware of the status differences within the organization; however, generally no display of superiority or inferiority is made which makes rank-conscious foreigners uneasy Be very mobile; rarely work for one company all their life Convey superiority in their actions because they feel the U.S. is a superior nation Stereotypes of People of Other Nationalities Culture EnglishImage French Italian Latin American Asians conservative, reserved, polite, proper, formal arrogant, rude, chauvinistic, romantics, gourmets, cultural, artistic demonstrative, talkative, emotional, romantic, bold, artistic manana attitude, macho, music lovers, touchers inscrutable, intelligent, xenophobic (fear/hatred of strangers/foreigners), golfers, group oriented, polite, soft-spoken Stereotypes of Other Groups Japanese and U.S. Students Japanese English Irish Chinese Mexicans Russians Israelis Americans gentlemanly, formal, proper, polite polite, intelligent cold, patient, drinkers, jovial, religious hot-tempered, loud diligent, serious quiet, small, ingenious, laboring industrious, smart cheerful, passionate lazy, poor, loud, spicy-food eaters dirty, uneducated cold, dark, closed, cold, respect authority, secret, selfish hard-working religious, faithful, religious, quarrelsome, warlike, Jewish wealthy, greedy Terms Enculturation - socialization process you go through to adapt to your society – – Frontstage culture - cultural information that you are willing to share with outsiders Backstage culture - cultural information concealed from outsiders Acculturation - process of adjusting and adapting to a new and different culture – – cultural synergy - two cultures merge to form a stronger overriding culture Multicultural - people who can move between two or more cultures very comfortably Four Dimensions of Acculturation Integration - persons become an integral part of the new culture while maintaining their cultural integrity Separation - individuals keep their culture and stay independent of the new culture Assimilation - persons are absorbed into their new culture and withdraw from their old culture Deculturation - when individuals lose their original culture and do not accept the new culture Ethnocentrism - the belief that your own cultural background is correct Mindsets - ways of being that allow us to see, perceive, and reason through our own filter Norms, Rules, Roles, and Networks (Situational factors that influence encoding and decoding of verbal and nonverbal messages) Norms - culturally ingrained principles of correct and incorrect behaviors which, if broken, carry a form of overt or covert penalty Rules - formed to clarify cloudy areas of norms Roles - include behavioral expectations of a position within a culture and are affected by norms and rules Networks - formed with personal ties and involve an exchange of assistance Subcultures (or microcultures) - groups possessing traits that set them apart from others within the macroculture. U.S. examples: senior citizens, Catholics, disabled persons, Asian Americans Subgroups - groups with which the microculture does not agree and has problems communicating. U.S. examples: youth gangs, prostitutes, embezzlers Communication Barriers Physical - time, environment Cultural - social, ethnic, religion, social Perceptual - viewing from your own mindset Motivational - mental inertia of listener Experiential - dissimilar experiences or life happenings Emotional - personal feelings, likes or dislikes Linguistic - unusual vocabulary Nonverbal - how something is said, or how the person behaves or gestures Competition - listener's having the ability to do other things